Terre des hommes Romania organized in Bucharest the International Conference "Families without borders in Ukraine and Moldova. Preliminary results of a unique research on transnational families" together with the Center for the Study of Transnational Families at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj. The aim was to present the results of the research carried out by the partners of the CASTLE action-project "Children left at home as a result of labor migration"
The event on 7 June 2022 brought together 121 participants (physically and online), being supported by the three national research partners - the Center for the Study of Transnational Families within Babeș-Bolyai University, the Ukrainian Institute of Social Research after Oleksandr Yaremenko and the Academy of Economic Studies of the Republic of Moldova - which together covered all the research directions of the project.
The delegate of the contracting authority, a state counselor from the Presidential Administration of Romania, the Department for the Relationship with Romanians Abroad, a state counselor of the Prime Minister of the Romanian Government and an advisor to the Department for Romanians Abroad shared some of their perspectives, programs and projects in the field of transnational families.
Viorela Telegdi-Csetri, Project Manager: "This qualitative social research is the result of the almost one-year effort of the three research partners, supported by Terre des hommes delegations from Romania, Ukraine and Moldova, which address the situation of children left at home in the context of migration. Compared to adults, children and young people see leaving and staying in a more nuanced, open and fluid manner and are often secretly critical of them, considering migration to be apparently unnecessary or as one that should be limited by a certain objective and to a certain period of time."
Quotes from children, from the research:
- "The holidays are celebrated with the family. Children whose parents are in The Republic of Moldova celebrate in the family, with their parents. We, those whose parents are abroad, do not have this possibility, to be with the parents... It's not a pain or a resentment, it's just a longing for that."
- "... we are quite old and we understand, we have to know about all the problems that exist in our family and we have to somehow try to do something for our own good, to solve them together, because if it were only the parents who are arguing [on a problem] it would be much worse and they would get on, because now there are many children who only stay with their mother or just with their father, but it's good for the children to know, too, and for the children to somehow unite the family."
Among the main results of the research, the following aspects of the life of transnational families with an impact on their children's rights were highlighted: the situation and opinions of children in the context of migration, the relationship with caregivers, temporality, age, transnational relationships and communication, the consequences of family problems that intersect with migration, etc.
The research is accompanied by a series of legislative, political and action recommendations, such as:
- creating international legislative frameworks to facilitate the departure of parents abroad accompanied by their minor children;
- specialised training courses in the field of transnational migration and families, including legislation, data, practices and policies for professionals and the inclusion of professionals trained in the relevant institution;
- the creation of joint international databases, contacts and collaborations on transnational families accessible to all institutional stakeholders;
- awareness-raising campaigns for the recognition of transnational families, to initiate interest and dialogue, as well as against the bullying of migrants' children;
- incentives for employers in the target countries to offer convenient telephone/internet packages and time/flexibility for connectivity during working hours;
- awareness-raising and training campaigns on children's participation in transnational communication; facilitating regular visits (minimum 3 full days together every 3 months) between the country of origin and the country of destination through paid days off and travel vouchers offered by employers or authorities;
- a digital resource/application called "Transnational Family Advisor" with a summary of legal, national and other information, etc.
A report will soon be available including on the tdh.ro website.
Castle Action Project is co-financed by the European Union, contracted by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) through the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF) - ICMPD/2021/MPF-357-004. The project is implemented by Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj, in partnership with Terre des hommes Switzerland Foundation (Tdh Romania delegation), Terre des hommes Moldova, Terre des hommes Ukraine, Ukrainian Institute of Social Research after Oleksandr Yaremenko and the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova. The main objective of this project is to support the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine in improving child protection frameworks and migration and mobility policies, with a focus on the social and legal impact of labour migration on transnational families.
The content of this article is the sole responsibility of Babeș-Bolyai University and cannot in any way be considered as reflecting the position of the European Union or the ICMPD.
