A/79/213 I. Introduction 1. The reasons children and families migrate are multiple, complex and often intertwined. These may include a lack of sustainable livelihoods, poverty and economic hardship; limited access to basic services; educational and employment aspirations and opportunities; family reunification; domestic violence and abuse; denial of human rights; harmful cultural practices; and displacement due to armed conflicts, persecution, violence, disasters and the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. Migration decisions are often made in a context of constrained life choices, where children and families are caught between aspirations, a sense of responsibility towards family members and communities, and pressures to leave their homes. 1 2. Children in international migration contexts move across borders through regular or irregular migration pathways, may be with or without their parents or family members, or may remain in their country of origin while their parents migrate. They are often part of mixed migratory movements 2 that may include migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, with vulnerability heightened for unaccompanied and separated children, 3 stateless and undocumented children, trafficked and smuggled children, and children growing up without the protection of their primary caregivers. Migration is often cyclical and continuous, 4 and a child’s migration or refugee status may change several times during their migration journey; but their primary status is their childhood. No matter where they are from and why they and their families move, children in migration contexts are children first and foremost, with the same human rights as all children – rights that do not cease at borders. 3. When safe and well-governed, migration can provide significant opportunities for children and families, including pursuit of education, improved living conditions, enhanced prospects, protection from harm and the ability to make important contributions to communities of origin, transit and destination. 4. Nonetheless, millions of children around the world have their rights as children violated because of their or their family’s migration status. Migratory processes that fail to respect and protect child rights create serious risks for children, threatenin g their lives, development and well-being. With 28 million international child migrants globally in 2020 (10.1 per cent of the estimated 281 million international migrants and 1.4 per cent of the world’s children) 5 it is critical to bring children’s rights to the fore of discourse on human rights and migration. __________________ 1 2 3 4 5 24-13410 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Major Group for Children and Youth, “Children uprooted in a changing climate: Turning challenges into opportunities with and for young people on the move”, briefing note (October 2021), p. 10. Mixed migration refers to cross-border movements of people, including refugees fleeing persecution and conflict, victims of trafficking and people seeking better lives and opportunities (see Migration Data Portal at migrationdataportal.org). “Unaccompanied” children are separated from both parents and other relatives and are not being cared for by an adult who, by law or custom, is responsible for doing so. “Separated” children are separated from both parents, or legal or customary primary car egivers, but not necessarily from other relatives. See Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 6 (2005), paras. 7–8. UNICEF, Reimagining Migration Responses: Learning from Children and Young People who Move in the Horn of Africa (2021), p. 6. IOM, World Migration Report 2024, p. 4. The United Nations Recommendations on Statistics of International Migration define an “international migrant” as any person who has changed their country of usual residence, so this includes refugees and other persons needing international protection. 3/24