Table 4.

Elements of the best interests of the child assessment based on General Comment No. 14 of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Best Interest of the Child-Model and risk factors (italic)

Individual characteristics		Family and Social environment
Identity	Situation of vulnerability	Conditions for development in the family	Conditions for development in the society
Elements of the best interests of the refugee child assessment upon arrival
Gender Sexual orientation Nation of origin Religion and beliefs Cultural Age	Being refugee, asylum seeker, migrant  Pre-existing vulnerability: development, illnesses, extreme poverty  Being unaccompanied  Number, severity and duration of stress full life events Exposure to violence Witnessing violence Dangerous and/or long flight Having stayed in refugee camps (Number of) separations Mental health: PTSD, anxiety, depression	Care, protection, safety of the child and rearing Conditions within the family  Extreme poverty  Poor parental support  Dead and losses of close relatives  Separations	Safe environment  Exposure to violence  Witnessing violence  Feeling of being in danger Social environment  Experience of discrimination  Lack of social support  Lack of opportunities to play Education
Prospects in the future
Possibility to preserve identity	Possibility to address special needs, including (mental) health care	Preservation of the family environment  Drastic changes in family  Dead and losses of close relatives  Separations  Poor parental support	Stability and future perspectives in society on safety, protection, possibility to address educational needs, preservation of social ties

The child’s views on all elements and on his/her need for protection