Advisory opinion Nº 21/2014 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the protection of migrant children in MERCOSUR

Abstract

Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, acting together, asked the Inter-American Court of Human Rights for an advisory opinion, in order to receive answers about standards of protection for migrant children, given the
challenges faced in the region. In response, the Court issued Advisory Opinion Nº. 21/2014, entitled “Rights and Guarantees of Children in the Context of Migration and/or in Need of International Protection”. On this topic, this
article seeks to answer the following research problem: what are the impacts of OC-21/2014 issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the formulation of initiatives to protect migrant children in MERCOSUR States
Parties? To this end, a history will be outlined regarding the request for an advisory opinion by the States Parties, seeking to understand how and why the bloc took the initiative to present the joint request to the Inter-American
Court, as well as what is contained in said request. Next, an overview of the normative provision and policies for the protection of migrant children that already existed in MERCOSUR prior to OC-21-2014 will be presented, to then
verify what the Court expressed in its response and which were the posterior initiatives of the bloc and State Parties to promote in practice the protection standards of this vulnerable group, described in the advisory opinion. The
research is qualitative, with a deductive approach, using historical and comparative procedure methods and the techniques of bibliographic review and document analysis.