Protecting Children in Conflict: An Unfinished Legal and Moral Agenda

Perhaps no individuals suffer more from the effects of war than our children. This contribution briefly reviews how children have suffered in the past, focusing on those who have been forced to flee their homes and often their families. It does this by describing the international law we have put in place to protect our children fleeing from war. It specifically describes the most important provisions of the corpora of international refugee law, international human rights law, and international humanitarian law. These corpora of law contain the law that has been created to mitigate the suffering of children fleeing armed conflicts. Having described the law, brief attention is given to some of the supplementary instruments that are used to interpret the legal obligations of states. And finally, attention is given to selected shortcomings of the law and the international community's efforts to adequately protect children from the scourge of war. The concluding suggestions emphasize the need to refocus our efforts. We need to make sure that the gaps in the law are closed by agreeing to international law that protects all children forced to flee their homes because of armed conflict. And we need to make sure that we address the causes of war by not losing track of the aspirational goal of ending war forever.