Migrants in vulnerable situations are often unable to effectively enjoy their human rights, which increases the risk of violations and abuse. A child’s vulnerability is compounded by the circumstances of their departure, the child’s individual capacity for resilience, the exposure to violence during their journey, their gender and gender identity, and whether their migration is irregular, or characterized by exploitative or abusive situations, such as trafficking.

Violence, exploitation and abuse

Many child migrants are exposed to violence, exploitation and abuse during their journey and at their destination. Some migrant children are killed by smugglers or traffickers; others drown at sea. Some children are forced into criminal activities during their journeys; victims of trafficking are often sold on numerous occasions during their journeys and are physically and sexually abused. Children can be recruited into exploitation or trafficking before their departure, during the journey, after arrival and even after having received a permit of stay in the country of destination or after return, transfer or resettlement. Abductions of boys and girls for recruitment and use by armed forces and armed groups during conflicts are frequent and well documented (IOM and UNICEF, 2017).

Children face violence, exploitation and abuse at the hands of people they encounter in the country of origin, the country of transit and at destination. These can include employers, transporters, smugglers and traffickers. Some children might be at risk from accompanying adults, including caregivers or parents. They might experience significant levels of indifference or abuse by State officials, including police, border guards, immigration officials and staff in reception or detention facilities. The exploitation of children could be organized by families, small groups or large-scale criminal networks.

Case Study
Exploitation of migrant children and their family during their journey

“Abduraham arrived in Israel with his mother with a cough and a runny nose. They were detained upon arrival. After repeated requests, a physician examined Abduraham and his mother. The physician noticed a strange scar on the boy’s leg. Because they did not speak the same language, it was difficult for the physician to understand Abduraham’s mother’s explanation of the scar. In order to explain, Abduraham’s mother, then only 22 years old, lifted her shirt and showed a similar scar. In the Sinai, they had been held captive for three months by the smugglers. The scar on the boy’s leg and the corresponding scar on his mother, were from where the chains had been attached to their bodies. The only time they were not chained together was when smugglers unlocked Abduraham’s mother to rape her. Only after paying US$10,000 were they released and taken to the Israeli border”.

Source

International Detention Coalition, 2012:25.

It is important to bear in mind the nature and level of trauma experienced by some child migrants during their journeys, and how this can impact their ability to disclose information and trust individuals they come in contact with; in particular, law enforcement professionals, but also humanitarian staff and other government officials.

Case Study
Child marriage of girls in humanitarian settings

In humanitarian settings, girls can be particularly vulnerable, due to increased insecurity and poverty and weaker social networks. As a result, families may see the marriage of girls as a form of protection from violence, and a way to cope with poverty and hardship. In some conflict areas, research suggests that accompanied girls are being married by parents and families, and face increased sexual violence – as well as other forms of violence – within their marriage. Due to their young age, they may also face complications from pregnancy and childbirth that can have serious negative impacts on their health and well-being. In Syrian refugee communities in Jordan, for example, child marriage has rapidly increased. Between 2011 and 2014, the rates of registered child marriages almost tripled, from 12 per cent to just under 32 per cent.

Source

 Girls Not Brides, 2020.

Because of their family status and an assumption that their needs are being met, accompanied children’s needs can sometimes be overlooked, as compared to those of unaccompanied and separated children. It is, however, important to stress that accompanied children also need to be considered in assessment processes, and their participation in decisions that concern them can facilitate their access to their rights. Similarly, families need to be supported to provide adequate care and assistance to their children.

States can prevent the exploitation of migrant children by protecting them and ensuring their rights. Read policy approaches in An overview of the fundamental rights of migrant children in this chapter.

See the interlinkage Trafficking in children for more information on this aggravated form of exploitation and measures to address it.

Discrimination

Migrant children can face several types of discrimination, in the country of origin, while in transit and upon arrival in their destination. Discrimination can be related to their status as migrants, refugees or asylum seekers, or as members of particular religious, gender, ethnic, racial or nationality groups. They are frequent targets of xenophobic crime, including both physical attacks and hate speech. They are frequently criminalized because of irregular entry or irregular stay.

