Transcript Challenges for ensuring appropriate care and protection of

Children and Migration in the
CEE/CIS countries
July 2007, Sofie
Impact of remittances and
migration on children, families
and communities in Albania
Institute for Economy, Finance and Business
February , 2007
Country context
2005
________________________________________________
Population (in million)
3.142
Children under 15 years old (in thousand)
820
GDP per capita (current USD)
2,664
Unemployment rate (%)
14.1
Poverty rate (%) $ PPP 2.15/day
18.5
Estimated number of migrants abroad
(in thousand)
750
Remittances (as % of GDP)
14
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Goal of the study:
Understanding social impact that migration and
remittances have on children left behind
Objectives:
 - analyze and describe the impact of remittances and
migration on child well-being (physical and emotional)

- providing of policy recommendations vis a vis the
improvement of social assistance and social care
system
Methodological Tools

- Desk review of existing documents on migration for
Albania and other countries

- Conduction of focus group discussions with children
aged 10-14 years old

- Conduction of focus group discussions and in depth
interviews with care givers (mostly mothers),
schoolteachers, community health practitioners, social
administrators and local leaders.
Geographical coverage:
Selection of 14 municipality /communes in
north, south and center with high level of
migration abroad.
Consult draft report with key stakeholders
Main findings
Patterns of external migration
Massive external migration within a short period –
750,000 Albanians or 1/5 of total population has left
country and is living abroad
Migration is a survival strategy against poverty and
unemployment
Economic
74 percent,
Social-cultural, politic, other reasons 26 percent
Patterns of external migration
Migrants are mostly male of age group 20-40 years
According geographical areas: migration abroad is
phenomenon concentrated in poor mountain areas, rural
areas and border areas with Greece.
Migration is high among unemployed people, rural
people and high skilled workers (77 percent) as they find
jobs in accordance with their qualification.
Economic impact of external
migration
At household level: Poverty reduction.
LSMS Study in 2002
Income poverty incidence among household with
migrant member is lower that other households
12 percent compare to 31 percent)
Remittances represent 13 percent of total income
Economic impact of external
migration
At national level: Remittances play an important
role in Albanian economy
Remittances made the largest source of foreign
exchange, constituting 14 percent of GDP that was
greater than combined value of exports and foreign direct
investments in that year.
Improved employment as remittances are invested in
starting new businesses
Increased human capital as migrants learn new skills and
work practices
Impact of external migration on
children left behind –a neglected
issue
- Information gaps
- Insufficient policy responses
What we know about children left
behind in Albania
Number of children left behind has decreased thanks to
improvements on migration policies (legalization of
illegal emigrants, reconciliation’s of migrant families
and creation of conditions for migration of the entire
family)
- in 1990 - 3 percent of migrants, migrated with family,
- in 1995 - 31 percent of migrants abroad live with their
family,
- in 2006 – 58 percent
Mho migrates, father, mother or
both? Who cares for children?
Migration of one parent is dominant form – mostly fathers
migrate
However there are children whose both parents have
migrated.
Most of migrant’s children live with their mothers; less
with grandparents, even less with relatives (uncle, aunts,
cousins) and very few in childcare institutions.
Does migration of parents have
impact on children well-being?
Positive impact: Reduction of income poverty
Income poverty incidence among household with
migrant member is lower that other households
(group discussions)
Economic difficulties are reduced thanks to the
remittances received. Improved consumption
patterns
Positive impact on physical well-being
of children
Improvement in food consumption patters, housing
condition and access to basic services (such running
water and sanitation), have improved data on
malnourishment and child diseases.
Community health practitioners state that in families with
a migrant member the incidence of malnourishment,
diarrhea, and chronic respiratory diseases is lower.
Positive impact on child education
Schoolteachers and caregiver state that remittances have
improved access to better education for longer and have
reduced child labor. School abandonment rate in
obligatory school is low (about 2 percent) and is higher
among poor children.
Chance for attending education beyond obligatory school
is higher among migrants’ children – many of them
participate in private courses improving knowledge in
difficult school subjects like math, learn foreign
languages or improve computer skills.
Negative impacts
Divorces has increased
Girls migrate to escape domestic violence
Girls migrate for a better life without having the
rights information, being risked of exploitation
and prostitution
Cases of homicide due to honor
Are all migrants' children lucky?
There are migrant children that work and has
abandon the school - in households where
remittances either are inexistent or insufficient to
guarantee the basic living conditions.
We do not know how many they are? Where they
live? What help them stop working and be back to
school?
Are all migrants’ children lucky?
Migrant children left in child care institutions – suffer
severe emotional problems.
Small number of institutionalized children is due to
strong family ties or insufficient capacities in child
care institutions?
Parent migration produce emotional
crises on children left behind
Character of child, child age, substitute care,
frequency of communication with migrant parent - are
determinants that affect social and emotional well -being
of children left behind.
Does mother or extended family fill the vacuum left by
migrant parents?
Teachers and care givers (in group discussions)
report some emotional and behavioral changes.
Some migrant children feel angry, confused, lonely
and unloved. No study tackle that problem.
Do children left behind enjoy child
rights
Children have the right to grow up with their parents
and keep personal relations - this is difficult for migrant
children.
Admistrative barriers for family reconciliation's prevent
many children from this right. Number of family
reconciliation have increased, but still many children are
in waiting lists.
Different difficulties in communication with family left
behind is producing family breakdown. There are migrant
parents who disregard obligations toward their children
(including phone communication and personal contacts)
Policy responses
A. Social Policy mechanism:
Children left behind are not yet considered as a
vulnerable group. No social policy or strategy to protect
them exists.
Actual social assistance legislation do not support
children left behind with economic difficulties
Lack of structures and expertise at community level to
tackle emotional problems of families and children left
behind
Lack of facilities to increase frequency of communication
with internet or email.
Policy responses
B, Migration Policy
Legalization procedures
Labor migration
Family reunification
Critical issues
Bridging agendas among institutions
(donors and government)
Capacity development of research
institutions
Raising awareness of media on the critical
issues related to migration
Budget?