A/HRC/33/53
adult, who often is a member of their immediate or extended family. Children leave a
reception centre only once it is guaranteed that the adult in question can adequately
accommodate them.
72.
In Serbia, the lack of proper measures by the responsible institutions means that the
language barrier hinders migrant children from explaining their situation. That also
effectively renders them unable to express their own opinion and prevents the authorities
from determining whether their choice was voluntary and what were the underlying reasons
that motivated them to migrate.50
73.
In Honduras, there is a programme for underage foreign migrants, as part of which
trained technical teams attend to that population. There is no national policy that deals with
the issue of migrant children. Moreover, in the case of returnees, only one centre is
specialized to assist Honduran migrant children returning from abroad and undocumented
foreign-born children.
74.
In Zimbabwe, migration policies take into account the protection of the rights of
migrants, but the practical implementation of those policies remains a challenge. Zimbabwe
recently passed the Anti-trafficking Act, which seeks to protect unaccompanied children.
Furthermore, the establishment of reception centres for unaccompanied children deported
from Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa (along the main borders in Beitbridge,
Plumtree and Nyamapanda) is based on the protection of the rights of children. Those
children are provided with basic social services such as temporary shelter, food, clothing,
medical care and, if possible, family reunification.
V. Gender considerations
75.
As almost no information is provided by States on violations of human rights of
migrant children, information on gender-based violations is missing as well.
76.
Despite the lack of information, gender does appear to have an impact on
international migration patterns in Mexico. For instance, a teenager named Maya Mam
stated in an interview that, in order not to be subjected to sexual abuse, she had to ask a
male fellow traveller to introduce her to others as his girlfriend, a pretence for which he
asked to be paid.51 Heterosexual women are not the only ones to be the target of genderbased violence: discrimination and persecution has also been experienced by lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender and intersex children.52
77.
Employment in domestic service is common for female migrants in Mexico, the vast
majority of whom are under the age of 18. Female migrants from Guatemala tend to have
indigenous origins. This vulnerable group has been subjected to labour exploitation and to
have been denied minimum labour rights, such as a legal contract and a legal residence
permit. Moreover, it is almost impossible for migrant girls to obtain temporary or
permanent residence status given the costs involved and the interests of their employers.53
50
51
52
53
14
National ombudsman of Serbia.
Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, University of California Hastings College of Law and others
(see footnote 38), p. 145.
Information provided by the General Coordinator of the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid.
Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Matías.
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