Ariticle10Contact with parents across countries

Article 10 contains the basic arrangements for the departure from and entrance into a country for parents and children who have been separated to different countries to meet again. Specific examples of the reasons why parents and children may be separated include, of course, wars and civil wars, as well as refugee status due to the effects of disasters causing extensive damage, deportation by force, and the division of residential areas due to changes in border lines. This article is based on two premises: the definition of “family” in the preamble of the Convention as “the fundamental group of society” and “the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children,” and Article 9(1), which states that “the State has an obligation to ensure that children will not be separated against their parents' will (except when necessary in the light of the 'best interests of the child'). For more information on Article 9, please refer to the page together.

Details set out in the article

Paragraph 1 requires that applications for immigration to bring families who are to be separated back together should be “handled in a positive, humane, and expeditious manner.” The word “positive” can be taken to mean that a child's request for entry or departure cannot be denied unless there are absolute reasons why it cannot be granted, based on consideration of the “best interests of the child.” The “humane and expeditious” means that maximum efforts should be made to fulfill the child's wish to enter or leave the country to pursue the “best interests of the child.” The “adverse effect” in the latter part of the article refers to cases in which the child's wish to enter or leave the country brings detrimental effects on the approval or renewal of his or her status of residence. Since a child's right to enter and leave the country should be protected, the state is required to prevent this from happening.

Paragraph 2 provides that the “right to maintain on a regular basis, save in exceptional circumstances personal relations and direct contacts with both parents” (Article 9(3)) should be guaranteed, even in cases where families are separated across national borders and states have the obligation to respect the child's and his or her parent's right to enter into and leave from the country.

One word of concern here is “in exceptional circumstances.” These “exceptional circumstances” include “cases where the best interests of the child are at stake,” “cases where it is unknown where the parents are located in the first place,” “cases where there are no diplomatic relations with the country where the parents are supposed to be located or where diplomatic relations are being severed for some reason,” and “cases of a significant departure from the restrictions prescribed by law and which are necessary to protect the national security, public order (ordre public), public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others and are consistent with the other rights recognized in the present Convention.” Also, the definition of “their own country” in this article includes not only the “country of nationality,” which is the country of the child's nationality, but also the “country of residence” in which they are living at the time.