Opportunities to Participate in Making Decisions for Migrant Children
Opportunities to Participate in Making Decisions for Migrant Children

Summary/Abstract: In the intense pursuit of the states and the international organizations to address the challenges of migrant processes, the focus on child security neglects the value of the migrant child's personality. Often, a migrant child is given the status of a caretaker by being “attached” to an adult – a situation that guarantees the child's limited ability to participate in decision-making processes that directly affect him/her. Insisting of the young people to participate in decision-making processes goes beyond creating rules in the “adult world” and raises previously unknown political and administrative challenges, as well as professional and public debates to ensure that all children have access to their rights. Opportunities for the participation of migrant children in the decision-making process cause a synchronization globally of understanding and implementation of the child's right to participate and to express own views. These opportunities should be applied interregional and transnationally and, together with that, developed and supported at political and practical levels. It is therefore important to review the current policy framework, to highlight good practice examples and to mark some opportunities for further social and organizational development.

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