La Strada Documentation Center

Kids Abroad : Ignore them, Abuse them or Protect them ? Lessons on How to Protect Children on the Move from being Exploited

Document number
1849
Date
2008
Title
Kids Abroad : Ignore them, Abuse them or Protect them ? Lessons on How to Protect Children on the Move from being Exploited
Author/publisher
Mike Dottridge, Terre des Hommes International Federation
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Child Trafficking, Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, Best Interests Principle, Child Victims of Trafficking, Separated Migrant Children, Unaccompanied minors, Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Child protection systems, Family reunification, Guardian, Family Tracing, Age Assessment, Freedom from Detention, Interim Care, Integration, Adoption,
Summary
In a new report, "Kids Abroad", Terre des Hommes reviews a wide range of initiatives to support children who leave home without being accompanied by any other family member, discussing the situation in Western and South Eastern Europe and also in West Africa, Central America, South Asia and South East Asia. The study criticises the way that children travelling alone are treated in some countries, but focuses primarily on what can be done within the limitations of the law to assist such children and enable them to exercise their human rights. It notes that in countries where immigration policy (and detaining irregular immigrants) is a government priority, it is difficult for Terre des Hommes or other organisations to give separated children the support that child rights organisations know to be appropriate (and to which the children are often entitled), for fear that they will be accused of infringing the law.
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