PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN ON THE MOVE
THE SITUATION OF CHILDREN ON THE MOVE
Children who move are largely invisible though they are an important part of large-scale
Just like the story of humankind since time immemorial, the migration
population movements involving three to five million people in the Greater Mekong Subregion
of millions in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is a human strategy for survival.
(GMS). In 2010, it is estimated that 42% of people crossing the Cambodia-Thailand border are
Migration in Mekong may be described as international migration, internal migration
children, while 20% of the estimated 1.5 Burmese migrants in Thailand are under 18 years old
and border mobility.
The migration of millions of peoples in the GMS is likely to rise in the next decades as a result
The subregion spans 2.6 million square kilometres and a combined population of
IN THE GREATER MEKONG SUBREGION
The TDH Campaign
of globalisation, regional economic realignments, socio-political upheavals and climate change. The situation of children leaving home and being in transit opens the child to untold risks such as being exposed to the worst kinds of exploitation, deception, coercion and abuse. Terre des Hommes Netherlands is the focal point for the South East Asia campaign on Children on the Move that seeks to involve other members of the TDH International Federation supporting local NGOs in Lao PDR, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand.
around 326 million. Migration is a way of life in the GMS where migrant population ranges from three to five million people. The unsurpassed rate of migration at present began in the mid-1990s when the Greater Mekong Subregional Cooperation Program was established by the governments of the six countries bordering the Mekong river – Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand,
Terre des Hommes defines children on the move as those children who have left their place of
Viet Nam and Yunnan Province and Guangxi
habitual residence and are either on the way towards a new destination or have already reached
Zhuang of the People’s Republic of China.
such destination. A child on the move can move across state borders or within the country. He/ she can be on the move alone or in a group with family members, other adults and/or children,
The GMS Program ushered
known or unknown previously to the child.
in the exponential development
The duration of the campaign to protect children on the move is from 2013 to 2014. It involves at least 40 non-government organizations with Village Focus International, Cambodia ACTs, ProCOM, United ACT and Equality Myanmar in the forefront.
of transportation and trade infrastructures between 1992 and 2009. The program also eased restrictions on travel for
The campaign helps protect the children in different stages – before children leave home, while
tourism and business which
on their journey and in the place of destination. The main activities of the campaign involve
promoted the exodus of people
the participation of the children on the move: getting information from them, listening to their
across the borders. The GMS
stories and popularizing the issue of children on the move. The campaign is closely linked to field projects that are beneficial to children on the move supported by Terre des Hommes.
Cooperation Program simplified
MIGRATION AND CHILDREN visa requirements and implemented daily and weekly border passes that contribute to
Regional statistics and trends in migration are generally derived from the adult-
increase in mobility.
based viewpoint. Children are generally invisible in migration statistics yet they are the
Extreme weather conditions and catastrophes due to climate change contribute to high
most vulnerable in the movement of populations.
rate of migration. Starting in 2000, natural calamities displaced hundreds of thousands,
Throughout the Mekong subregion, children have been moving away from home
like the 2004 tsunami in Thailand, the 2008 Nargis hurricane in Myanmar and the 2011
whether alone or accompanied by adults. There are voluntary child migrants who leave
floods in Thailand.
home with or without parental consent to seek better conditions in life: to give a better
People naturally want to flee from underdevelopment and to improve their lives. Migration is likewise driven by the unequal economic situation of the GMS countries, by political instability and by demographic inequalities like labor shortage in the more developed countries and oversupply of labor in the poorer countries.
future for the family or to seek opportunity for better education. There are children forced to move due to hunger, poverty, persecution, discrimination, armed conflict, socio-political violence and natural disasters. In the Karen state of Myanmar, adults and children are forced to leave because of ethnic strife and militarization. The aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in Thailand and cyclone Nargis in
The economies of Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar still cannot absorb their
Myanmar left countless children homeless and orphaned, forced to move to safety and
burgeoning labor force. The availability of jobs and better social services attract people
humanitarian aid.
to migrate or move to another place. Thus, Thailand being the most prosperous country in the subregion has become the hub of GMS migration. Thailand hosts 60% of the total migrants, 80% of which are from Myanmar and the rest are from Laos and Cambodia. These migrants are mostly low-skilled and underpaid workers in construction, agriculture, fisheries and domestic work. The subregion has porous borders that favor high cross-border movement and encourage irregular migration through smuggling or trafficking. The last decade saw the rapid expansion of border towns resulting in irregular daily border crossing through smaller checkpoints. This practice utilizes brokers and increases the risk of human trafficking.
Whether they leave home on their own volition or forced by circumstances, the children on the move become open to the risk of being trafficked, smuggled, sold and exploited. They are invisible and unknown to the public; they may be discriminated upon and excluded from social life. This vulnerable situation opens them to violations of their basic rights to survival, development, protection, non-discrimination and rights to participation in matters that affect their lives. Therefore, there is the paramount need to protect the children while they move from place to place, especially across frontiers.
