Workshop on Independent Child Migrants: Policy Debates and Dilemmas

Organised by the Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty, University of Sussex and UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre
12 th September 2007, Central Hall, Westminster , London

The principal purpose of the DRC workshop was to stimulate debates and research on independent child migrants, It was an opportunity for researchers and policy makers to exchange views on the independent migration of children and to identify gaps in evidence required to formulate policies. The workshop also aimed to make visible the independent migration of children in a manner that enables stakeholders to discuss appropriate mechanisms of support. The independent migration of children for work and education within and between developing countries and from South to North countries is a poorly understood migration phenomenon, which nevertheless affects millions of children. This event was concerned with children who are not refugees and are not coerced or tricked into moving by third persons.

Presentations

Plenary Session 1

Ann Whitehead, Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty, University of Sussex
Independent Child Migration: Issues and Context

Samantha Punch, University of Stirling
Migration Projects: Children on the Move for Work and Education Presentation
Migration Projects: Children on the Move for Work and Education Paper

Plenary Session 2

Anne Hatloy, FAFO Institute for Applied International Studies
Relocation and Trafficking - Is there a Link? Studies of Children and Youth in West Africa

Jacqueline Bhabha, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government
Legal Issues and Criminalisation
Independent Children, Inconsistent Adults: Child Migration and the Legal Framework

Parallel Sessions

Parallel Session 1: Migration Projects: Children on the Move for Work and Education

Erick Otieno Nyambedha, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Maseno University
Children's Independent Movements in the era of HIV/AIDS pandemic

John Bryant, Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University , Bangkok
Independent Child Migrants: Some Basic Information and How to Find out More

Iman Hashim – Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty, University of Sussex
Children's Independent Migration in Ghana : What are the Costs and Benefits?

Parallel Session 2: Migration and Trafficking

Tanja Bastia, University of Manchester
Child Trafficking or Teenage Migration? Bolivian Migrants in Argentina

Inthasone Phetsiriseng, National Coordinator for Lao PDR, Asia-Pacific Migration Research Network (APMRN)
Migration Mapping in Lao PDR

Parallel Session 3: Legal Issues and Criminalisation

Kristina Touzenis, International Organisation for Migration, Rome
Child Migrants – Legal Protection and Criminalisation

Jyothi Kanics, Irish Refugee Council, Dublin
Independent Child Migrants in Europe : Realities, Challenges and Opportunities

Also funded by: