PART 2.1 1.4.2. HUMAN RIGHTS OF CHILDREN International human rights law applies to all persons without distinction, and children are included in the generally applicable rules and standards cited throughout this Commentary. However, as recognized in the Trafficking Principles and Guidelines (Principle 10, Guideline 8), the particular physical, psychological and psychosocial harm suffered by trafficked children, and their increased vulnerability to exploitation, require them to be dealt with separately from trafficked adults in terms of laws, policies and programmes. Children may also be trafficked for purposes that are related to their age: for example, sexual exploitation, various forms of forced labour, and begging. An approach to trafficking that recognizes the particular situation of children is validated by international human rights law, which explicitly recognizes the special position of children and therefore accords them special rights. International human rights law imposes important additional responsibilities on States when it comes to identifying child victims of trafficking and ensuring their immediate and longer-term safety and well-being. The core rule is derived from the obligations contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child: in dealing with child victims of trafficking, the best interests of the child are to be at all times paramount (art. 3). In other words, States cannot prioritize other considerations, such as those related to immigration control or public order, over the best interests of a child victim of trafficking. In addition, because of the applicability of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to all children under the jurisdiction or control of a State, non-citizen child victims of trafficking are entitled to the same protection as nationals of the receiving State in all matters, including those 64 related to the protection of their privacy and physical and moral integrity. Its Optional Protocol on the sale of children reiterates the best interests principle and imposes specific additional obligations on States parties with respect to acts that are often associated with the trafficking of children. Specific rights and obligations of direct relevance to the situation of trafficked children include the following: • The right of children to protection from all forms of discrimination; • The best interests of the child to be the primary consideration in all actions concerning or impacting upon children; • The prohibition on the illicit transfer and nonreturn of children abroad; • The right of children to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing hazardous or harmful work; • The right of children to be protected from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse; • The right of children to be protected from abduction, sale or trafficking; • The right of children to be protected from other forms of exploitation; • The obligation to promote the physical and psychological recovery and social integration of child victims; and • The right of children to a nationality and the right to preserve that nationality. The sources of these rights and obligations are given in box 8, below. Note that a number of specialist trafficking instruments, including the Trafficking Protocol and the European Trafficking Convention, also contain provisions that are specific to children. These are identified and considered at relevant points throughout the Commentary. RECOMMENDED PRINCIPLES AND GUIDELINES ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING