the parents. Family reunification policies in transit and destination countries should enable children left behind to join their parents (or parents to join their children) in the destination country. Any decision on the fate of a in the context of migration should be taken by child protection officers, and, only if this is not possible, at least by well-trained migration officials who understand children’s rights and needs. Institutional reforms and measures aimed at strengthening child protection institutions and training migration officials should be promoted. Opportunities for regular migration at all skill levels should be increased to enable adolescents and youth to seek work abroad safely. Legal recruiting systems should be made accessible, safe and affordable for young migrants so that they do not resort to illegal or unsafe recruitment. Young migrants should also be informed of their rights and prepared ahead of their migration experience. This could happen, for example, through orientation and support for potential migrants, in accordance with employment opportunities. Similar services could also help returning migrants to reintegrate. Establishing mechanisms for adolescents and youth by which they can maintain ties to family and friends in their country of origin could help to avoid social isolation and the disintegration of family structures, as well as to facilitate return migration. Systems should be put in place to monitor recruitment agencies, and labour inspection mechanisms should be sensitized on child migrants and issues concerning child labour, especially in destination countries, in the types of work in which migrants predominate. The availability of and gender-disaggregated, comparable data on children affected by migration, as well as needs and risks, needs to be strengthened. States are called upon to implement their commitments made in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, adopted on 19 September 2016, including to protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all refugee and migrant children, regardless of their status, and giving primary consideration at all times to the best interests of the child. They are also called to ensure that all children benefit from education within a few months of arrival. Children should also not be criminalised nor subject to punitive measures because of their migration status or that of their parents nor in any circumstance should they be placed in migration detention.
the parents. Family reunification policies in transit and destination countries should enable children left behind to join their parents (or parents to join their children) in the destination country. Any decision on the fate of a in the context of migration should be taken by child protection officers, and, only if this is not possible, at least by well-trained migration officials who understand children’s rights and needs. Institutional reforms and measures aimed at strengthening child protection institutions and training migration officials should be promoted. Opportunities for regular migration at all skill levels should be increased to enable adolescents and youth to seek work abroad safely. Legal recruiting systems should be made accessible, safe and affordable for young migrants so that they do not resort to illegal or unsafe recruitment. Young migrants should also be informed of their rights and prepared ahead of their migration experience. This could happen, for example, through orientation and support for potential migrants, in accordance with employment opportunities. Similar services could also help returning migrants to reintegrate. Establishing mechanisms for adolescents and youth by which they can maintain ties to family and friends in their country of origin could help to avoid social isolation and the disintegration of family structures, as well as to facilitate return migration. Systems should be put in place to monitor recruitment agencies, and labour inspection mechanisms should be sensitized on child migrants and issues concerning child labour, especially in destination countries, in the types of work in which migrants predominate. The availability of and gender-disaggregated, comparable data on children affected by migration, as well as needs and risks, needs to be strengthened. States are called upon to implement their commitments made in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, adopted on 19 September 2016, including to protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all refugee and migrant children, regardless of their status, and giving primary consideration at all times to the best interests of the child. They are also called to ensure that all children benefit from education within a few months of arrival. Children should also not be criminalised nor subject to punitive measures because of their migration status or that of their parents nor in any circumstance should they be placed in migration detention.
A_71_413_8099_E.docx