Threat of migration as a core feature of the demographic landscape - Essay Example

Threat of Migration Threat of migration Introduction Migration is a core feature of the demographic landscape ofmost developing nations. This is inclusive of migration within regions or to western nations. These various forms of migration have far-reaching effects on these third world nations on the most vulnerable groups especially women and children. In nearly all the instances, migration is discussed from an economic viewpoint, with the function of remittances seen as a development issue with positive economic effects and growth, but the threat that this issue has on children has never been taken into account during these deliberations (D’Emilio et al, 2007). This paper offers an insight on the dangers and threats that children affected by migration face as well as the possible violation as well as denial of children’s rights. Ideally, children form a vulnerable group and the child could become even more exposed in the event that one or both parents migrate. The effects of migration could threaten the development of a child as well as his future opportunities. Recent researches have begun recognizing the positive effects of migration as well as the threats it presents to children. Although research has been conducted in terms of remittances, very minimal information is available in relation to the real social threats of migration on families and their children (D’Emilio et al, 2007). The culture of migration has been a recurring trend in most third world nations. This is done as a means of escape from incessant wars and poverty in these nations. The United States remains of the most favoured destinations of immigrants from third world nations. Children who have been left behind by one or both parents who have migrated to another nation become vulnerable and face the threat of right violations. Such children face the threat of abuse, which is inclusive of sexual abuse, and undergo psychological challenges and educational accomplishments due to the parent’s relocation. Their psychological welfare is greatly affected by thoughts of neglect, low self-esteem, resentment, hopelessness, material fascination and cruelty. In relation to academic performance increased tasks at home, lack of affordability, motivation and moral support are possible threats to the child’s educational performance (Crawford-Brown, 2009). According to experts, 18% of children whose parents have migrated experience forced sex. This means that the vulnerability to abuse rises significantly when the support of one or both parents is removed. The risk is even greater for the child if the mother migrates as compared to when the father migrates. In the event that the male parent migrates, the child might be well protected but the financial protection is often removed. The income responsibility is often transferred to the mother, spouse or sister and leaves very minimal or no remittance from the father. In most instances, mothers end up committing themselves into transitory unions to compensate for the loss of earnings and company. This is even more challenging to girl child’s as majority of them end up being sexually violated by their mothers’ partners. In addition to this, it has been established that girls react to male absence by looking for interest from adult men, which augments the threat of sexual abuse (Crawford-Brown, 2009). Children who have been abandoned suffer from varied psychological challenges as a result of parental migration. The most widespread psychological challenges relate to emotional disconnection and ranges as a result of child shifting (children shifting from one homestead to another), sex, interpersonal hardships as well as affiliation to material things and brutality. In most cases, children whose parents have migrated get a sense of dejection, despondence and suffer from low self-esteem. The absence of a parent or a role model in most cases leaves lasting effects on a child’s life and this leads the child to spend a lot of time growing up with feelings of rejection. The numerous promises of reunion with their parents that have not been honoured tend to further bring about emotional volatility. Child shifting, which is a common feature in most third world nations, might bring about further harm as children are shifted from different homes, and this level of volatility can have adverse effects on the child. In nearly all the cases, children in these situations are gloomy and suffer the risk of depression that might degenerate to belligerent impulses. In addition to this, such children suffer from low self-esteem and find it hard to establish any meaningful relationships later on in life (Amuedo-Dorantes, & Georges, 2008). The psychological and emotional effects of severance from parents due to migration vary by gender. In most instances, boys deal with pain by externalizing it, while girls internalize by bolting up feelings of frustration and despair. Researchers have found out that, boys whose parent(s) have migrated have issues with interpersonal relationships and effectiveness while girls from such families are often gloomy and low self-esteem. In most cases, parents who have migrated tend to compensate for their absence by sending a large amount of material resources in the form of money and clothing. As a result, such children grow up with a big attraction to material things. In various parts, this compensation makes children to be more attached to material goods something that degenerates into the loss of moral values. This trend also leads to the decline of love and respect for their absentee parents. In the event that the flow of the material goods is cut off, such children enter into criminal and violent acts to acquire such materials (Amuedo-Dorantes, & Georges, 2008). Another thing that has been noted among children whose parents have relocated is such children turning into crime. Research conducted in recent days has shown that children whose parents have relocated are more likely to engage in violence as compared to children whose parents are present. According to research, the mothers of 82% of the children who are caught in to clash with the law are not present in the hearings where their children are charges. In all these instances, the second most probable cause on why their mothers were absent was migration. Children that have been abandoned by their parents also have a higher likelihood of deserting their home or dropping out of school (Zlotnik, 2003). Another threat that children in third world countries whose parents have migrated face is lack of education. In essence, the group that is largely affected ranges from the age of 10 to 13 years as they are enhancing from lower primary to the secondary/high school. This group has been noted to suffer a lot of disruptions to complete their education in a calm environment. Children in these age groups are more likely to engage in school fights or even leaving school because they are unable to cope or because they have to take care of their younger brothers and sisters. Once the children become older, they are forced to assume surrogate parenthood for their younger siblings something that makes it hard for them to continue with education (Randy, & Fix, 2004). Although most parents assume that sensing in regular remittances increases the child’s opportunity to access good education, this is often not the case. In a country such as Haiti, it has been noted that the disruption brought about by migration brings about economic burdens on the rest of the family thus making it hard for the children to attend school. In most cases, the economic burden brought about by migration forces children from such families to work instead of studying. In instances where the family was running a family business, the children were expected