Abstract
When children seek asylum from alleged abuse by a custodial parent, the notion that family reunification is always in the best interests of independent child migrants is undermined. In this chapter, the authors discuss the legal tensions between the Refugee Convention, the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (the “Hague Convention”), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child that arise in such cases. They recommend that the principle of expediency underlying the Hague Convention should not override the time and due process requirements necessary to adequately assess the best interests of the child involved. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.