Migrant children's rights: working to fill the gap.

THE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE across national borders is a phenomenon increasingly relevant to global public policy. Yet, although international migration affects millions of people all over the world and has crucial repercussions on the balances in and between States, deep analyses and adequate discussions of migration-related issues are often pushed to the side of political debates.

In many cases, States have found themselves unable to deal with sudden changes or developments in the field of migration. The need for a global response ends up being handled at either the national or local level and in a closed manner, as the issue is often considered "too political" to be dealt with at the international level. As a result, immigration policies are often considered just a matter of elaborated legal mechanisms that exclude illegal and unauthorized migrants from national territories. A coordinated policy framework dealing with the rights of people moving across borders, supported by an international migration institution able to take and implement effective decisions, is therefore of utmost importance.

A particularly delicate issue in the broad scenario of migration is that of children in cross-border movements. Civil society groups, the academic community and human rights organizations claim that policymakers should be particularly sensitive and prompt in addressing issues related to migrant children. Mary Robinson, the first female President of Ireland and founder and President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative (EGI), expressed these views clearly in October 2004, when she addressed the Columbia University Institute for Child and Family Policy. "Internationally agreed human rights standards and mechanisms, particularly those concerning economic, social and cultural rights, can be more effectively used to address some of today's most pressing global challenges, from inequities in international trade policies and global health standards to [...] problems associated with the growing movement of people, including millions of children, across national borders", she said.

A study funded by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and published in 2003 by the University of Bristol and the London School of Economics and Political Science, entitled Child Poverty in the Developing World, found that over 1 billion children--more than half of them living in developing countries--lack "at least one basic human need", such as food, drinking water, sanitation facilities and health care. More than half of these children also lack at least two of these fundamental needs and are therefore living in absolute poverty. The International Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes that "there are children living in exceptionally difficult conditions, and that such children need special consideration". It also stresses the importance of international cooperation for improving the living conditions of children, particularly in developing countries; yet, actual legal and political commitments are too often lacking.

An important step towards a significant global commitment was made in September 2000 with the signing of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, stating that world leaders "have a duty [...] to all the world's people, especially the most vulnerable, and in particular the children of the world to whom the future belongs". But the fulfilment of the Millennium Development Goals, identified in the Declaration as targets to be achieved by 2015, still has a very long way to go. As the UNICEF-funded study revealed, the continuing shortage of investments in quality education, health and public services in many countries is causing widespread poverty. Former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson says that this type of poverty is one of the "main drivers of today's migration patterns", since "poverty forces people to leave their homes in search of a better life for themselves and their children".

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Organizations like UNICEF and Human Rights Watch, and projects like the Ethical Globalization Initiative are promoting strategies to increase awareness of and attention to the rights of migrants. These rights are not adequately covered by the international human rights law, which is historically more focused on the protection of migrants with special status, such as refugees, stateless persons and diplomats, while national laws are heavily oriented on the rights of citizens, leading to what is called a "protection gap". Because of their physical and mental immaturity that needs special safeguards and care, children are likely to suffer the most from the consequences of this gap.

In an attempt to fill this hole in the international legal system, the UN General Assembly adopted in 1990 the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, which provides guidelines for the protection of migrants against arbitrary arrest and rights to a due process of law, to privacy and trade union membership and activity. But the Convention has failed to obtain a wide ratification, with only 27 States formally agreeing to it. However, The Convention on the Rights of the Child provides a legal basis for the protection of migrant children, in particular. According to Mrs. Robinson, its principles are clear and relevant and "should inform the progressive realization of policies to protect the social and economic rights of everyone--regardless of legal status--under 18, including youth", such as birth registration, right to nationality, free basic health care, protection from sexual abuses and exploitations, and all other measures to prevent human trafficking.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan and a number of Governments launched the Global Commission on International Migration, with the mandate to provide a framework for the formulation of a coherent, comprehensive and global response to the issue of international migration. Concluding its work in December 2005, the Commission reaffirmed the necessity of a rights-based approach to migration "through the integration of human rights principles and labour standards into policymaking". It also underscored the particular vulnerability of migrants, especially women and children, "particularly those in domestic employment and victims of smuggling, and migrant workers in exploitative employment".

The challenge now is to create a situation in which migration can take place in conditions of dignity and become an informed choice rather than a survival strategy. A good starting point would be for States to acknowledge that the Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers stems directly from those principles expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and should therefore be given a wider and much needed ratification. This could be a first step towards a future that really belongs to children.