Migration interfaces with the issue of child labour in many ways. It can be an internal or a cross-border movement. It can be voluntary or forced _ the latter is often linked with the group known as internally displaced persons (not having crossed a frontier) and refugees (crossing or having crossed a frontier in search of protection).
The phrase "migrant workers" denotes a cross-border situation. Yet the status of people, including children on the move, varies from documented/regular (coming with the relevant papers/visas) to undocumented/irregular.
The precarious situation facing children in employment and migration is particularly acute in the informal sector _ such as in regard to child domestic workers, children in agriculture and in various harmful occupations _ at times on the fringes of the law.
To be fair, migration offers opportunities as well as vulnerabilities. It can lead to improved livelihoods and safety (such as a shift from poverty and an escape from a war situation). Yet the migrant may also land in an exploitative situation, such as forced labour and human trafficking.
International law responds relatively comprehensively to the situation. The most pertinent treaties are the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the various International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions on the issue, and the UN convention on the rights of migrant workers and their families.
A child is defined as a person under 18 years old. A key principle underlying all these treaties is non-discrimination _ the basic rights of all persons must be protected, irrespective of origins.
Of the 189 conventions emerging from the ILO, many interrelate closely with child migrant labour, including Convention No. 138 on minimum age of employment (set at 15, though possibly to be reduced to 14 in developing countries), and Convention No.182 prohibiting the worst forms of child labour, such as the use of children in hazardous activities, with the minimum age of employment set at not less than 18.
Meanwhile, the UN convention on migrant workers provides basic guarantees for all migrant workers, irrespective of whether they are documented or not. The rights include the right to life, freedom from torture and cruel treatment, right to free and compulsory education, right of access to medical care in emergency situations and the right of access to justice. However, this convention has received a paucity of ratifications, particularly from countries receiving migrant workers.
With regard to forced displacement, there are specific treaties offering protection such as the Refugee Convention of 1951 and its protocol.
On the national level, the realities are, however, disquieting. Child migrant labourers often find themselves in a situation of abuse, neglect and exploitation. However, in more enlightened settings, there are now measures to attenuate this situation. For instance, many countries have today adopted new laws/policies/practices (such as on human trafficking) so as to enable these victims to be classified as victims and thus be shifted from immigration detention to welfare shelters, at times with avenues for long-term residency and/or guarantees of a safe return home.
For the future, some of the desired orientations for enabling national laws to move towards greater protection and assistance of child migrant labour include the following:
Accede to the international conventions above and implement them well to protect the rights of children, as well as promote in-country and cross-country cooperation on the issue, building bridges between the North-South and beyond;
Ensure that laws, policies and practices respond to the dynamics of migration interlinking between pre-flow, flow and post-flow situations based on international standards, including minimum age of employment and protection from the worst forms;
Couple the existence of laws with adequate policies, mechanisms, practical enforcement, resources, personnel/mechanisms, information, monitoring, education/capacity building, and a participatory process involving communities, civil society and the children themselves in child-related assistance and protection;
Implement the message that humane treatment, access to birth registration, free and compulsory education, provision of shelter, health care, social security and access to justice are part of the "social protection floor" to be respected and implemented universally _ for all children, without discrimination;
Utilise global, regional and national opportunities, such as the post-2015 agenda now awaiting the Millennium Development Goals, to highlight child development, protection and assistance and to advance a comprehensive agenda to help children on the move.
Prof Vitit Muntarbhorn is a former UN special rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and is currently a member of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.