Separated Children in Ireland: Responding to ‘Terrible Wrongs’

摘要

This article examines the ambiguous and uneasy status of separated children in Ireland at the margins of child protection regimes. The treatment and care of separated children in Ireland has been the subject of continuing controversy. For many years, the failure of the state to adequately care for separated children has attracted criticism. This criticism has pointed to continuing gaps in protection and inequities in the standards of care provided. The Ryan Report: Implementation Plan, adopted by the Irish Government in 2009 in response to the Report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse, committed the state to ensuring equity of care in the treatment of separated children. This commitment was a welcome, if long overdue, response to the risks faced by separated children and to the gaps in protection in law, policy and care regimes within the state. It marked a turning point in the state's response to separated children and an acceptance of the obligations of protection arising towards a particularly vulnerable group of children in the care of the state. Much remains to be done, however, to ensure that the state meets its positive obligations of protection towards separated children and to ensure that border norms do not hinder recognition of the vulnerability and rights claims of such children.