Away From Home: Protecting and Supporting Children on the Move

Summary: This report was launched during the III World Congress Against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 25 to 28th November 2008.

The movement of children issignificant but largely invisibleMillions of children are on the move, both withinand between countries, with or without theirparents.They are part of large-scale population movements currently taking place in many parts of the world.

This trend is set to continue over the next few decades, driven by economic developments, violent conflict, state failure, natural disasters, and environmental and resource pressures, especially climate change.

Yet, despite the numbers of children involved, the needs and interests of children on the move are largely absent from mainstream debates on both child protection and migration.

As a result,most governments and international institutions have failed to develop effective policy responses tohelp these vulnerable children.This report looks at what we mean by children onthe move, what their experiences are, what support they need, and how protection systems can be adapted to meet these needs.

It proposes a new framework of protection and assistance to safeguard the rights and well-being of ‘children on the move’.

Children on the move are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse

Children on the move, especially those moving independently, are especially vulnerable to exploitation, coercion, deception, and violence.

They are particularly vulnerable to the worst forms of child labour and to sexual exploitation and abuse. As a result of their vulnerability, the discrimination they experience and their status as new arrivals, childrenwho move face barriers when trying to access basic services, particularly education and healthcare.

Movement can be positive for children

On the other hand, when movement occurs in safe conditions, it can be positive for children, providing opportunities to access education, to contribute to their family’s income, to develop new skills orrealise other aspirations. Some children report that they value these opportunities and that they are prepared to accept other, negative outcomes – suchas low pay, hard working conditions and poor living conditions – if necessary.

Trafficking is not synonymous with all children’s movement

In recent years, attention to the protection ofchildren who move has been focused on childtrafficking, which has increased in parallel with the increase in migration flows. There are indications that this focus on child trafficking as a criminal act, while extremely important, has had unintended, sometimes negative consequences for other children on the move.

Crucially, children’s independent movement and their role in the decision-making process around movement have been largely ignored.

We need to support positive outcomes, as well as respond to negative outcomes

States have legal obligations to ensure protectionand provide essential services for all children,including children on the move who may have noright of residence. Children need to be protected from exploitation, violence and the worst forms of child labour.

However, policy-makers and practitioners also need to understand the reasons why children are moving, their specific needs,and the role of children’s decision-making andexperiences. Similarly, the beneficial effects of children’s movements need to be acknowledged, and efforts made to capture these benefits more effectively and consistently.

Child protection systems and other services, as well as the design and implementation of migration policies, need to be adapted to work for children on the move

Such an approach requires attention to thefollowing areas:

• prevention from exploitation, violence and theworst forms of child labour
• support for safer movement
• policy and legal change
• the identification and assistance of exploited and abused children
• the provision of accessible, appropriate andrelevant services, such as education, job counselling, and training.

Children on the move must be listened to

Effective protection of children on the move is critically dependent on listening to children, and involving them in decisions around appropriate policy responses.

Recommendations

Save the Children recommends that governments,supported by intergovernmental agencies such as UNICEF, the International Labour Organisation, the International Organisation on Migration, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and by NGOs, should:

1. Ensure that children on the move arevisible in all relevant national andinternational policy discussions.
2. Ensure that anti-trafficking initiatives,while vital, do not ‘crowd out’ or impactnegatively on the support and care for allchildren on the move.
3. Address gaps in legislation, policies and services to protect and support children on the move, with the full involvement of children themselves.
4. Support cooperation and partnership initiatives that promote the best interests of children on the move.