2022
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
4(1)
the foundation for human development — our ability to learn, create, critically
think, effectively communicate and form relationships. This period of
development is rapid and the plasticity of the brain is at its most modifiable by
risk and protective factors in the environment. Infectious disease, hunger, family
distress, neglect and violence can disrupt the pattern of typical brain
development.13 Exposure to severe, frequent and prolonged adversity, without the
support of a consistent and nurturing caregiver, can result in toxic effects on the
developing brain with long-term detrimental implications on adult physical and
mental health, learning and behaviour. 14
Evidence shows the harmful effects of adverse childhood experiences on the
individual, as well as intergenerational impacts, for children who experience
displacement.15 Young child refugees experience a host of risks that threaten their
sense of security and impact their development, including loss of home and
community, violence and separation. In contrast, stable settlement, social support
and continuity of care, which maintains and values the family and nurturing
caregiving system around the child, is protective. 16 Nurturing care is defined as a
stable environment that is sensitive to young children’s health and nutrition needs,
offers protection from threats and provides opportunities for learning and
grants responsive, emotionally supportive and developmentally stimulating
interactions.17 However, nurturing care interventions that support young children
and their caregivers (eg, maternal and child health and nutrition, parenting support,
family mental health and violence prevention and opportunities for play, creativity
and learning) are undermined if child rights are not upheld. For example, the
separation of children from their families at the border or for prolonged periods in
detention centres has immediate and long-term consequences for the development
and wellbeing of young children, as well as societal costs.18
The rights of all children are enshrined in the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child (‘CRC’),19 which defines the health, educational, social,
cultural, economic and political rights for all children. The CRC has been ratified
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Charles A Nelson et al, ‘Adversity in Childhood is Linked to Mental and Physical Health
throughout Life’ (2020) 371 BMJ 1, 2.
ibid; Charles A Nelson, Nathan A Fox and Charles H Zeanah, ‘Anguish of the Abandoned
Child’ (2013) 308(4) Scientific American 62.
See, eg, Mina Fazel et al, ‘Mental Health of Displaced and Refugee Children Resettled in
High-Income Countries: Risk and Protective Factors’ (2012) 379(9812) The Lancet 266;
Arash Javanbakht et al, ‘Biological and Environmental Factors Affecting Risk and Resilience
among Syrian Refugee Children’ (2021) 6 Journal of Psychiatry and Brain Science e210003;
John S Murray, ‘Toxic Stress and Child Refugees’ (2018) 23(1) Journal for Specialists in
Pediatric Nursing e12200.
Black (n 4) 79.
Pia R Britto et al, ‘Nurturing Care: Promoting Early Childhood Development’ (2017)
389(10064) The Lancet 91, 91.
See T Joseph Mattingly et al, ‘Unseen Costs: The Direct and Indirect Impact of US
Immigration Policies on Child and Adolescent Health and Well-Being’ (2020) 33(6) Journal
of Traumatic Stress 873; Sarah Mares, ‘Fifteen Years of Detaining Children Who Seek
Asylum in Australia — Evidence and Consequences’ (2016) 24(1) Australasian Psychiatry
11; Laura C N Wood, ‘Impact of Punitive Immigration Policies, Parent–Child Separation and
Child Detention on the Mental Health and Development of Children’ (2018) 2(1) BMJ
Paediatrics Open e000338.
Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted 20 November 1989, 1577 UNTS 3 (entered
into force 2 September 1990).
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