to return and fill in the missing positions of their family members. In most cases, parents who have relocated leave their grandparents with the burden of raising up these children. Unlike parents, grandparents lack the necessary informal societal support structures and this leaves female relatives with the responsibility of offering care and in most instances, children living with their grandparents also lack quality nourishment and healthcare. In majority of the cases, such children lack the attention from their aged grandparents something that diminishes their academic performance (Randy, 2001). Apart from children who have been left behind, migrant children are also threatened by migration. The consequences of migration can hinder or potentially bring about harm to their long term development. In most cases, migrant children are encounter alienation and are often the victims of xenophobic attacks as they enter the United States in search of better jobs. According to research, a large percentage of such parents are uneducated and it therefore becomes hard for them to find any meaningful employment. In the United States, the earning power of an individual is dependent on ones level of education and due to the low level of education, such parents and their parents end up living in slums. This makes it hard for such children to access water, sanitation or employment something that has a negative impact on the general welfare of the child (Pabon, 2008). In terms of education, migrant or refugees children face challenges that are related to language barrier and communication with the host society. Such children also find it hard to complete school due to stigmatization and mockery from the native children. Due to the high number of migrant children moving into the United States, the government finds it hard to cater for the needs of such children some of which cannot be catered for. In addition to this, some migrant children find it hard to access education after their parents have migrated to remote areas where access to learning facilities is non-existent (Jones et al, 2004). In the most places, the largest budgetary allocation on education is spent on teacher’s salaries instead of offering quality education. Due to the high number of migrant children’s, most governments find it hard to put in place effective measures to cater for this group of children. In most cases, the education of migrant children joining their parents overseas is affected by the fact that most of them are in the list of ‘waiting to migrate’ syndrome and this hurts their academic performance. Since this process can drag on for a long time, most of them find it hard to concentrate in their education and this hurts their academic performance (Jones et al, 2004). Apart from education, another threat that most migrant children encounter is access to healthcare. In a country like the United States, healthcare is very expensive especially if one is paying from the pocket. Given that most migrants are illegal, they do not qualify for Medicare and as such most of them are forced to do without healthcare services. Even in instances where such families do qualify, most of them fear to access them in order to protect their immigrant status. Because of this, majority of migrant children suffer at home for lack of quality health care. This trend forces the parents to these children to carry out the traditional practices that they used to practice in their home nations as alternative means of treatment. This explains the highest rates of child mortality among migrant families (Jeanne, Duncan, & Maritato, 2009). Another challenge that migrant children face is lacking registration documents. In most cases, such children are born in circumstances that do not allow for their births to be registered and as such they lack crucial birth documents. Since such documents are crucial in accessing important facilities such as registering for exams, such children are denied such opportunities for lack of such crucial documents, and this also limits the child’s access to health care. Since it is hard for a child without a birth document to join school, the chances for such a child to be exploited becomes even higher especially given that school attendance reduces the vulnerability rate among children (Jeanne, Duncan, & Maritato, 2009). Perhaps the biggest threat that migrant children face is that of child labor and trafficking. Due to lack of awareness, migrant children are known to be easy prey for child traffickers. In most cases, such children are lured with the promise of a good life elsewhere but most of them end up as being sex slaves while the boy children end up in construction and agriculture in some nations. In some Caribbean nations, some agencies came up to the children of migrants offering to reunite them with their parents. The children transit in such journeys without any adult accompaniment and this makes them vulnerable to child traffickers. Even after being united with their parents, some parents and especially mothers end up encouraging their daughters to participate in the sex trade for to help in paying the family bills. In some countries, older tourists are engaged into affairs with such young girls in exchange of monetary help. This has contributed to the significant rise of sexually transmitted infections including HIV among migrant children. In addition to this, children that have been abandoned and migrant children face the constant threat of child labour in the pursuit of economic survival means. This can be seen from the high number of migrant children in South America that help their parents to sell wares on the streets. Such children have a higher vulnerability to abuse as compared to those still in school (Bhabha, 2004). Conclusion Most families from third world nations have used migration as a means for economic survival. While parents who have migrated abroad increase the remittances to their families, research has continually shown that such a move presents numerous threats to children. In most cases, the children who have been left behind are placed in a situation that increase their vulnerability something that has a negative effect on their psychological wellness. In addition to this, such children are vulnerable to abuse as well as misuse. Even the migrant children are not left out as they suffer the threat of sexual exploitation, child labour and trafficking. References Amuedo-Dorantes, C, & Georges, A. (2008). Migration, Remittances and Children’s Schooling in Haiti. IZA DP no.5 Germany. Bhabha, J. (2004). The ‘Mere Fortuity’ of Birth? Are Children Citizens? 15 Differences 91, 21-25 Crawford-Brown, C. (2009). Who Will Save Our Children? The Plight of the Jamaican Child in the 1990s. Canoe Press, Kingston, Jamaica D‟Emilio, A. et al (2007). The Impact of International Migration: Children Left Behind in Selected Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. Working Papers, Division of Policy and Planning, UNICEF Jeanne, B., Duncan, G., & Maritato, N. (2009). Poor Families, Poor Outcomes: The Well-Being of Children and Youth. New York, Russell Sage, 1997 Jones, A. et al (2004). Children’s Experiences of Separation from Parents as a Consequence of Migration. Caribbean Journal of Social Work 3:89-109. Pabon, M. (2008). A Tale of Two Systems: Analyzing the Treatment of Noncitizen Families in State Family Systems and Under the Immigration Law System. Journal of Latino Law Review, 229, 256-293. Randy, C. & Fix, M. (2004). The Health and Well-Being of Young Children of Immigrants. Washington, DC, Urban Institute. Randy, C. (2001). Hardship among Children of Immigrants: Findings from the 1999 National Survey of America’s Families. Washington, DC, Urban Institute Zlotnik, C. (2003). Global Dimensions of Female Migration. 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