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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The Provision of Foster Care for Unaccompanied Migrant Children: Some considerations

Dr. Muireann Ní Raghallaigh - FORUM, 2019

This article is written as part of the FORUM project (FOR Unaccompanied Minors: transfer of knowledge for professionals to increase foster care), an EU funded project which sought to enhance the capacity of professionals to provide quality foster care for unaccompanied migrant children, primarily through the transfer of knowledge. The article aims to contribute to this transfer of knowledge by bringing together literature which is of relevance to professionals developing or enhancing foster care services for unaccompanied migrant children.

Unaccompanied Migrant Minors Detention Before the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

Veljko Turanjanin - Yearbook - Human Rights Protection: Protection of the Rights of the Child “30 Years After the Adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child” Number 2, 2019

In this article, the author deals with one of the most problematic issues of the migrant crisis, namely the deprivation of liberty of a unaccompanied migrant minor in his or her migrant journey.

LAC Migration and Displacement Hub

Save the Children, 2019

This brief provides an overview of the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Migration Hub, established by Save the Children in Panama to support migration work in the region.

Thailand Migration Report 2019

United Nations Thematic Working Group on Migration in Thailand, 2019

The Thailand Migration Report 2019, jointly produced by members of the United Nations Thailand Working Group on Migration, contains 11 chapters covering themes such as working conditions, access to services, remittances, human trafficking and exploitation. UNICEF, along with UNESCO, has co-authored Chapter 6 on Strengthening Access to Services for Migrant Children in Thailand.

Schooling experiences of children left behind in Zimbabwe by emigrating parents: Implications for inclusive education

Mazvita Cecilia Tawodzera, Mahlapahlapana Themane - South African Journal of Education, 2019

This paper assesses experiences and challenges faced by the left-behind children (LBC) in Zimbabwe and explores these children’s perceptions of their interactions with teachers through inclusive education practices.

Health Diplomacy: Spotlight on refugees and migrants

World Health Organization, 2019

This book is part of the WHO Regional Office for Europe’s commitment to work for the health of refugees and migrants. It showcases good practices by which governments, non-state actors and international and nongovernmental organizations attempt to address the complexity of migration, by strengthening health system responsiveness to refugee and migrant health matters, and by coordinating and developing foreign policy solutions to improve health at the global, regional, country and local levels.

Psychological practice with unaccompanied immigrant minors: Clinical and legal considerations.

NeMoyer, A., Rodriguez, T., & Alvarez, K. - Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 2019

This article provides an overview of typical experiences for unaccompanied immigrant minors (UIMs), discusses the accompanying legal and clinical implications, and offers recommendations for psychological practice at the level of providers, training programs, and child-serving systems.

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“No Mother Wants Her Child to Migrate” Vulnerability of Children on the Move in the Horn of Africa

Olivia Bueno - UNICEF Office of Research (Innocenti), 2019

The report highlights how children’s movement is driven by different motivations, exposes children to different forms of harm, and presents multiple barriers to accessing services.

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Measures that are Appropriate for Refugee Children and Families

The National Child Traumatic Network (NCTN), 2019

The National Child Traumatic Network (NCTN) has published a list of measures that front line professionals can use to assess the exposure to trauma among migrant and refugee families and children.

Communication Between Left-Behind Children and Their Migrant Parents in China: A Study of Imagined Interactions, Relational Maintenance Behaviors, Family Support, and Relationship Quality

Sheng, Yingyan - Kent State University, 2019

This dissertation examines the communication between left-behind children in China and their migrant parents from the three-level perspective of relational maintenance (Dainton, 2003): the self, the system, and the network contexts.

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