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Unaccompanied migrant children face multiple challenges, which, with the right support, professionals can help them overcome

The rights of children are outlined in article 24 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union; the binding catalogue of rights which institutions and member states are bound to respect when applying EU law. Although this article has undoubtedly been taken very seriously since the Charter was adopted in 2000, there are indications that in a number of cases it has not been possible for children in the EU to exercise fully the rights it envisaged. One such case involves migrating Romanian children, and concerns have been expressed that the rights of this group of migrant children h

With the increasing population of Chinese migrant children in China and the call for addressing educational equity and revising education goals on behalf of the whole child, research indicates that those children experience various challenges regarding their education and well-being including unequal access to education, low quality of education, discrimination, social anxiety, and depression. Thus, this article explores institutional-, school-, and family-level factors to understand how migration might create threats for Chinese migrant children. It is believed that government, community, school, and family have unintentionally formed an intertwined and complex dynamic where the development and education of migrant children is compromised. It is the authors' hope to raise awareness to the academic and practical arenas of both the educational plight and living conditions of Chinese migrant children.

This paper considers dilemmas around 'value' and the 'valuing' of children and childhood(s) in schools. I argue that in neo‐liberal contexts, processes of children's identity making become aligned with the idea of the corporate citizen – value and worth derived from the capacity to produce, excel, self‐regulate as well as consume in an ever expanding marketplace. Taking the positioning of migrant children as an exemplar, the paper explores the tensions in pedagogic practices between the valuing of migrant children and their 'added value' that is communicated through spheres of re/action in schools. The paper argues for education that is radical and strategic; careful and nurturing. In its absence, being valued differently involves reproducing negative patterns in a circular dialectical loop that naturalises under achievement of migrant children and other children at risk, to deficiencies in culture and identity.

This report gives an overview of the international legal framework containing norm relevant to the protection of child migrants. Particular focus is on the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), since this widely ratified instrument constitutes the most all-encompassing basis for the protection of children, including children who are outside their State of origin. The report provides a detailed examination of the rights found in the CRC which are of a particular relevance to migrant children. Furthermore, a review of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families in the context of working children, and of other Human Rights and International Criminal Law instruments are included. The report aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the international norms which form the legal basis for the effective protection of children on the move, taking into consideration the specific situation of these children: their resourcefulness and their vulnerability alike.

Alejandro Portes and Alejandro Rivas examine how young immigrants are adapting to life in the United States. They begin by noting the existence of two distinct pan-ethnic populations: Asian Americans, who tend to be the offspring of high-human-capital migrants, and Hispanics, many of whose parents are manual workers. Vast differences in each, both in human capital origins and in their reception in the United States, mean large disparities in resources available to the families and ethnic communities raising the new generation. Research on the assimilation of these children falls into two theoretical perspectives. Culturalist researchers emphasize the newcomers' place in the cultural and linguistic life of the host society; structuralists, their place in the socioeconomic hierarchy. Within each camp, views range from darkly pessimistic—that disadvantaged children of immigrants are simply not joining the American mainstream—to optimistic—that assimilation is taking place today just as it has in the past. A middle ground is that although poorly endowed immigrant families face distinct barriers to upward mobility, their children can overcome these obstacles through learning the language and culture of the host society while preserving their home country language, values, and customs. Empirical work shows that immigrants make much progress, on average, from the first to the second generation, both culturally and socioeconomically. The overall advancement of the immigrant population, however, is largely driven by the good performance and outcomes of youths from professional immigrant families, positively received in America. For immigrants at the other end of the spectrum, average socioeconomic outcomes are driven down by the poorer educational and economic performance of children from unskilled migrant families, who are often handicapped further by an unauthorized or insecure legal status. Racial stereotypes produce a positive self-identity for white and Asian students but a negative one for blacks and Latinos, and racialized self-perceptions among Mexican American students endure into the third and fourth generations. From a policy viewpoint, these children must be the population of greatest concern.
The authors cite two important policy measures for immigrant youth. One is to legalize unauthorized migrants lest, barred from conventional mobility channels, they turn to unorthodox means of self-affirmation and survival. The other is to provide volunteer programs and other forms of outside assistance to guide the most disadvantaged members of this population and help them stay in school.

