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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Transnational parent-child separation and reunion during early childhood in Chinese migrant families: An Australian snapshot

Hui, Yat Man Louise; Stevenson, Julie; Gallego, Gisselle - Australian Journal of Child and Family Health Nursing , 01 Jun 2019

This descriptive study portrays a sample of children from Chinese migrant families residing in western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, whose parents temporarily relinquished their care to grandparents in China.

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UNICEF Annual Report 2018: For every child, every right

UNICEF, 01 Jun 2019

In words, images, facts and figures, this report details the results that UNICEF achieved in 2018, together with its generous partners and supporters, a dedicated global workforce and children and young people themselves.

International Migration and Remittance Effects on the School Enrollment of Children Staying Behind: Evidence from Tajikistan

Enerelt Murakami - Asian Development Bank Institute, 01 Jun 2019

This paper explores the impact of international migration on school enrollment of children staying behind in Tajikistan, by using data from a large nationally representative household survey. The results show that migration of household members reduces the probability of enrolling in school by 10 percentage points for children who belong to households with migrants. The effect of parental migration is much larger than that of migration of other household members. Receiving remittances reduces the adverse impact of migration by only 1‒3 percentage points.

Children Come First, Intervento in Frontiera: Dossier finale

Alessio Fasulo & Paolo Howard - Save the Children Italy, 01 Jun 2019

The general objective of the project "Children Come First: Intervention at the border" is to strengthen the system of protection and reception of migrant children arriving in Italy, whether they are separated or accompanied by their parents. In this final dossier, a balance sheet of the intervention has been drawn up and it focuses on the evolution of migration flows of unaccompanied foreign minors over the past two years.

Country Care Review: Botswana

Better Care Network, 31 May 2019

This country care review includes the care-related Concluding Observations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Working with Parents and Children Separated at the Border: Examining the Impact of the Zero Tolerance Policy and beyond

Cristina Muñiz de la Peña, Lisa Pineda, Brenda Punsky - Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 30 May 2019

The present article first provides an overview of the historical and socio-political context of family separation policies in the US, second a review of the literature on the impact of family separation on children and parents in diverse contexts, and third a description of direct clinical experiences with these children and parents receiving services at the Terra Firma program in the Bronx community in New York.

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Citizens of Nowhere? Paradoxes of State Parental Responsibility for Unaccompanied Migrant Children in the United Kingdom

Francesca Meloni & Rachel Humphris - Journal of Refugee Studies, 18 May 2019

This paper asks how state parental responsibility towards unaccompanied minors is given meaning, and with what consequences, for both frontline workers and unaccompanied minors alike?

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Emotional and behavioral problems among left-behind children in Indonesia

Raisatul Umami, Sherly S Turnip - Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 17 May 2019

The aim of this study was to assess and compare emotional and behavioral problems between left-behind children (LBC) and non-LBC in Indonesia.

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Challenging the Welfare System and Forcing Policy Innovation? Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children in Sweden and Germany

Inga Narbutaité Aflaki & Matthias Freise - Journal of Refugee Studies, 13 May 2019

The article examines from a comparative perspective how Sweden and Germany reacted to the unprecedented increase in unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in 2015. By illustrating the reactions of two countries, the study shows that an unprecedented wave of refugees/asylum seekers can trigger both more incremental, adaptive and drastic transformative policy changes.

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Personal psychological resources mediate parent–child relationship and mental health among left‐behind children

Imelu G. Mordeno, I Marie Joy S. Gallemit, Sittie Shayuri B. Lantud, Brian J. Hall - The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 09 May 2019

The present study examined the association between family resources and mental health as mediated by personal psychological resources (PPRs) for left‐behind children (LBC).

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