Table 3. CRC general comments and optional protocols relevant in the consideration of U.S. policies and procedures regarding unaccompanied children.

Human rights norm/principle	General comments and optional protocols
Best interests of the child	GC 6 states that the principle of the best interests of the child “must be respected during all stages of the displacement cycle” for unaccompanied and separated children GC 14 states that decisions and implementation measures made by administrative authorities in areas, including, among others, asylum and immigration, “must be assessed and guided by the best interests of the child” GC 14 instructs states to understand that the best interests of children in a situation of vulnerability (including being a refugee or an asylum seeker) are different and unique, and that states must regard the additional rights of children set by other conventions
The entitlement of all human beings to basic human rights, regardless of their citizen status	GC 6 instructs States to not return a child to their country of origin for reunification when there is risk of harm; acknowledges that the rights within the CRC are directed at non-citizen children, irrespective of nationality or immigration status GC 13 charges States as de facto caregivers for unaccompanied children outside their country of origin
The right to life and security, including freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention	GC 6 states that policing of unaccompanied children is only acceptable in very limited and specific circumstances and must represent the least intrusive option GC 13 defnes children's “placement in … humiliating or degrading conditions of detention” as mental violence GC 13 urges governments “to make use of institutionalization and detention only as a last resort and only if in the best interest of the child.”
The right to freedom from all forms of violence	GC 6 identifies unaccompanied and separated children as particularly vulnerable to abuse, exploitation, discrimination and maltreatment
Protection from armed conflict, trafficking, and exploitation	Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict helps understand armed conflict and violence as factors for minors feeing their countries Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child—the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography is relevant to understanding the vulnerability of unaccompanied minors to human trafficking and prostitution
The right to health	GC 15 defends a child's right to health as an international obligation, and discusses State obligations and procedures to respect, protect and fulfill the right of every child to health; urges a human rights approach to respect the dignity, life, survival, wellbeing, health, development, participation, and non-discrimination of the child
The right to due process	GC 12 obliges States to implement the children's right to be heard in all immigration and asylum proceedings. It instructs States to provide children “with all relevant information, in their own language” and appoint them a guardian or adviser, “free of charge.”

CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child, GC General comment

This table utilizes specific articles from General Comments and Optional Protocols to the U. N. Convention on the Rights of the Child to highlight special rights violations with regard to unaccompanied minors' rights