The following text illustrates some of the grave problems that still exist despite the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the child in 1989. This text provides a shortened version of a speech made by Heiko Kauffmann, spokesperson for the German human rights organization ProAsyl. His speech starts by highlighting the extent to which children are still being exploited worldwide and in doing so outlines the history and motives behind the adoption of the UN children's rights convention. The second chapter is dedicated to the especially difficult area of child refugees. In this regard, the situation in Germany is used as an example. The child refugee, Pit, and the way in which he was handled illustrates the inherent problems in Germany's asylum system - even when the person seeking asylum is a child.

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1. Worldwide exploitation of children — child soldiers and child labor

(...) a study by UNICEF indicates that by the end of the 80s around 200,000 children under the age of 16 were serving as soldiers in 14 war zones, and it is feared that their number has since increased further. The study shows that in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Columbia, Burma, Liberia, the Sudan, Angola and Mozambique, as well as in the Balkan region armed children featured or feature in everyday life. Children are enlisted by the military and government groups or are recruited under force. Sadly, thousands of children join the military "voluntarily" out of fear, hunger or revenge. Street children and orphans are regarded as inexpensive "cannon fodder" in the "third world". Taken prisoner, they are subjected to the same suffering as adults: torture, rape, forced labor.

On 11 November 1996, the international labor organization (ILO) presented a study on child labor in Geneva: Over 250 million boys and girls aged between 5 and 14 years worldwide are forced into slavery and child prostitution, or are exploited in mines, factories and private homes. Among the proposals from the UN's special organization to rid the world of this sickening situation is a suggestion for a new convention that would outlaw unacceptable and dangerous forms of child labor for all children under the age of 18.

And it has to be pointed out that with regard to children's rights and child refugees that:

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2. Children on the run

Estimates suggest that children, adolescents and young people looking for a place of refuge make up almost half of all the world's refugees. This group is always at the highest risk: Families are torn apart, children are least able to cope with the physical and mental strains and the catastrophic conditions prevailing in many of the refugee camps; these camps often become long-term facilities resulting in "long-term homelessness" and a loss of orientation. These terrible conditions lead to children feeling uprooted and promote a loss of identity, they stand in the way of integration and strangle the life chances of many. The number of children on the run and left to fend for themselves after losing their parents or guardian is thought to be between 6 and 10 million

Considering this terrible hardship and the catastrophic impact upon the life chances of these children, bearing in mind the serious children's rights violations, the sentence in the preamble of the "Charta of the Child" from 1959 which states: "Mankind owes to the child the best it has to give", rings like a cruel joke against the stark reality faced by the majority of the world's children.

In order to reduce decisively the gap between knowledge and action, between talking and doing, between rights and reality and to overcome these problems using the "stronger rights" of a convention, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted on 20 November 1989 by the community of nations. 187 nations have since ratified or joined this convention (as of: November 1996)

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3. German exemption clauses

Germany signed up to the convention in April 1992 - after negotiating exemptions. These exemptions, however, were in a central area covering help and guarantee of refuge for child refugees, who, with their parents or completely alone, want to escape from war, human rights violations, persecution, forced recruitment, violence and personal desperation.

One of the aims behind the German government's "negotiating of exemptions" was to break with legal responsibilities for foreign refugees and those seeking asylum, or rather to avoid making the necessary changes to Germany's particularly restrictive and defensive laws in this area. This was done by interpreting Germany's merciless asylum system as being "perfectly legal" and in line with the intentions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

The wording of the Convention is clear: the "best interests of the child" (article 3) is to be given primary consideration in all legislative, legal and administrative decisions. Germany's "negotiating of exemptions" contradicts the Convention's intention: For the children of refugees and migrants it is not "the best interests of the child" that is of prime concern but asylum and immigration laws. As things stand, the best interests of the child are playing second fiddle to Germany's asylum laws. And the consequences of the incomprehensible, heartless and hypocritical political debate on the subject of asylum is patently clear: People seeking refuge - and even children - are being instrumentalized as a "potential threat", instead of being offered help and instead of the humanitarian claims cited in basic law being fulfilled. (One could say sarcastically: And it's for this reason that we have to change this law!) (...).

Many of the people seeking refuge in Germany have not been able to regain their lost sense of security and dented dignity. On the contrary, they have been confronted with new insecurities, obstacles and fear. Even refugees from civil war zones are faced with having to leave or forced deportation

This conflict is plain for everyone to see in the way in which the German Home Secretary treats Bosnian refugees, including many children and young people who are still at school or starting training. And although most of these refugees are still in need of protection as defined by the Geneva Convention on Refugees, they are constantly put under pressure by Germany's asylum policy. A fact reflected in residence permits not being extended and life chances being disregarded. To ascertain and to implement the "best interests of the child" while considering every angle is completely secondary in Germany.

Using this type of "temporary protection", Germany finds itself on the road towards minimizing protection for refugees - as well as ignorance and scant regard for human rights as a whole.

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4. Pit's story — one example in many

The young person named P. - referred to in the following as "Pit" - arrived in Hamburg, Germany at the beginning of February 1995. Origins and background unknown. The immigration office ordered a "fictive determination of age" to be carried out; this means that some official "had a guess" at Pit's age. He was thought to be over the age of 16 and, therefore, "legally responsible" according to asylum policy. At his hearing on the 7th of February, his application was rejected on the grounds of being "clearly unfounded". At the beginning of March - by order of the courts - he was put in custody prior to deportation. By the beginning of May, Pit's solicitor managed to get him released. To determine Pit's age an x-ray examination of his wrist bone was ordered and carried out a day after his release. The "surprising" consequences of this examination was a place for Pit in a youth center, a toleration document and a guardian.

During his two-month detention period, Pit had been able to express himself only in writing. Notes from his court hearing make clear his mental health at the time: "sitting in the corner", "the person concerned buries his face in his hands"

Unable to speak, communicating only in writing when paper and pen are available, Pit was clearly seriously traumatized. His inapproachability was interpreted by government offices and the courts as stubborn behavior. A noticeable transformation took place following his release from detention. After attending a church service on his written request, he began to speak. His need to express himself using pen and paper became increasing less. Slowly fragments of his life story begin to emerge. Burns on his knee and leg that had not healed well were found. No one had bothered to offer him help since his arrival in Germany. Pit clearly escaped the genocide in Ruanda by the skin of his teeth.

What happened to this boy, to his family? It will be a long time before Pit is able to tell his real story. What would have happened to Pit, were it not for the efforts of a few committed people who began to take the dumb boy Pit seriously and fought for him on his behalf (...)?

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