Migration and the Rights of Children in Moldova

Document type: Paper

Social and political developments at the beginning of the 1990s had an impact on the living standards of the population of Moldova. Unemployment, low salaries and delays in paying salaries encouraged people to improve their livelihoods by leaving to work abroad. Migration has continued unabated into this century, and there are no indications that it will cease in the near future. A considerable number of people who migrate from Moldova for various periods of time are parents who leave their children behind. An International Organization for Migration (IOM) survey conducted in July and August 2006 estimated that 177,000 children aged 0–18 had been left by parents working abroad; 37 per cent were 10–15 years old. In all, 40 per cent of rural children between the ages of 10 and 15 had parents abroad compared with 33 per cent of urban children.

While remittances have improved the standard of living in migrant households, the impact of migration on children’s psychological well being, on their overall development and on their education and health is just beginning to be understood. Concern over the welfare of children living in migrant households is not yet a part of anti-poverty development strategies.

This paper summarizes research presented at a conference on children’s rights and migration held in Chisinău, Moldova on November 15, 2007. The rights of children are specifically defined and protected in numerous laws and statutes in Moldova starting with Article 50 of the Constitution that prohibits the, “…exploitation of minors, their use in activities that could harm their health and morality or that could endanger their lives or normal development.” Physical and/or mental punishment is not permitted in schools or in homes, and the Criminal Code lists infanticide, statutory rape, child trafficking, illegally taking children out of the country and abandoning children abroad as felonies.

Beating, tormenting and torturing are explicitly defined in the regulations for evaluating the gravity of physical injuries, and the Administrative Code notes that abusive behaviour, insults, maltreatment of any kind and physical and mental violence constitute a breach of the legitimate rights and interests of children. The research presented at the conference studied the effect of parents’ migration on these legitimate rights. The conference also focused on the rights and duties of parents and the right of children to education, health and social protection services.

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UNICEF-Migration_and_the_Rights_of_Children_in_Moldova.pdf