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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“You Never Know When You Will See Him Again”: Understanding the Intersectional Dimensions of Immigration, Indigeneity, and Language for Unaccompanied Indigenous Minors

Josué López, Erica Fernández - Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 04 Feb 2020

This case explores the complex ways unaccompanied Latinx Indigenous minors experience the intersection of immigration policies and U.S. school policies and practices and the implications this has for school leaders.

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Unaccompanied minors in Sicily: promoting conceptualizations of child well-being through children's own subjective realities

Ravinder Barn, Roberta T. Di Rosa and Gabriella Argento - Children's Lives in Southern Europe, 03 Feb 2020

Identifying different domains and dimensions of children’s well-being and touching upon its multifaceted nature, this study presents an alternative framework, showing how the quality of the reception path for unaccompanied minors is fundamental to having successful results throughout the entire integration process.

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Migrant children and local policies regarding reunified children in Spain

Elisa Brey - Children's Lives in Southern Europe, 03 Feb 2020

In respect of international migration by children and adolescents, the aims of this chapter are: (1) to present the main trends of migratory dynamics before and during the economic crisis in Spain, migrant children in the educational system, and their career expectations as they become adults; and (2) to analyse local policies towards reunified children in Madrid and Barcelona.

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“You Will Never See Your Child Again:” The Persistent Psychological Effects of Family Separation

Hajar Habbach, Kathryn Hampton, and Ranit Mishori - Physicians for Human Rights, 01 Feb 2020

This report from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) presents findings from an investigation based on psychological evaluations of asylum-seeking parents and children who were separated by the U.S. government in 2018. The investigation found pervasive symptoms and behaviors consistent with trauma, particularly the trauma of family separation.

Actions Needed to Improve DHS Processing of Families and Coordination between DHS and HHS

United States Government Accountability Office, 01 Feb 2020

This report examines (1) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data on apprehended family unit members; the extent to which (2) CBP and (3) the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) developed and implemented policies and procedures for processing family units; and (4) how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) share information about unaccompanied alien children (UAC).

Children left behind by parental migration in sub-Saharan Africa

Kwabena Kusi-Mensah & Olayinka Omigbodun - The Lancet, 28 Jan 2020

This article from the Lancet explores parental migration and its effect on children who are left behind in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa.

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The Urbanization Paradox: Parental Absence and Child Development in China - an Empirical Analysis Based on the China Family Panel Studies Survey

Lijun Chen, Di Qi & Dali L. Yang - Child Indicators Research, 24 Jan 2020

This study zeroes in on the issue of left-behind children and draws on data from the China Family Panel Studies surveys to examine the impacts of parental absence on child development in psychological, physical and cognitive domains.

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The impacts of parent-child communication on left-behind children’s mental health and suicidal ideation: A cross sectional study in Anhui

Jingjing Lu, Leesa Lin, Brita Roy, Carley Riley, Emily Wang, Karen Wang, Lu Li, Feng Wang, Xudong Zhou - Children and Youth Services Review, 23 Jan 2020

This study aimed to investigate the impact of previous maternal migration experiences on left-behind children’s (LBC) mental health status and suicidal ideation, and the possible mediating role of parent-child communication.

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Age assessment in unaccompanied minors

José Luis Prieto - Forensic Science and Humanitarian Action: Interacting with the Dead and the Living, 21 Jan 2020

This article explores age assessment methods used in estimating legal age or minor status of migrants and the need to minimize false positives with the aim of avoiding mistaken classification of a minor as of legal age.

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Constructions of young migrants’ situations in kinship care in a Swedish suburb by social workers in a non-governmental organisation mentoring programme

Maria Moberg Stephenson, Åsa Källström - Qualitative Social Work, 14 Jan 2020

The aim of this study is to explore how the social workers employed at a non-governmental organisation mentoring programme construct young migrants’ situations in kinship care in a Swedish suburb, and if and how these constructions change during the course of the programme.

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