Notwithstanding the treaties’ failure to recognize family reunification as a human right, many of them nonetheless express profound respect for family unity itself, without going so far as to defend the physical act of unifying or reunifying. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for instance, recognizes the family as “the natural and fundamental group unit of society, entitled to the protection by society and the States”[1], yet makes no mention of any right to unite the family together again following separation. Similarly, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights suggests that “the widest possible protection and assistance should be accorded to the family, which is the natural and fundamental group unit of society, particularly for its establishment and for the care and education of dependent children”[2]. Although this article asserts not only the importance of family, but implicitly the value of unified families, the Convenant does not suggest the right to such unification for families that are separated.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 13:19:51 +0000