interpretation of the rules applicable to migrants in order to complete the necessary
framework that provides protection to these persons with multiple vulnerability factors
and to determine the scope of the obligations of the States.
It warns that the scope of protection derived from the ACHR and other treaties will be
extended to every child, regardless of migration status, including refugees, migrants,
asylum seekers and stateless persons (IACHR, 2014b: para 95).
Within the main defined obligations, States must adapt their regulations based on the
application of the principle of useful effect (Sagüés, 2010: 118) for the enjoyment of
rights in the context of migration. Hence the importance of procedures that States must
take into account in the face of the risks that unaccompanied minors or separated from
their families may suffer (victims of trafficking, sexual exploitation, participation in
criminal activities or labour exploitation). To this end, it is necessary to have mechanisms
for early detection of children in situations of migratory vulnerability (IACHR, 2014b:
paras 90 and 93).
AO-21 points out the procedures to identify the international protection needs of migrant
children such as the granting of asylum and shelter, no deprivation of the freedom of
children regardless of their immigration status, creation of priority measures for the
protection of minors, accommodation special conditions (IACHR, 2014b: para 106),
respect for the principle of non-refoulement (IACHR, 2014b: para 207), and respect for
family life (IACHR, 2014b: para 263). Under this approach, the United Nations Human
Rights Council issued a report on the global problem of unaccompanied migrant children
and adolescents and human rights, which highlights the good practices proposed by the
IACHR in this area (United Nations General Assembly, 2017).
The foregoing allows us to maintain that the Inter-American Court does not seek to ignore
the sovereignty of the States. Still, they must adapt their legislation to international
treaties and develop a series of good practices in immigration matters, including:
privilege the human rights approach, promptly identify minors at risk, respect due
process, the right of children to personal liberty and return procedures may not at any
time endanger the life or integrity of minors.
In this ruling, the Inter-American Court has resumed the considerations already made in
contentious cases that have failed, in which the rights of children, the double vulnerability
of minors and the protection of the family are the guiding axes of the decision, as
happened in cases already analysed in contentious jurisprudence (IACHR, 2014a),
(IACHR, 2005). According to the inter-American jurisprudence in this matter, the
beginning of a new stage in the integral protection of the rights of children could be
considered (Beloff, 2009: 17), since it sees minors in migratory status as a special
protection objective within the IACHR.
4. Conclusions
The aforementioned jurisprudence shows that for the Inter-American Court, the issue of
the rights of foreigners and immigrants has been of recent treatment, as in their decisions
they have not been a cross-cutting issue addressed over the years. Despite this, it is
possible to identify some contributions to the IACHR that have been produced thanks to
the permanent dialogue between contentious decisions and the exercise of the advisory
function. This is because in the latter, the Inter-American Court has been able to integrate