A Center of Research for the Study of Transnational Families will be created within the Babes-Bolyai University (Cluj). Thus, academics at the highest level and NGOs will collaborate in an international project that will bring a new perspective on transnational families and how migration for work affects children's rights. The initiative is part of the CASTLE action, funded by the European Union, through the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD). Babeș-Bolyai University (Cluj) coordinates 5 institutions and organizations that collaborate for the first time in this formula: Terre des hommes delegations Romania, Moldova and Ukraine together with the Ukrainian Institute for Social Research after Oleksandr Yaremenko and the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova.
CASTLE -”Children left behind by labour migration” will research and analyze the phenomenon, but the knowledge will be translated into operational interventions, so that trainings and awareness activities will be combined with direct actions. The project will also propose solutions and support Moldova and Ukraine so that these countries will improve their protection system and obtain more information about transnational families and the social and legal impact of labor migration. In this case, Romania is seen both as a country of destination and origin of migrants for work.
At the launch event, Jennifer Tangney, ICMPD highlighted the great potential for influence of the project at the level of institutional stakeholders. In addition, as Aron Telegdi-Csetri - Research manager pointed out, the research of transnational families has so far been only descriptive, without including and explaining children's rights, while the CASTLE project incorporates this component, being oriented towards political recommendations and in this regard.
The project will create, among others:
- A course for local service providers from Moldova and Ukraine
- An online course for service providers in destination countries (including Romania)
- An online course for transnational families. This will be delivered to recipients in Moldova and Ukraine and for members of these families from destination countries (Romania and other countries involved in the project)
Context
Labour migration of citizens from Eastern Europe to the European Union has steadily increased over the past decade. Economic hardship and the search for higher living standards have led numerous Moldovan and Ukrainian citizens to seek employment on a permanent or seasonal basis in the European Union. While certain families migrate as a unit, many children remain left behind by one or both of their parents/caregivers, resulting in the growing phenomenon of transnational families. In Moldova, 21 percent of children (150,000) have at least one parent living abroad, while 5 percent of children (35,000) have both parents abroad, according to the latest available data. In Ukraine, 200,000 children are left behind by at least one parent, a phenomenon concerning up to 25 percent of all children in certain regions.
CASTLE will be implemented by the six partner institutions and organizations between June 2021 - December 2023
The CASTLE action ( ”Children left behind by labour migration”) is co-funded by the European Union, contracted by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) through the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF). The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the partners implementing the CASTLE action and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union and the one of ICMPD.
