'Not Refugee Children, Not Migrant Children, Children First': Lack of a systematic and integrated approach

Abstract

By now, the staggering figures involved in child migration globally are familiar to us all. However it is important to remind ourselves that 50 million children worldwide have been uprooted – including 28 million children forced to move due to conflict and violence.1 One in every 200 refugees is a child. In Europe, one in every four asylum applications is made by a minor. Yet, while child migration is recognized as one of the most pressing humanitarian challenges of our time, our analysis reveals a significant lack of understanding about children’s mobility. A strong focus is placed upon drafting new regulations and frameworks instead of addressing some of the underlying – and, to some extent, invisible – problems entrenched in the region- and country-specific policies and practices that contribute to implementation gaps in migration systems. Within migration pathways, there is a need to explicitly recognize the rights of children – not as migrants or as refugees, but as children first.