Children and Migration

Millions of children around the world are affected by migration. This includes girls and boys who migrate within and between countries (usually with their families but sometimes on their own), as well as children ‘left behind’ when their parents or caregivers migrate in search of economic opportunities. Be it forced or voluntary, by adults or children, migration affects children’s care situations and can entail risks to their protection.

Children on the move: Like adults, children often migrate in an attempt to build a better life – to escape poverty, discrimination or conflict, and to find education, employment and other opportunities. Others relocate due to an unstable or difficult family environment, such as the loss of a parent, or neglect or abuse from a caregiver. Children may migrate with or without their families, and their movements may be temporary, seasonal or permanent.

While migration can open up new opportunities for children, it can also expose them to harmful care situations, chronic poverty, violence and exploitation. During transit and at their destination, migrant children may end up in unsafe institutions, detention centres, on the streets or in overcrowded, poor-quality accommodation. Others who migrate to join households (e.g. for fostering, education, domestic work or apprenticeships) may be subjected to exploitation. Many migrant children, particularly those without documentation, end up without access to education, protection or basic services, while discrimination and language barriers make it difficult for them to reintegrate into new communities.

Children left behind. An increasing number of children around the world are also adversely affected when migrating parents leave home to seek out employment or economic opportunities (often in urban centres). While children may gain materially from remittances sent home, the absence of a parent may be detrimental to their social and psychological development. In particular, the nature and quality of children’s care relationships may suffer as they adjust to life without a loved caregiver and try to replace a physically and emotionally nurturing relationship with someone new.

Studies from around the world indicate that children left behind by migrating caretakers face education, health and psychosocial problems, including deteriorating academic performance and lower school attendance, greater risk of drug abuse, early pregnancy, involvement in criminal activities and social dysfunction. Left behind children may suffer from low self-esteem and feelings of abandonment, and in the worst cases may be vulnerable to violence, abuse and trafficking. While new or remaining caretakers can offer children a protective and caring environment they may also struggle to care for them without support, and breakdown of these relationships can sometimes result in children’s placement in harmful institutional care.

The documents in this section focus on the impact of migration on children’s care situations, and outline policy, advocacy and programmatic measures to enhance child migrants’ protection.

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Holistic Review of Alternative Care Provision in an Area of Thailand with a High Number of Migrant Children: The Border District of Sangklaburi

Department of Children and Youth, One Sky Foundation, UNICEF Thailand, Kanchanaburi Office of Social Development and Human Security, 01 Jun 2021

This review was conducted in different forms of institutional care: private residential care, (charity) boarding schools, and temple as well as (informal) kinship care. The findings and recommendations were presented to the Thailand Provincial Social Development and Human Security Office and the Department of Children and Youth to further develop an alternative care road map and plan of action.

Caregiver burden and parenting stress among left-behind elderly individuals in rural China: a cross-sectional study

Mengjuan Zhao, Ziqiang Zhu, Chenchen Kong & Chunshan Zhao - BMC Public Health, 01 May 2021

The purpose of this study was to explore the level of caregiver burden and parenting stress and their relationship among left-behind elderly individuals.

‘We need to talk about Bona’: An autoethnographic account of fostering an unaccompanied asylum seeker

Maura Daly, Mark Smith - International Journal of Social Pedagogy, 21 Apr 2021

This article offers an account of the authors’ experiences as foster carers for an unaccompanied asylum seeker (and through him, supporting other asylum-seeking boys).

Acculturation orientations and mental health when facing post-migration stress: Differences between unaccompanied and accompanied male Middle Eastern refugee adolescents, first- and second-generation immigrant and native peers in Germany

Usama EL-Awad, Atefeh Fathi, Mira Vasileva, Franz Petermann, Tilman Reinelt - International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 19 Apr 2021

This study examined the mental health of Middle Eastern male unaccompanied refugee adolescents in Germany in relation to the mental health of accompanied refugee peers, first- and second-generation immigrant and native peers.

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Children Beyond Borders: Extending Protections for Abandoned, Abused, and Neglected Unaccompanied Children and Youth

Rosa Aguilar - Seattle Journal for Social Justice, 14 Apr 2021

This article argues that the U.S. Congress should make changes to extend protections under Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS). These implementations would give effect to the legislative intent behind SIJS, which is to protect the particularly vulnerable group of unaccompanied children and youth.

Unaccompanied Minors in Greece and Italy: An Exploration of the Challenges for Social Work within Tighter Immigration and Resource Constraints in Pandemic Times

Ravinder Barn, Roberta Teresa Di Rosa and Theano Kallinikaki - Social Sciences, 12 Apr 2021

Through an analysis of the impact of the pandemic on the Italian and Greek reception systems and social interventions with unaccompanied minors (UAMs), the authors of this study utilised a multiple embedded case study approach within a comparative analysis, to identify key changes in the main services which should be guaranteed to minors—namely, hosting/housing, guardianship, foster care, family/relatives reunification, school integration, language, job training for care leaving, and preparation for leaving care after 18 years.

“Se extraña todo:” Family separation and reunification experiences among unaccompanied adolescent migrants from Central America

Sita G. Patel, Vicky Bouche, William Martinez, Karla Barajas, Alex Garcia, Maya Sztainer, Kathleen Hawkins - New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 09 Apr 2021

This study used community‐participatory qualitative methods to deeply explore the lived experiences and emotional repercussions of family separation and reunification.

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The situation and well-being of custodial grandparents in Myanmar: Impacts of adult children's cross-border and internal migration

Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan, Timothy Qing Ying Low B. - Social Science & Medicine, 01 Apr 2021

Analyzing unique data from the 2017 Myanmar Grandparents Caring for Grandchildren Survey, this study examines the extent to which the middle generation's cross-border and internal migration are associated with caregiving intensity, perception towards grandchild care, and psychological well-being among grandparents.

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A Web of Insecurity: Gendered risks and vulnerabilities for children on the move during the COVID-19 pandemic

The International Data Alliance for Children on the Move (IDAC), 01 Apr 2021

This issue brief surveys the existing literature based on the limited available data to highlight areas of urgent concern for children on the move as they navigate life during the pandemic, examined through the lens of gender.

Expert Report: Access to Documents by Eritrean Refugees in the Context of Family Reunification

Daniel Mekonnen & Sara Palacios Arapiles - Equal Rights Beyond Borders and the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), 01 Apr 2021

This Independent Expert Report is concerned with challenges experienced by Eritrean refugees in Europe in the context of family reunification processes, in particular those relating to strict documentary requirements demanded by some EU Member States, in particular Germany.