Desarrollada por el Grupo de Trabajo sobre Separación Familiar en colaboración con organizaciones nacionales e internacionales de confianza que trabajan directamente con familias afectadas, esta guía informativa orienta a padres, madres, cuidadores y las personas que les ayudan a comprender mejor sus derechos, conocer las opciones disponibles para la reunificación e identificar recursos que puedan contribuir a encontrar la mejor solución para cada niño, niña, adolescente y su familia.

Developed through the Family Separation Working Group in partnership with trusted national and international organizations on the front lines of supporting families, this practical guide helps parents, caregivers, and those assisting them understand their rights, learn about reunification options, and identify resources that may support them in finding the best solution for their child and family.

With an estimated 37-42 million children on the move globally, this publication underscores the urgent need to place children’s rights at the center of migration governance. Drawing on promising practices from countries including Thailand, Jordan, Mexico and Uganda, the report highlights practical, rights-based solutions that address children’s specific vulnerabilities while promoting their protection, development and inclusion.

Since taking office in 2025, the second Donald Trump administration significantly expanded immigration enforcement while weakening safeguards for due process, family unity, and parental rights, resulting in record detention levels and widespread impacts on immigrant families. This research by Women’s Refugee Commission and Physicians for Human Rights found that many deported parents were denied the opportunity to make arrangements for their children, leading to increased family separations that may become long-term or permanent.

This article reviews the emerging research on cross-border placements of children in care, including kinship care and intensive pedagogy models, amid rising global migration. It highlights ongoing concerns around legal frameworks, accountability, and limited comparative data, while outlining key implications and priorities for future social work research.

This review examines what happens to unaccompanied and separated children who go missing after arriving in Greece, a major entry point for asylum seekers, and finds that most likely continue their journeys irregularly or remain unofficially in the country. However, due to limited and mostly anecdotal evidence, it highlights a major gap in reliable data and calls for urgent research and policy action to better protect these children.

This paper sets out guidelines on the specific challenges arising when domestic violence crosses international borders. It puts forth 15 core principles to guide states, courts and other professionals in better addressing cross-border family violence. It is intended to support implementation and encourage cooperation across jurisdictions and sectors in order to enhance the protection of children and families.

This Working Paper outlines the complex ways in which displacement affects girls’ access to justice, and how these are often overlooked. It places special emphasis on the achievement of SDG16.2: 'put an end to abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and all forms of violence and torture against children', and SDG16.7: ‘ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels, ’ located in the context of the 70 Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women’s priority theme of ‘ensuring and strengthening access to justice for all women and girls. ’

This article explores the experiences of foster carers supporting unaccompanied asylum-seeking and trafficked children (UASTC) in the U.K., highlighting challenges such as limited specialist training, the emotional toll of managing risk, and navigating the asylum process. Despite the small sample, findings suggest the need for trauma-informed care pathways, tailored training and supervision, peer support networks, and further research into UASTC experiences across different placements.

This chapter in the The Routledge Handbook of Social Work and Migration focuses on social work with children and young people who have experienced forced migration and become separated from family members, known as unaccompanied minors. It explores the possibilities of rights-based practice with unaccompanied children and considers what might be needed to develop and sustain this.