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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Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes Migrantes Retornados. Un análisis de los contextos y las respuestas de los servicios y las políticas de protección en El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras y México

RELAF, UNICEF, Save the Children, 2015

Esta evaluación rápida busca cubrir la escasez de información sobre las políticas y los servicios de las entidades gubernamentales y no gubernamentales encargadas de la protección de los derechos de niños, niñas y adolescentes migrantes retornados a sus sociedades de origen en los países del Triángulo del Norte y México, con un foco en las acciones tendientes a restituir el derecho a la convivencia familiar y la integración comunitaria.

The Feminization of International Migration and its Effects on the Children Left Behind: Evidence from the Philippines

Patricia Cortes - World Development, 2015

This paper explores the effects of a mother’s migration on her children’s well-being.

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Parental migration and the mental health of those who stay behind to care for children in South-East Asia

Elspeth Graham, Lucy P. Jordan, Brenda S.A. Yeoh - Social Science & Medicine, 2015

This paper uses data collected in 2008 and 2009 for a project on Child Health and Migrant Parents in South-East Asia (CHAMPSEA) to address a largely neglected research area by investigating the mental health of those who stay behind in Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam to care for the children of overseas migrants.

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Consequences of parents’ migration on children rearing and education

Maria Pescaru - Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2015

This study examines the consequences of the affective and educative nature of Romanian parents’ migration related to their children.

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‘Left behind’ but not left alone: Parental migration & the psychosocial health of children in Moldova

Michaella Vanore, Valentina Mazzucato, Melissa Siegel - Social Science & Medicine, 2015

Using data collected from a nationally-representative household survey conducted in Moldova between September 2011 and February 2012, this paper analyses the psychosocial health outcomes of children of migrant parents by comparing them with children without migrant parents (n = 1979).

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Humanitarian Protection for Children Fleeing Gang-Based Violence in the Americas

Elizabeth Carlson, Anna Marie Gallagher - Journal on Migration and Human Security, 2015

This paper provides an overview of the violence perpetrated by gangs and other criminal organizations in Mexico and Central America which compels many children to flee their communities. The paper also describes the US government’s obligations to protect unaccompanied children upon arrival, and good practices of other governments relating to the protection of child migrants and refugees.

Humanitarian Protection for Children Fleeing Gang-Based Violence in the Americas

Elizabeth Carlson, Anna Marie Gallagher - Journal on Migration and Human Security, 2015

Sexual abuses of left-behind children of migrant women: community-perceived vulnerabilities and barriers in prevention

Chamara Senaratna - International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 2015

The purpose of this paper is to describe hitherto unexplored issues related to sexual abuse of left-behind children of migrant women in Sri Lanka.

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Migration and Statelessness: Turning the Spotlight on Malaysia

Rodziana Mohamed Razali, Rohaida Nordin and Tamara Joan Duraisingam, 2015

This article investigates the relationships and differences between statelessness and migration. Its particular focus is on migration in Malaysia and how migration can lead to statelessness.

Building Happy Families IRC Research Brief

Amanda Sim, Research Evaluation & Learning Unit, International Rescue Committee (IRC) , 01 Nov 2014

This research brief provides an overview of an impact evaluation of the “Happy Families Program,” conducted by the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The Happy Families Program is a parenting and family skills intervention designed for Burmese families living on the Thai-Burmese border.