The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and refugee children : How is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child implemented in relation to unaccompanied refugee children?

1990 Sweden ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, with 54 rights. The Convention on the Rights of the Child does not apply as law in Sweden. However, all countries that have ratified the convention, has an obligation to implement the convention in all decision making and practical management that includes children. The purpose of the study is to examine the implementation of the convention in relation to unaccompanied refugee children on a state, municipal and non-profit level by using three actors. The actors are the Swedish immigration service, Stockholm social service and the NGO Save the Children. The study is a qualitative case study that uses interviews with representatives from the three actors. The study examines how the Convention on the Rights of the Child has been implemented in the city of Stockholm regarding unaccompanied refugee children. The essay uses Lennart Lundquists theory of implementation and examines whether the three actors understand, can and want to implement the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Since 1 July 2006, the responsibility for providing housing for unaccompanied children remained with the municipalities instead of the Swedish immigration service. The consequence of that legislative change is reported in the study. The result of the study shows that there are barriers for the implementation to be accomplished. The problem with the implementation of the Convention on the on the Rights of the Child is that it is subordinate to other laws dealing with unaccompanied refugee children. The result also shows that the conditions for the unaccompanied refugee children only can be improved by making the Convention on the Rights of the Child to law in Sweden