Although children are less at risk of COVID-19 infection, millions of children – including migrant children – are nevertheless at heightened risk from the pandemic because of their precarious status. Authored by Jacqueline Bhabha, this paper uses available data sources, including crowd-sourced mobility data, media reports and anecdotal accounts, to conduct an initial assessment of the pandemic’s impact on vulnerable migrant children and outline a number of policies that have been enacted to attenuate this vulnerability.

This paper is part of a series of short “think pieces” by IOM’s Migration Research and Publishing High-Level Advisers on the potential changes, impacts and implications for migration and mobility arising from COVID-19. Designed to spark thinking on policy and programmatic responses to COVID-19 as its impacts continue to emerge globally, the papers draw upon existing and new evidence and offer initial exploratory analysis and recommendations.