ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 argues that the structural features of temporary labour migration policies that unnecessarily and unreasonably prolong the period of child-parent separation create arbitrary interferences with children’s right to have their family life protected under Art 16. These features include the deliberate encouragement of the remigration of workers over years and even decades; and restrictive visa regimes that prevent the free movement of workers. It highlights that even if parents ‘choose’ to migrate for low-waged employment, they frequently do not anticipate the length of separation from their children, which is often protracted by factors outside their control such as debt and restrictive visa conditions. This chapter identifies measures that can help reduce and manage periods of child-parent separation, drawing on learnings from other fields that regularly manage the separation of children and parents such as family law and military deployment. It also highlights how the failure by States to justify the differential treatment of the children of low-waged temporary migrants – with other groups of temporary migrants such as skilled workers and international students being entitled to family accompaniment – amounts to discrimination against these children.
