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Dear Colleague, As you know, every year thousands of children fleeing persecution arrive in the United States alone in search of protection. We are writing to share with you the recent publication of a report we co-authored, entitled Seeking Asylum Alone: Unaccompanied and Separated Children and Refugee Protection in the U.S. http://www.humanrights.harvard.edu/conference/Seeking_Asylum_Alone_US_Report.pdf The report describes the nature and scale of migration by children entering the U.S. without parents, drawing upon government data and statements, advocates' accounts, court proceedings, and interviews with key participants, including migrant children themselves. It is part of an international comparative research project on children and asylum conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Reports describing the findings in the other countries, and an overall analysis comparing policies and practices in all three countries, will be published later this year. All four reports will be accessible on-line at: http://www.humanrights.harvard.edu for both download and purchase. The report acknowledges the efforts being made by several government agencies to improve the access to protection for unaccompanied and separated children. However, it expresses concern about the many shortcomings in policy and in practice regarding children seeking asylum alone. Among the key findings of the report are that many unaccompanied and separated children have a stronger claim to asylum than has been recognized or acknowledged so far. It further suggests that many existing problems can be solved relatively easily, without jeopardizing United States' migration management programs, instituting open door immigration policies or establishing reckless incentives to use children as migration anchors or investment commodities. The report calls for a transformation of the current system to recognize the obligation to take unaccompanied and separated children's best interests seriously. Thank you for your interest in the report and its findings. With best wishes, Jacqueline Bhabha and Susan Schmidt Susan Frick Program Manager University Committee on Human Rights Studies Harvard University http://www.humanrights.harvard.edu ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Note: The material contained in this communication comes to you from the Forced Migration Discussion List which is moderated by the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC), University of Oxford. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the RSC or the University. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this message please retain this disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. List archives are available at: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/forced-migration.html