Discusses the plight of child migrants and trafficked children. Children of migrant workers often are denied basic services, including schooling and health services, and those who must contribute to their family’s earnings are particular vulnerable to the worst forms of child labor, including the sex industry. Undocumented child migrants risk detention and thus face possible physical, including sexual, abuse. Children who migrate with no support system at their destination may end up living and working on the street, where they experience violence and exploitation. In addition, children from minority groups or who are undocumented are particularly vulnerable to being trafficked, whether for sexual exploitation, domestic labor, agricultural and mine work, or adoption. The United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF) seeks to increase protection of these children. Among other efforts, UNICEF: (1) works to raise awareness among parents about the dangers of hiring smugglers to take their children illegally into the United States; (2) supports programs that inform parents and children about child rights and that encourage communities to look for early warning signs of children at risk; (3) promulgates guidelines for the provision of services to child victims; and (4) strongly encourages governments to ratify international child-rights and anti-trafficking legislation.