CHILDREN ON THE MOVE : MYANMAR
CHILDREN ON THE MOVE : CAMBODIA
An ADB report in 2013 projects that “the recent opening of Myanmar is likely
Banteay Meanchey province is the most porous area for cross-border
to change future migration patterns, as business opportunities are blossoming in the
migration with four border districts to Thailand. In 2010, the records of the Thai
country, and this is likely to decrease the fluxes to Thailand.” This likelihood will affect
Immigration Bureau show that Cambodians were the second highest in overstaying and
Thailand whose economic expansion is fueled by cheap labour mostly from illegal
illegal migrants in Thailand: 73, 532 illegal migrants out of the total of 249, 369.
migrants from Myanmar. The 2010 statistics from the Thai Immigration Bureau show that out of the 249,369 overstaying and illegal migrants in Thailand that year, some 150,166 were from Myanmar. The statistics did not yield any information about how many of the illegal migrants were children. Most jobs of Burmese migrant children or child refugees in Thailand-Burma borders are helpers and labourers in fishing industries, commercial agriculture, sweatshops, factories, construction sites, restaurants. They also end up as domestic workers,
These numbers do not reveal the ages of the illegal and overstaying migrants. But it is highly probable that there were children among them since anyone aged 13 and above is eligible to obtain a border pass at the Poipet border. Smaller children are also allowed to register with their parents. The Cambodian Women’s Crisis Centre (CWCC) estimates that 800 women and young girls are trafficked through Poipet City in Banteay Meanchey province each month.
caregivers, workers in sex bars, street peddlers and beggars. Majority have no legal
An ECPAT report in 2009 illustrates that 36.7% of victims in reported cases of trafficking
papers and are thus more vulnerable to cheap labor, long hours of work, sexual abuse
were under the age of 18, and more than 80% of these minors were between the ages of
and other forms of maltreatment in the workplace.
13 and 17. The report indicates that Cambodia’s trafficking problem is linked to internal migration, wherein 94.5% of the victims were informed that their future employment would be in Cambodia. Cambodia has the highest rate of AIDS prevalence in the region with around 63,000 patients as of 2009, the majority being young women aged 15-24 who were trafficked for sexual exploitation. Girls who are trafficked into prostitution stand a greater risk of acquiring AIDS due to cultural beliefs that sex with a virgin will cure AIDS. AIDS-infected children in Cambodia become children on the move when they are orphaned by the death of parents with AIDS or abandoned by parents and family who are AIDS-free. The Cambodian government still has to establish a program to address the plight of AIDS-infected children on the move.
CHILDREN ON THE MOVE : LAO PDR
CHILDREN ON THE MOVE : THAILAND
The ethnic links between Lao and Thai peoples is the reason why there is a long
The 2013 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report classifies Thailand under Tier 2 Watch list:
history of migration between the two countries. The average number of cross-border migration is 15,000 yearly. By 2000, legal mechanisms to cross the border to Thailand have been in place as exemplified by the 2002 Memorandum of Agreement on Employment Cooperation. However, statistics
“a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.”
from the Status of Nationality Verification in Thailand as of December 2010 recorded an
Indeed, the downside of being the more
estimated 62,792 illegal Laotian migrants in Thailand. The number does not reflect the
economically advanced country is that it has also
ages of the illegal migrants.
become the “hub of exploitation in the Greater Sub-Mekong region” where internal and
Internal migration from 1995 to 2005 is estimated at 200,000 individuals. Most of the migrants are youth between the ages 15 – 25. Those from the northern rural areas migrate to flee from poverty. The youth from the southern areas near Thailand
cross-border trafficking happen with migrants from Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR legally or illegally entering the country. Meanwhile, the Thai are trafficked to developed countries in Northeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
(Champasak, Savannaketh, and Saravane) who are more exposed to Thai consumer
The Anti-Trafficking Coordination Unit in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand reports that
culture are motivated by the desire for a modern lifestyle.
most traffickers recruit child labourers in the refugee camps in Mae Sot, Tak Province. The children are lured by the promise of high-paying jobs only to be trafficked to unknown destinations as beggars and flower vendors. Ethnic minorities within Thailand who are denied citizenship are at a high risk of being trafficked due to their statelessness. Illegal migrant workers from the other countries become vulnerable since they have no official documentation, illiterate in Thai language and are clueless about their rights under Thai law. Trafficking victims within Thailand are employed in maritime fishing, seafood processing, low-end garment production, domestic work and the sex industry.
REFERENCES :
Annie Kelly, Leaving Home: Voices of Children on the Move, Save the Children UK and Global Movement for Children, Barcelona, 2010. Facilitating Safe Labour Migration in the Mekong Subregion: Issues, Challenges and Forward Looking Interventions, Asian Development Bank, Philippines, 2013. Andy West, Children on the Move in South-East Asia: Why child protection systems are needed, Save the Children, London, 2008.
CONTACT:
Mayette Macapagal, “Context Analysis Children on the Move in the GMS, TDH-Netherlands
Leny Kling | Regional Representative
Presentation Regional Planning Workshop,” a PowerPoint presentation, 11 July 2011.
Terre des Hommes Netherlands
Safe Migration Channel for Children on the Move in China: An Example of Good Practice
Jl. Terusan Hang Lekir I/14C Jakarta 12220
in the Cross-Border Project Against Trafficking and Exploitation of Migrant and Vulnerable
Indonesia
Children in the Mekong Subregion, Save the Children UK Southeast Asia and Asia Regional
Tel: +62 21 722 0202 | Fax: +62 21 739 3102
Office, 2007
Email: l.kling@tdh.nl | www.terredeshommesnl.org
http://resourcecentre.savethechildren.se/sites/default/files/documents/3762.pdf accessed October 2013. “Migration, Deportation and Recovery”, TDH Report, January 2012.
Children under the care of Social Action for Women (SAW) created the featured drawings.
Regional Office Southeast Asia
www.destination-unknown.org http://www.terredeshommesnl.org