Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Child migration is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon spanning continents, age groups, and family patterns governed by two intersecting but not overlapping governance regimes. One of these two regimes is the migration regime, designed to uphold sovereign state borders and manage migration flows. The other is the child rights regime, a governance framework that privileges the protection of the best interests of the child. This article focuses on the mobility of adolescents, their needs, their challenges, and the implications of the complex and sometimes contradictory governance regimes impinging on these youthful migrations.

Keywords

Adolescents child governance human rights migration mobility rights

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bhabha

(2014a) Child Migration and Human Rights in a Global Context. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Bhabha

(2018) Can We Solve the Migration Crisis? Cambridge: Polity Press, pp. 90–122.

Bhabha

Dottridge

(2017) Child rights in the global compacts: Recommendations for protecting, promoting and implementing the rights of children on the move in the proposed global compacts (report). Available at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Working-document-24-June-2017.pdf (accessed 21 January 2019).

Bhabha

(ed.) (2014b) Human Rights and Adolescence. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-Hernandez

(eds.) (2018) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Bleich

Bloemraad

Graauw

(2015) Migrants, minorities and the media: Information, representations and participation in the public sphere. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 41(6): 857–873.

Chetail

Bauloz

(eds.) (2014) Research Handbook on International Law and Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

CONNECT (2014) Reference document on unaccompanied children: A compilation of relevant EU laws and policies. Technical Report, European Commission. Available at: http://www.connectproject.eu/PDF/CONNECT-EU_Reference.pdf (accessed 2 February 2019).

Council of the European Union (2013) Regulation (EU) No 603/2013. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:180:0001:0030:EN:PDF (accessed 10 February 2019).

10.

Coutin

(2018) Roots of juvenile migration from El Salvador. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 113–126.

11.

De Leon

(2015) The Land of Open Graves. Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

12.

Digidiki

Bhabha

(2017) Emergency within an Emergency: The growing epidemic of sexual exploitation and abuse of migrant children in Greece. Boston, MA: Harvard FXB Center.

13.

Dryden-Peterson

(2015) Refugee education in countries of first asylum: Breaking open the black box of pre-settlement experiences. Theory and Research in Education 14(2): 131–148.

14.

Ensor

Goździak

(eds.) (2010) Children and Migration: At the Crossroads of Resiliency and Vulnerability. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

15.

European Commission (2018) Compilation of data, situation and media reports on children in migration. Available at: ec.europa.eu/newsroom/document.cfm?doc_id=40299 (accessed 10 January 2019).

16.

European Migration Network (2015) Policies, practices and data on unaccompanied minors in the EU Member States and Norway. Technical report, European migration network. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/docs/emn-studies/emn_study_policies_practices_and_data_on_unaccompanied_minors_in_the_eu_member_states_and_norway_synthesis_report_final_eu_2015.pdf (accessed 1 February 2019).

17.

European Network for Ombudspersons of Children (2016) Safety and fundamental rights at stake for children on the move. Technical report, ENOC. Available at: http://enoc.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ENOC-Task-Force-Children-on-the-Move-1st-report-25Jan2016.pdf (accessed 28 January 2019).

18.

European Union (EU) (2009) European border and coast guard agency (Frontex). Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/european-agenda-migration/background-information/docs/communication_on_the_european_agenda_on_migration_en.pdf (accessed 2 February 2019).

19.

Eurostat (2019) Asylum and managed migration. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/asylum-and-managed-migration/data/database (accessed 2 February 2019).

20.

Frydman

Bookey

(2018) Applying the refugee definition to child-specific forms of persecution. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 187–208.

21.

Gardner

(2012) Transnational migration and the study of children: An introduction. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 38(6): 889–912.

22.

Gaynor

(2016) Young refugees gather to share ideas at UNHCR global summit: UNHCR. Available at: https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/latest/2016/6/575a6a024/young-refugees-gather-share-ideas-unhcr-global-summit.html (accessed 29 March 2019).

23.

Giles

Orgocka

(2018) Protracted refugee situations: Adolescents in Dadaab, Kenya. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 416–426.

24.

Gonzales

(2015) Lives in Limbo: Undocumented and Coming of Age in America. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

25.

Hampton

(2015) Zero protection: How U.S. border enforcement harms migrant safety and health. Physicians for human rights, January. Available at: https://phr.org/resources/zero-protection-how-u-s-border-enforcement-harms-migrant-safety-and-health/ (accessed 2 February 2019).

26.

Hansene

You

Beise

(2018) Migrant and displaced children. IOM data bulletin series 55. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/12/social-media-is-casting-a-dark-shadow-over-migration/ (accessed 2 February 2019).

27.

Hjern

Ascher

Vervliet

et al . (2018) Identification: Age and identity assessment. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 281–293.

28.

IOM UNICEF (2015) Data brief, migration of children to Europe. Technical Report, UNICEF, November. Available at: https://www.iom.int/sites/default/files/press_release/file/IOM-UNICEF-Data-Brief-Refugee-and-Migrant-Crisis-in-Europe-30.11.15.pdf (accessed 29 January 2019).

29.

Josefsson

(2017) “We beg you, let them!” right claims of asylum-seeking children as a socio—political practice. Childhood 24(3): 316–332.

30.

Kara

(2009) Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. New York: Columbia University Press.

31.

Kumin

(2018) Credibility: The challenge of establishing credibility in child asylum cases. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-Hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 293–303.

32.

McAuliffe

(2018) The link between migration and technology is not what you think. World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/12/social-media-is-casting-a-dark-shadow-over-migration/ (accessed 28 January 2019).

33.

McIntyre

(2014) Not all kids are equal: Central American kids get court dates, Mexicans get the boot. In: Fusion live. Available at: http://fusion.net/story/6074/not-all-kids-are-equal-central-american-kids-get-court-dates-mexicans-get-the-boot/ (accessed 19 January 2018).