Every generation or so, we are served a compelling reminder of migrant farmwork and of the men, women, and children whose daily hardships put the food on our tables. Now to the ranks of John Steinbeck, Dorothea Lange, James Agee, Walker Evans, and Edward R. Morrow, add Nancy Buirski. Nancy Buirski traversed the country for four years to create this book, a sensitive portrait of a forgotten society. Her subject is the unique lives of those she has photographed: migrant farmworker children. They are the children caught in a life of poverty and backbreaking work whose moves from place to place leave them lacking in self-confidence and lagging behind in school. at sunrise, many can be found in the fields, where they are exposed to dangerous pesticides as they work. At day's end, exhausted, they go home to substandard shacks. The children in these pages are appealing and heroic and not easily forgotten. It is not often these days that pictures can make us think. Buirski's elegant and interpretive photographs show us the private realities as well as the social realities of these unchampioned children and let us see what is happening to the thousands of underage youngsters working today in America's farms.--From jacket flap

The current refugee crisis is the greatest humanitarian challenge that the EU has faced since its foundation. Men and women, old and young, all have been part of the recent influx of asylum seekers into the European Union. But a lesser-known story about it is the rapid rise of the number of children migrants traveling without an adult guardian. It has become increasingly clear that children, many of them unaccompanied by a parent, relative or guardian, are in the forefront of the crisis. Since 2008, about 198,500 unaccompanied minors have entered Europe seeking asylum, according to data from Eurostat. The closure of European borders and the lack of an effective strategy to cope with waves of refugees often leave unaccompanied minors crossing into Europe with no one to turn to. Authorities try to avoid responsibility for their care and protection. The existing EU and national measures are poorly implemented. Unsurprisingly, many children have lost trust in the institutions and measures intended to guarantee their rights, safety and well-being. These underlying problems have contributed to deplorable reception conditions, particularly in refugee camps, while prolonged uncertainty about children's legal status has left them 'living in limbo'. Such outcomes have in turn exposed vulnerable children to smugglers and human traffickers, and it is conservatively estimated that at least 10,000 unaccompanied migrant children are currently missing in the EU. This article provides an overview of the regulations covering this area. It also discusses the particular challenges of creating a coherent, sustainable, and consistent approach towards unaccompanied minors, analyzing the current policies and the changing trends that policymakers must take into account as they address the phenomenon of child migration. Key words: unaccompanied minor, refugee crisis, regulations, trends, missing children

The current refugee crisis is the greatest humanitarian challenge that the EU has faced since its foundation. Men and women, old and young, all have been part of the recent influx of asylum seekers into the European Union. But a lesser-known story about it is the rapid rise of the number of children migrants traveling without an adult guardian. It has become increasingly clear that children, many of them unaccompanied by a parent, relative or guardian, are in the forefront of the crisis. Since 2008, about 198,500 unaccompanied minors have entered Europe seeking asylum, according to data from Eurostat. The closure of European borders and the lack of an effective strategy to cope with waves of refugees often leave unaccompanied minors crossing into Europe with no one to turn to. Authorities try to avoid responsibility for their care and protection. The existing EU and national measures are poorly implemented. Unsurprisingly, many children have lost trust in the institutions and measures intended to guarantee their rights, safety and well-being. These underlying problems have contributed to deplorable reception conditions, particularly in refugee camps, while prolonged uncertainty about children's legal status has left them 'living in limbo'. Such outcomes have in turn exposed vulnerable children to smugglers and human traffickers, and it is conservatively estimated that at least 10,000 unaccompanied migrant children are currently missing in the EU. This article provides an overview of the regulations covering this area. It also discusses the particular challenges of creating a coherent, sustainable, and consistent approach towards unaccompanied minors, analyzing the current policies and the changing trends that policymakers must take into account as they address the phenomenon of child migration. Key words: unaccompanied minor, refugee crisis, regulations, trends, missing children