Even after traveling across an international border to seek refuge, they remain vulnerable to hazardous labor exploitation, physical abuse, denial of education, sexual violence and exploitation, cross-border attacks, militarization of refugee camps, and recruitment as child soldiers. Article 22 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child grants special protection to refugee children. Refugee children who are not being cared for by their parents are entitled to further protections. Refugee children fleeing war are also entitled to special protection under article 38 of the convention, as children affected by armed conflict. Like all children, they are also entitled to all other rights granted under the convention including the rights to life, physical integrity, adequate food and medical care, education, and to be free from discrimination, exploitation, and abuse.
Separated children are particularly vulnerable.
In the United States, Human Rights Watch found that unaccompanied children have been detained by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in detention facilities, where they may be confined for lengthy periods of time before being released to family members or appropriate guardians. Rarely understanding what was happening to them, children were often denied information about their detention and their right to be represented by an attorney in immigration proceedings in a language they understood. In some cases they were housed with juvenile offenders and subjected to a rigid and punitive environment. In refugee camps in Guinea, Human Rights Watch found that Sierra Leonean girls as young as twelve may feel they have no choice but to work as child prostitutes in order to support themselves and, in some cases, their families. In addition, these girls have little or no access to education or health care.