Children on the move: opportunities and risks

1. Children on the move: opportunities and risks

2. Some figures • 214 million persons worldwide as international migrants • 740 million persons migrating within borders • a third of migrant flow from developing world are between 12 and 24 years of age • Millions under 18 years old

3. Forms of child migration • Across borders or internally • Family migration or independent child migration • Children moving in peers • Involuntary and forced migration, incl child trafficking

4. Causes • To escape conflict, natural disaster, violence at home/school • In search of better opportunities for education and employment • To contribute to family incomes or even as part of a family surviving strategy (decreasing household consumption) • History and culture where migration is considered as learning experience and part of transition to adulthood

5. Consequences • Movement means improved standards of living and prospects for many of these children • but for many others means risks, lower standards of living, abuse, exploitation and trafficking

6. Risk factors • Age and development of the child • Gender • Conditions of journey • Links with and support by protective actors • Access to services • Political and social environment in the transit and host societies

7. Example of Morocco • Countries of origin Ivory Cost, DRC, Iraq, Nigeria • Destination EU • Long and risky trajectories • Exposure to various forms of exploitation and often without any support • Girls under 18 arriving pregnant • Raped or sporadic relations on the way, no father aside

8. Undocumented migrant • Getting ‘stuck’ • Lacking access to services and opportunities • Lack of regular incomes, prostitution as survival strategy? • Difficult to reach out to Nigerian women, trafficking? • Women afraid to deliver at hospital • Child or mother health complications during delivery • Lack of birth registration of the child

9. Lampedusa 2011 (i) • Ongoing flows of migrant • 2692 children registered Jan- Sep • Approx 5% of migrants arriving every time are children • 14-18 years old • Nigeria, Sudan, Morocco, Libya

10. Lampedusa 2011 (ii) • Common spaces with adult men • No privacy and full protection • Poor hygienic conditions • Incidents of violence • Alleged cases of sexual abuse • Very limited access to health and psychosocial support

11. Further at destination • Xenophobia and discrimination • Lack of the initial social network • Difficulties to create a new social network and receive thus the required support • Worst case scenarios • Detention and deportation practices • Return without a proper risk assessment and best interests determination • Hidden and lacking access often even to basic services • The child could fall victim of exploitation

12. Recommandations

13. Research • Need for further research, data and information • Disaggregated per age and gender • Regular repetition to enable comparison • Listening to experiences of children in migration

14. Countries of origin • Qualitative education • Employment opportunities • Systems of protecting children from harm and abuse • Incl community protection practices • Addressing gender based violence • Bridging cultural norms and practices with rules and regulations • Information on safe migration

15. On the move • Protection services along the movement process • Empowerment and self protection • Encouraging peer support and maintaining the link with protective actors in place of origin

16. In transit/ destination • Being able to access protection services without discrimination • Information on existing services • Need for law enforcement investigation on whether third parties are involved • Fighting discrimination and xenophobia against foreigners • No situation amounting to detention due to migration status • Best interests determination on every measure undertaken, incl decision on return or not

17. For further reading • Kids Abroad: ignore them, abuse them or protect them? • Quelle protection pur les enfants concernes par la mobilite en Afrique de L’Ouest? • Vulnerability to exploitation and trafficking of Bulgarian children and adolescent in Greece? • Exploring methods to protect children on the move- Draft

18. TDHIF Campaign • A new campaign on protecting children on the move? • Awareness on the protection needs of children on the move by bringing forth their experiences • Seeking a paradigm shift from a security perspective to a child protection one • Ensuring access to services for children in a number of identified routes