ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 argues that children’s right to be cared for by their own parents under Art 7 is fundamentally undermined by temporary labour migration policies that separate children and parents. Similarly, so is the interconnected right of their parents to be supported by States to fulfil their role as their children’s primary caregivers under Art 18. This chapter grounds recommended measures identified throughout the book in the existing value of the child-parent relationship in domestic settings for children who reside in labour-receiving countries. This includes understanding about the benefits of strong child-parent relationships in fields such as family law and child development. It argues that the importance of the child-parent relationship to children’s development and well-being is universal and protected for all children no matter where they reside. The chapter also argues that encouraging parental migration as an international development strategy presents challenges to the notion that strong and stable families are essential to both children’s development and achieving sustainable development outcomes. It concludes that without a more comprehensive measurement of social impacts on children and familial relationships, States cannot make informed decisions about how to promote temporary labour migration without significantly interfering with children’s rights.
