On 8 June 2023, Coram International’s Head of Law and Programmes, Awaz Raoof, participated in a panel discussion at the UN Responsible Business and Human Rights Forum, Asia-Pacific, to discuss our research and policy brief on the role of the business sector in protecting children affected by migration in Southeast Asia. The research and policy briefs were commissioned by UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office.
The research explores the role of the business sector in contributing and responding to the protection risks that children affected by migration face in the region and fills a critical gap in the literature on this important issue. The research also comes at a pivotal time, coinciding with increasing calls in the international policy arena to impose mandatory obligations on businesses to respect human rights, including children’s rights, wherever they operate or have business relationships.
The research highlights the role of the business sector in driving child migration and influencing decisions by parents to migrate with or without their children, as well as the contribution of the business sector to child protection risks. The research goes beyond highlighting the risks of child labour and economic exploitation, which are often cited when it comes to business conduct, and calls attention to how business policies, operations, and business relationships cause or contribute to risks associated with child protection. This includes child trafficking, family separation and the potential negative consequences that this can have on the child’s development, increased exposure of the child to violence and abuse, and children being undocumented and cut off from essential protective services.
Our research highlights a series of steps that ASEAN states, businesses and civil society are taking to address these protection risks, as well as recommendations to build upon these efforts. The research report can be accessed here, and our policy brief on the role of the business sector can be accessed here.