Case Study
Discrimination cases

Filly, 17, migrated alone from the Gambia to Palermo, Italy – where racism now shadows him daily. A woman spat at him on the street the other day, and people on the bus stand up and move away if he sits next to them. “Some people will run away from you,” he says, “like they are seeing an animal.”

Christelle, 15, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who came to Libya with her family, described being stopped and extorted by police. “People here do not like black people at all,” she says, “On the contrary, black people are mistreated.”

Source

 IOM and UNICEF, 2017:39, 42.

Discrimination can affect many aspects of the lives of migrant children. They are regularly denied access to health, education, housing and other services, or to work, simply because of their immigration status. Many will avoid seeking out services such as health care or attempting to enrol in school due to previous experiences of discrimination and xenophobia.

Example
Regional rulings on discrimination against migrants with respect to education

European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has considered cases involving the right to education and discrimination on the basis of migration status, finding that “the right [to education] is expressly enshrined in Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention”, “is of primordial importance for a child’s development” and constitutes a “a very particular type of public service, which not only directly benefits those using it but also serves broader societal functions”. For these reasons, a stricter scrutiny applies in the assessment of the proportionality of the discrimination based on “nationality” or “immigration status” (Ponomaryovi v. Bulgaria). The ECtHR has ruled that there is a violation of the right to education when children are excluded from both primary and secondary education due to the lack of registration as regular migrants of the parents (ECtHR, Timishev v. Russia), or when school fees apply only because of nationality and immigration status (Ponomaryovi v. Bulgaria).

Inter-American Court of Human Rights

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) has ruled that the State must provide free primary education to all children in an appropriate environment and in the conditions necessary to ensure their full intellectual development (IACtHR, Yean and Bosico Case).

States can prevent discrimination against migrant children by ensuring their rights to non-discrimination, to participate, to be heard, to health and to education. Read policy approaches in An overview of the fundamental rights of migrant children in this chapter.

Detention of migrant children

Many countries continue to place migrant children – whether accompanied, separated or unaccompanied – into immigration detention facilities due to their immigration status and the circumstances of their entry into a country.

The detention of children can have devasting and long-lasting impact on a child’s physical and mental health and well-being. Even very short periods of detention can undermine a child’s psychological and physical well-being and compromise their cognitive development (International Detention Coalition, 2012). Detention may compound any trauma they may have already suffered in their home country or along the migratory route. Children are sometimes detained in confined or unsanitary spaces with adults who are prosecuted or sentenced for minor offences or serious crimes. In addition to being deprived of their liberty, migrant children are also vulnerable while in detention to increased risks of physical and sexual abuse, acts of violence, and denial of access to education, health care, and family life. Their living conditions while in detention and the lack of stimulating and social activities, food, sleep and physical activities, together with prolonged separation from their families, can severely impact their physical and cognitive development. In addition, children in detention are often denied access to legal representation or counselling and are not duly informed of the progress of the resolution of their case. Children in detention have also reported that they lack basic understanding regarding the exact purpose or the length of their detention, which results in an increased level of stress and anxiety. In short, detention is never in the best interests of a child, and all forms of immigration detention need to be avoided.

Policy Approaches
Immigration detention of migrant children
  • Immigration detention can never be justified based on the child being unaccompanied or separated, or on their migratory or residence status or lack thereof (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2005).
  • Place unaccompanied and separated children in a national or local alternative care system, preferably in family-type care, with their own family when available, or otherwise in community care when family is not available.
  • When it is in the best interests of the child to remain with their family, the prohibition of immigration detention extends to the child’s parents as well. In such cases, find non-custodial solutions for the entire family (Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2018).

Detention of child migrants is a violation of the principle of the best interests of the child and of the child’s right to development. Read An Overview of The Fundamental Rights of Migrant Children in this chapter and Best interests processes on applying the best interests of the child.

To Go Further
Separation from parents and primary caregivers

For the definition of separated and unaccompanied children, see Children in the context of migration in this chapter.

Separation from a parent or primary caregiver can occur both in emergency and non-emergency situations. However, evidence suggests that children are more at risk of becoming separated from their families or usual caregivers as a result of an emergency situation (UNICEF, 2018). Due to the lack of a protective familial environment, separated and unaccompanied children are among the most vulnerable of all children.

