A/64/213 migratory flows, which are mass population movements, including of refugees, asylum-seekers, economic migrants and other migrants. Falling prey to transnational organized crime and exploitation practices, including smuggling, trafficking in persons and contemporary forms of slavery, described, in some instances, as abusive forms of migration, may be a part of the migration experience for many children. 24. Like adult migration, child migration is influenced by political, social, economic and environmental situations. These may include new global phenomena, such as climate change, the food crisis and the financial and economic crisis. Child specific phenomena, such as child abuse and domestic violence, may also influence the movement of children across borders. 25. Ensuring the protection of the child in the context of migration demands that issues related to irregular migration be considered, since they may affect the child’s enjoyment of human rights. For example, the criminalization of irregular migration, an issue addressed by the Special Rapporteur in his 2008 report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/7/12), has proved to be at the root of ill treatment and other human rights abuses. This is of particular concern in the case of children — especially those who are unaccompanied and undocumented — in countries of transit and destination where irregular migration is punished with imprisonment, particularly when migration management policies have yet to mainstream a child rights approach. 26. The protection of children during migration necessarily implies a gender dimension, since women and girls account for almost 50 per cent of international migrants. The need to take into consideration the special vulnerability of the girl child to gender-based violence and discrimination is illustrated by, inter alia, the fact that additional restrictions on travel relating to male guardianship can have an impact on the number of girls resorting to irregular channels to migrate. The gender dimension of migration also includes issues relating to trafficking in persons for purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labour and other forms of exploitation, as well as other abuses to which the girl child is more vulnerable during migration, such as requests for sexual favours in exchange for protection or for the promise to cross borders. 27. The Special Rapporteur observes that in countries both of origin and of destination, serious concerns remain related to child labour, and he wishes to draw the attention of the General Assembly to rampant child labour practices associated, in some instances, with the lack of law enforcement in this area. 28. The Special Rapporteur also wishes to draw attention to two major gaps that he has identified in relation to the protection of the rights of migrant children. The first protection gap relates to the lack of specific provisions on children in migration laws, policies and programmes. Most migration laws do not reflect a child rights perspective, nor do they have specific provisions relating to children. 29. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, that first gap should be addressed in part by harmonizing migration laws, programmes and policies with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other relevant international and regional human rights instruments. For example, the Special Rapporteur is informed about cases of deportation and detention where children suffer the same consequences (and receive the same treatment) as adults, which often results in children being deprived of their rights. For that reason, public policies and programmes should ensure the protection 09-43777 9