This article sheds light on the underreported issue of the significant number of children on the move who end up in child labour. It builds on insights and conclusions drawn in a comprehensive literature review undertaken in 2010, and follows from a recommendation made by the Inter-Agency Working Group on Children on the Move to analyse existing data and information from various disciplines – including child labour – for information on migrant children.

This article finds that the trajectory of the migration of children in the South is highly precarious. Without protection from the government or access to services, these children are at high risk of child labour. The article finds further that migrant child labourers are worse off in terms of working conditions compared to local child labourers and are, thus, in need of focused attention.

To protect migrant children, this article recommends ensuring governments’ compliance with conventions, access to education, accessibility of low-interest loans, birth registration of all children and investment in preparation for migration. Furthermore, governments can improve their monitoring of migration movements, the monitoring of working conditions and the governance of migration for decent jobs with decent pay (for youth of working age).

The article was published as Chapter 4 of the publication "Children on the Move", an OIM publication.