Public Discussion in Bulgaria on Children left behind: between labour migration, institutional standards and extended family
The 2020 Report of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the Impact of labour migration on left-behind children highlighted the fact that “Leaving millions of children without parental care is a mass violation of human rights”.
On 12 December, in Sofia, the Council of Europe – European Commission Joint Programme ROMACT and the Bulgarian Ombudsperson’s office organized a public discussion on children left behind by parents going abroad for work.
ROMACT interventions at local level in Bulgaria brought to light the enhanced vulnerability of children left behind in marginalized Roma communities by parents going abroad for work (other terminologies can be found such as “transnational families”, “euro-orphans”, “home alone children”), detailed in the report on Children left behind: between labour migration, institutional standards, and extended family. While working abroad might bring improvement to the financial situation of the family on the long run, leaving the children behind without a reinforced protection network might put certain categories of children in a situation of risk, especially in communities with limited access to basic services.
This event was an occasion to raise awareness about the vulnerability of Roma children left behind in poor and marginalized communities by parents going abroad for work, in order to stimulate policy development and reinforce targeted action on the ground.
Nadia Klisurska, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy; Maria Gaydarova, Deputy Minister of Education; Teodora Ivanova, Chairperson of the State Agency for Child Protection and a member of the Steering Committee on the Rights of the Child of the Council of Europe; Iskren Arabadzhiyev and Denitsa Sacheva, both Deputy Heads of the Committee on Labour and Social and Demographic Policy in the National Assembly; Viorel Badea, Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on children affected by labour migration; Eleni Tsetsekou, Head of Roma and Travellers Division of the Council of Europe; Velina Todorova, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; Christina de Bruin, UNICEF Representative in Bulgaria addressed the conference in the opening session. Other high-level representatives from Bulgarian state institutions, parliamentarians, academics and representatives of civil society participated in the discussion.
Press release
Background document
Agenda
Report in English - Report in Bulgarian
Living without them- Online Exhibition (Lina Krivoshieva)
Where is my mother? - Short video
