The unheard voices of the ‘left-behind’
An innovative project by Save the Children seeks to give a unique platform to children whose mothers have gone overseas in search of work
Children with muddy feet: With their mothers far away, many children face neglect and abuse
Every day, Malini* meets another woman determined to leave Sri Lanka.
As a Foreign Employment Officer in the island’s Nuwara Eliya province, Malini is responsible for issuing Family Background Reports – she fields, on average, 100 to 120 of these every month.
To produce the report – which migrant women workers must have – Malini has to visit the woman’s home and see if there are children under five. If she finds any, the government official cannot approve the woman’s application. However, if there are children above five, and under 18, then Malini must confirm that safe arrangements are in place for their care – and that the woman’s husband is aware of his wife’s plans. If Malini isn’t convinced on either count, then she won’t clear the mother to leave.
This government policy, in place since 2007, has been a controversial one; critics allege it prevents vulnerable women from supporting their families by banning them from the only form of work they can find. Malini says the main reason women leave is to address the family’s income poverty or to escape a difficult home life. For many, migrating for work is their only hope of a better future for their families.
As a result, the steady stream of departures continues. So much so that it is a key driver of this island’s economy – in 2015 alone, the World Bank estimated that Sri Lanka received $7.2bn in official remittances, the equivalent to 8.9 percent of the country’s GDP.
However, the heart of the debate is not the women but the plight of ‘left-behind’ children – with their mothers miles away, many children are at risk of neglect and abuse. Strong measures, such as the Family Background Reports, are ostensibly all about protecting children. However, there are few to actually listen to their concerns.
Now, an innovative new project by Save the Children is seeking to change this, raising awareness around these children by giving them a unique platform. As part of the Mother and Child Friendly Plantations programme—designed to promote mother and child well-being in Sri Lanka’s tea industry —the Every Last Child campaign is focused on child-led advocacy and research on the effects of parental migration on the children left behind.
Under its umbrella are a slew of initiatives. These range from establishing the clubs themselves and training teachers and youth mobilizers to conducting workshops for the children. From these efforts have come a series of child-led videos and magazines produced by Children’s Clubs dotted across the plantations.
‘Left behind children’ struggle to cope
When it was Shanthini’s* turn to submit a piece for the magazine, she decided to write a letter to her mother, who went abroad in 2010, when Shanthini was only 11 year-old. “I missed my mother especially when I saw other children with their mothers,” she says.
In the comfort of their children’s club, Shanthini and her friends swapped stories. Other children spoke of being bullied by classmates or neglected by teachers; as one would expect not all caregivers were kind –some made the children bear an unfair load of housework to earn their stay. Others dealt with alcoholic or physically abusive relatives. Many had no one to turn to in a crisis.
Niranjala says it’s not uncommon for children to act out in such circumstances, something which 15-year-old Siva* confirms. Some of his closest friends have dropped out of school. “They stay home, and many of them are addicted to alcohol and drugs,” he says, frankly.
Young girls in particular, have their own challenges. Walking home alone or returning to an empty house after school could be frightening, says Priyadarshini,* another young Children’s Club member. It can be hard to find words for these things. Priyadarshini settles on “bad touching,” saying:“There are some things you can only tell your mother.”
It does not help their case that the child protection system in Sri Lanka does not prioritize the plantation community or children of migrant parents. Programmes targeted specifically at the children of labour migrants are few or non-existent.
For Shanthini and her friends, the children’s club is that rare thing – a completely safe space. Here, they can explore their talents and make new friends. They understand each other in the way adults never seem to.
Siva is a favourite of Shanthini and the others. He is a skilled painter and loves to invent funny skits which he performs for the others to sounds of uproarious laughter. “Because of this place I got a stage and platform to share my talents, otherwise they would have been buried and lost,” he says.
Children should be part of the
decision-making
Dr.Ramaswamy Pushpakaanthan, a child psychologist who himself grew up in this area says he sees the family dynamic shifting in the lives of the Children’s Club members – not only have the children become more confident about speaking their minds, they also now have new platforms through which they can express themselves.
The short films and magazines produced by the children were shared with their families and with the larger community. He believes adults were first surprised by the idea of children having a place at the table, but that this has slowly morphed into respect. “We saw how they finally began to accept that children had to be part of the decision making process.”
Niranjala too has seen the videos. As a Foreign Employment Officer, she thinks they’ve got the parents themselves thinking differently. “There are some really good messages there,” she says, explaining that she feels parents are beginning to consider how migration could impact their children.
Priyadarshini, whose mother returned after three years abroad, says parents break down when they read the essays their children have written. She and her mother have had some honest, difficult conversations since the latter returned home. It is clear they both suffered because of the separation.
Now, Priyadarshini hopes other families will pay attention to their children’s needs and be able to find new solutions to the challenges they face. “We too are affected, so our voices must also be heard,” she says.
*Name changed to protect interviewee’s
privacy.