The circumstances and length of separation can vary; some children who begin their journeys with family or community members may become separated and reunified along the way. For some children and their families, separation is a choice, and many children decide to travel with their peers.

When children are deprived of the care and protection of their families and caregivers, they become at heightened risk of physical and psychological harm, abduction, trafficking, recruitment or use by armed forces or armed groups, sexual abuse and exploitation, and permanent loss of identity. Moreover, they may be burdened with adult responsibilities far beyond their years, maturity or physical strength. Understanding how separation between children and caregivers can occur is the first step to preventing it. Separation can happen in emergency or non-emergency contexts, and can be accidental, deliberate or aid induced.

Table
Table 1. Forms of separation from parents or caregivers

 

Accidental separation Deliberate separation Aid-induced separation
  • Not planned or anticipated and occurs against the will of the parent or caregiver and the child or children.
  • Generally, occurs when communities are under attack or forced to flee from danger.
  • Parents, caregivers or children themselves make a conscious decision to separate, whether during the emergency (“primary separation”) or after (“secondary separation”).
  • Deliberate separation can be the child’s decision to flee from intrafamilial or community persecutions
  • Children can be sent out of the country by their family for their protection or to seek better opportunities elsewhere.
  • “Deliberate” separations do not always have a negative impact on children (for example, children can be placed in a more beneficial situation), but they can increase children’s vulnerability in some circumstances.
  • “Deliberate” separation does not imply the separation is intended to be prolonged or permanent. However, this can occur even where it was not the original intent.
  • Results from the humanitarian response itself.
  • In some emergencies, media coverage of “orphaned” children can generate pressure to identify quick and visible solutions, such as residential care or adoption, and may cause separations.
  • It is important to raise awareness among media and donors of the risks of inappropriate actions.
Case Study
Separation in transit

Yusuf’s whole village fled after it was attacked. “The people who are dead, are dead. We buried them. And all of us left. Nobody of the village who was still alive stayed in that place anymore”, he said.

Yusuf left with his mother and two sisters. The village was close to the border, so it didn’t take long to cross into Chad. He stayed in a refugee camp for 11 days. But “the camp was not safe. Some people were coming from outside trying to enter the camp and they attack them, they shooting, they come creeping at night, militias and kidnapping the people”. The guides who brought the villagers to the camp insisted they would take care of the mothers, but that the young boys were not safe and that they should leave. “So we left. We came to Libya. From Libya, we came here [to Malta]”.

The boys from Yusuf’s village did not leave the refugee camp all together. Yusuf left with four other boys. The group travelled by car for a while before separating. Yusuf then found a Libyan animal trader who agreed to take Yusuf to Libya if he cared for the sheep on the way. The man took Yusuf to Tripoli. The whole trip lasted 14 days.

Source

 International Detention Coalition, 2012.

To counter the negative effects of child separation from parents or caregivers, States should ensure migrant children’s rights to family, to life, survival and development and to protection. For more on policy approaches, see An overview of the fundamental rights of migrant children in this chapter.

To Go Further
  • Inter-Agency Working Group on Unaccompanied and Separated Children, Field Handbook on Unaccompanied and Separated Children, 2017.
  • UNICEF, Family unity in the context of migration, 2018. Working paper.
Key messages
  • Migrant children may be subjected to violence, exploitation and abuse during their journey and also upon their arrival in their destination country.
  • Children can be targets of xenophobic crime, including both physical attacks and hate speech. Discrimination can also be related to their status as migrants or to their membership of particular religious, ethnic, racial, genderor nationality groups.
  • Migrant children can face migration detention in the country of transit or destination. The detention of children can have devasting and long-lasting impact on their physical and mental health and well-being. Immigration detention of children – whether they are travelling alone, or with their families – is never in their best interests, is a violation of their rights, and should be avoided at all costs.
  • States can prevent these issues from affecting child migrants if they implement children’s rights as per the Convention on the Rights of the Child 
To Go Further
PreviousAn overview of the fundamental rights of migrant children NextSafeguarding and protecting migrant children