Launch of Framework and Recommendations for Action on Children Affected by Migration in the Caribbean
IOM Washington, in partnership with the Caribbean Community
(CARICOM) Secretariat and the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF), is today launching the Framework and Recommendations for
Action on Children Affected by Migration in the Caribbean.
The first of its kind for the region, the publication is
intended as a technical resource for government officials, NGOs and
other stakeholders who provide assistance to children affected by
migration in the region.
Document
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target="_blank" title="">A Framework and Recommendations for Action
on Children Affected by Migration in the Caribbean
During workshops attended by child protection specialists and
other officials from eight CARICOM Member States (Antigua and
Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Jamaica, Guyana, St. Lucia,
St. Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago), the group exchanged
practical experiences, identified national strengths and
weaknesses, and developed a framework and recommendations.
"As a result of this collaborative effort, this much-needed tool
is ready and 4,000 hardcopies will be disseminated across the
region," explains Chissey Mueller, Coordinator of IOM's Caribbean
Counter-Trafficking Programmes.
The working group indentified three general categories: 1)
children who stay behind, 2) children who migrate unaccompanied or
accompanied, and 3) migrant children who return.
Some children who stay behind when their legal guardians migrate
lack proper adult supervision and care and basic necessities, such
as food, shelter, and clothing. Consequently, they can feel
abandoned or rejected, become violent and delinquent, have greater
risk to their well-being and development
Children who migrate may not access basic services such as
education, health care, social services and identity documents, due
to language barriers, lack of knowledge about available services,
or fear of deportation. Children who return to their country
of origin/birth in the Caribbean can encounter similar challenges,
with a largely unfamiliar culture and social support system.
To assist these children, the working group developed the
framework and recommended action for data collection, analysis and
usage, policies and procedures, social services, education, health,
psycho-social issues, and investment in human and financial
services.
Caribbean ministers of labour were introduced to the framework
and urged to take the necessary action to implement it during the
19th Meeting of CARICOM's Council for Human and Social Development
held in April 2010.
Since 2003, IOM has worked with Caribbean partners to build on
existing capacities that better manage mixed migration flows, by
establishing screening and referral mechanisms for vulnerable
migrants, providing technical support to local stakeholders, and
promoting regional dialogue that fosters multilateral cooperation
and coordination.
This publication is part of IOM's Caribbean Child Migration
project, funded by the US Department of State, Bureau of
Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM).
Electronic copies can be downloaded from
"paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://www.iom.int/unitedstates/ct/ChildMigrationCaribbean.htm"
target="_blank" title=
"">www.iom.int/unitedstates/ct/ChildMigrationCaribbean.htm,
class="paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://www.unicef.org/barbados" target="_blank" title=
"">www.unicef.org/barbados, and
"paragraph-link-no-underline" href="http://www.caricom.org" target=
"_blank" title="">www.caricom.org.
For additional information please contact:
Chissey Mueller
IOM Washington DC
Tel: +1 202 862 1826, Ext. 236
E-mail:
"mailto:cmueller@iom.int">cmueller@iom.int