34.

Ensor

Goździak

(eds) (2010) Children and Migration: At the Crossroads of Resiliency and Vulnerability. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

35.

Migration Policy Institute (2019) Rising child migration to the US. Available at: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/us-immigration-policy-program/rising-child-migration-united-states (accessed 29 January 2018).

36.

Ministero della Difesa (2018) Mare nostrum operation. Available at http://www.marina.difesa.it/EN/operations/Pagine/MareNostrum.aspx (accessed 30 March 2019).

37.

Murk

(2015) Children’s rights in return policy and practice in Europe. Technical report, UNICEF. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/sites/antitrafficking/files/childrens_rights_in_return_policy_and_practice_in_europe.pdf (accessed 2 Feburary 2019).

38.

Nicholls

Fiorito

(2015) Dreamers unbound: Immigrant youth mobilizing. New Labor Forum 24(1): 86–92.

39.

Ní Laoire

Carpena-Méndez

Tyrrell

et al . (2010) Special issue: Childhood and migration: mobilities, homes and belongings. Childhood 17(2): 155–287.

40.

O’Donnell

(2018) Reflections on the European union’s role in strengthening the protection of children in migration. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 131–139.

41.

Parusel

(2009) Working Paper 26—Unaccompanied Minors in Germany. European Commission, June 2009. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/networks/european_migration_network/reports/docs/emn-studies/unaccompanied-minors/05._germany_national_report_on_unaccompanied_minors_final_version_en_publication_en.pdf (accessed 20 January 2019).

42.

Radio Sweden (2017) Young Afghan asylum seekers stage sit-in to protest deportation. Swedish Radio. Available at: https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=6752161 (accessed 29 March 2019).

43.

Rekacewicz

(2018) Hassan’s journey: Route and transport conditions when one is denied a visa. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-Hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 349–350.

44.

Smyth

(2018) The jurisprudence of the European court of human rights relevant to child migrants. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 140–156.

45.

Steinberg

(2014) Age of Opportunity: Lessons from the New Science of Adolescence. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

46.

Taylor

(2015) Italy ran an operation that saved thousands of migrants from drowning in the Mediterranean. Why did it stop? Washington Post, 20 April 2015. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/04/20/italy-ran-an-operation-that-save-thousands-of-migrants-from-drowning-in-the-mediterranean-why-did-it-stop/

47.

Terrio

(2018) Undocumented central American children in the United States. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 427–446.

48.

Tibet

(2018) Learning as agency: Strategies of survival among Somali asylum seekers in Turkey. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 458–477.

49.

Timera

(2018) Child mobility from and within West African countries. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 66–81.

50.

Treiber

(2018) From revolutionary education to futures elsewhere: Children and young refugees fleeing Eritrea. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 49–65.

51.

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (2005) General Comment No.6,Treatment of Unaccompanied and Separated Children Outside their Country of Origin. CRC/GC/2005/6.

52.

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General comment No. 12 (2009) The Right of the Child to be Heard, 20 July 2009, CRC/C/GC/20. Available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4ae562c52.html (accessed 15 January 2018).

53.

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), General comment No. 20 (2016) On the implementation of the rights of the child during adolescence, 6 December 2016, CRC/C/GC/20. Available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/589dad3d4.html (accessed 5 February 2019).

54.

UNHCR (2014) Safe & sound: What States can do to ensure respect for the best interests of unaccompanied and separated children in Europe. Report, UNCHR, October. Available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5423da264.html (accessed 29 January 2019).

55.

UNHCR (2016a) Global trends: Forced displacement in 2015. Available at: https://www.unhcr.org/5943e8a34.pdf (Accessed 3 January 2019).

56.

UNHCR (2016b) Missing out: Refugee education in crisis. Report, UNHCR, September. Available at: http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/missing-out-refugee-education-in-crisis_unhcr_2016-en.pdf (accessed 20 January 2018).

57.

UNHCR (2017) Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2016. Available at: https://www.unhcr.org/5943e8a34.pdf (accessed 3 January 2019).

58.

UNICEF (2017) Latest statistics and graphics on refugee and migrant children. UN Department of Economics and Social Affairs. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/eca/emergencies/latest-statistics-and-graphics-refugee-and-migrant-children (accessed 20 February 2019).

59.

UNICEF and IOM (2017) Harrowing Journeys: Children and youth on the move across the Mediterranean Sea, at risk of trafficking and exploitation: UNICEF. Available at: www.unicef.org/publications/index_100621.html (accessed 21 January 2019).

60.

United Nations (1989) Convention on the rights of the child. General Assembly resolution 44/25, 20 November. U.N. Doc. A/RES/44/25. Available at: http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx (accessed 3 January 2018).

61.

United Nations (2018) Resolution adopted by the General assembly on 19 December 2018. A/RES/73/195. Available at: http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/73/195 (accessed 1 February 2019).

62.

Vacchiano

(2018) Desiring mobility: Children’s migration, parents’ distress and constraints on the future in North Africa. In: Bhabha

Kanics

Senovilla-hernandez

(eds) Research Handbook on Child Migration. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 82–97.

63.

Van Bueren

(1998) The Interational Law on the Rights of the Child. Leiden: Bill-Nijhoff.

64.

Van denhole

(2015) The convention on the rights of the child. In: Liefaard

Doek

(eds) Belgian Case Law in Litigating the Rights of the Child: The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Domestic and International Jurisprudence. Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 113–115.

65.

White

Ní Laoire

Tyrrell

et al . (2011) Children’s roles in transnational migration. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 37(8): 1159–1293.

Governing adolescent mobility: The elusive role of children’s rights principles in contemporary migration practice

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References