2.8 Children in UNHCR RSD Procedures 2.8.1 General Considerations relating to Child Applicants Children have the right to make an independent refugee status claim, regardless of their age or whether they are accompanied, unaccompanied or separated. Child Applicants should receive all necessary assistance and support in making their claim. Whether a child is making an individual refugee status claim1 or applying for derivative refugee status as a dependant of a recognized refugee (for guidance on derivative refugee status see, § 5 – Processing Claims based on the Right to Family Unity), the principles and procedural standards set out in this section and, more broadly, the RSD Procedural Standards, must be observed. Where applicable, additional standards and recommendations relating to child Applicants are set out in other Units of the RSD Procedural Standards (see, for example, § 3.2.6 – Registration Interview of Family Members/Dependants, § 3.4.6 – Child Applicants (under 18) / Unaccompanied & Separated Children, § 4.3.7 – Interviewing Child Applicants, and § 5.3.2 – Derivative Refugee Status Applications Involving Children). The child-specific terms used in this section and elsewhere in the RSD Procedural Standards should be understood as follows: Definitions: „ Child: A person who is under 18 years of age. This term encompasses a wide range of developmental stages and levels of maturity, from early childhood to the late teens. „ Child Applicant: A child who makes an individual refugee status claim or who applies for derivative refugee status as the dependant of a recognized refugee. „ Unaccompanied Child: A child who has been separated from both parents and other relatives and is not being cared for by an adult who, by law or custom, is responsible for doing so. A child who is unaccompanied for the purposes of this definition may, therefore, be physically accompanied by an adult whose relationship with the child has not reached a standard of legal or customary custody of the child (see also ‘customary caregiver’ below) – for example, an acquaintance or neighbor. „ Separated Child: A child separated from both parents, or from their previous legal or customary primary caregiver, but not necessarily from other relatives. These may, therefore, include children accompanied by other adult family members. Where the relative in question has long been the primary caregiver of the child to the extent that they are legally or customarily considered to hold custody (see also ‘customary caregiver’ below), the child would not be considered separated. „ Parent: The biological or adoptive parent of the child. „ Customary Caregiver: A customary caregiver is a person that the community has accepted, either by tradition or common practice, to provide the daily care, protection and supervision of a child. The customary caregiver may (or may not) be related to the child. A customary caregiver is usually a person other than a parent who has cared for a child for an extended period of time in country of origin, transit or in country of asylum. 1 72 All Applicants who meet the refugee criteria under the UNHCR’s mandate should be recognized as refugees in their own right even if they have applied for refugee status as part of a family rather than on individual basis (see § 5.2 – Derivative Refugee Status). Procedural Standards for RSD under UNHCR’s Mandate