2024 Theses Master's

A Balancing Act: Analyzing Children’s Rights in UK and Australian Counterterrorism Policies

Sandstrom, Carly

As concerns about terrorism and nations’ right to protect themselves from such threats have increased, nations around the world have implemented a variety of counterterrorism and national security policies. However, following the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the increasing use of children associated with armed groups and armed forces during armed conflict and by groups labeled as terrorists, counterterrorism policies have failed to adapt to modern issues.

As such, this paper reviews counterterrorism legislation from the UK and Australia to highlight shortcomings in protecting their international human rights obligations to protect children. In this analysis, it has become clear that outdated counterterrorism policies are leading to the violation of children’s rights, specifically as they are detained in Syria despite being UK and Australian nationals.