224. In addition, when the applicant for refugee status is a child, the principles contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child must guide both the substantive and the procedural aspects of the decision on the child’s request for refugee status.260 Thus, when children are the applicants, they must enjoy specific procedural and probative guarantees to ensure that fair decisions are taken when deciding their requests for refugee status, which requires the establishment and implementation of proceedings that are appropriate and safe for children and of an environment that creates trust at all stage of the asylum procedure. Also, and under this same principle, if the main applicant is excluded from refugee status, the family members have the right to have their own requests evaluated independently.261 However, such situations have not been described in this case. 225. In addition, if an applicant for refugee status receives protection, other members of the family, particularly the children, may receive the same treatment or benefit from that recognition, based on the principle of family unification.262 In the proceeding to decide refugee status, the applicant’s family members may eventually be heard, even if there are children among them. In each case, it is for the authorities to evaluate the need to hear them based on the contents of the application. In this case, although Juan Ricardo was only one year old, Frida Edith and Juana Guadalupe could have been heard by the authorities in relation to the request presented by their parents. 226. Regarding the second aspect, in relation to the proceeding on the expulsion of the Pacheco Tineo family based on their situation as irregular aliens, the Court recalls the intrinsic relationship that exists between the right to protection of the family and the rights of the child. In this regard, the Court has found that the right to protection of the family, and to live in a family, recognized in Article 17 of the Convention, means that the State is obliged not only to establish and execute directly measures of protection for children, but also to promote, as extensively as possible, the development and enhancement of the family unit.263 Consequently, the separation of children from their family constitutes, under certain circumstances, a violation of the said right,264 because even legal separations of the child from its family are only admissible if they are duly justified in the best interests of the child, exceptional and, insofar as possible, temporary.265 259 “Separated children” are children separated from both their parents or from their previous legal or customary primary caregivers but not necessarily from other relatives. UNHCR. Child asylum under Articles 1(A)2 and 1(F) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, HCR/GIP/09/08, 22 September 2009, para. 6. 260 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Guidelines on international protection No. 8. Child asylum under Articles 1(A)2 and 1(F) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, HCR/GIP/09/08, 22 September 2009, para. 5. The Committee on the Rights of the Child has identified the following four articles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as general principles for its implementation: Article 2: the obligation of States to respect and ensure the rights set forth in the Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind; Article 3 (1): the best interests of the child as a primary consideration in all actions concerning children; Article 6: the child’s inherent right to life and States parties’ obligation to ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child; and Article 12: the child’s right to express his/her views freely regarding “all matters affecting the child”, and that those views be given due weight. See also: Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 5 (2003): General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Articles 4, 42 and 44, para. 6), CRC/GC/2003/5, 3 October 200, para. 12. These principles guide both the substantive and the procedural aspects of the determination of a request for refugee status for a child. 261 Cf. Expert opinion of Juan Carlos Murillo provided on March 29, 2013 (evidence file, folios 1423 and 1424) 262 See, in general, UNHCR, Procedural Standards for Refugee Status Determination under UNHCR’s mandate. See also, UNHCR. Guidelines on international protection No. 8: Child asylum under Articles 1(A)2 and 1(F) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. 263 Cf. Juridical Status and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02 of August 28, 2002, para. 66, and Case of Forneron and daughter v. Argentina, para. 116 264 Cf. Juridical Status and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02 of August 28, 2002, paras. 71 and 72, and Case of Forneron and daughter v. Argentina, para. 116., 265 Cf. Juridical Status and Human Rights of the Child. Advisory Opinion OC-17/02 of August 28, 2002, para. 77. 70