Unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents

In a context of migratory flows and using the definition of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) unaccompaniedmigrant children and adolescents refers to those ‘who have been separated from both parents and other relatives and are not being cared for by an adult who, by law or custom, is responsible for doing so.’ (IACtHR, 2012). At the same time, separated children and adolescents refers to those ‘who have been separated from both parents, or from their previous legal or customary primary care-giver, but not necessarily from other relatives’ (IACtHR, 2012).

Depending on the context and communication situation, another possible expression is unaccompanied minors. The term minors is legally correct and includes the previous option in a single word. 

A general category is migrant children. This entails children and adolescents who migrate for various reasons that often overlap.

Certain sectors question the use of returnee minors  to refer to sending children and adolescents back to their countries of origin as this has a negative connotation that is dehumanizing. Instead, another option is minors who have been returned to their country of origin. Although the length of this sentence makes its use complex, the message it communicates is kinder.

Another expression has emerged, which is children on the move. However, this is confusing and its connection with migration is not clear. In Argentina, for example, it can be used generically to describe some social strategies or interventions for children and adolescents; these have a positive connotation associated to sports, music, and body language. As an expression, children on the move is far from reflecting the humanitarian tragedy that thousands of unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents face and in multiple conditions of extreme vulnerability.

This is an example of what specialists and language experts warn regarding the linguistic excesses to avoid negative connotations in certain expressions, but that end up being far from the reality they intend to describe.