SCREENING OF FILM ON “MIGRATING CHILDHOOD”

Bhubaneswar: Migration information & Resource Centre (MiRC), Aide et Action International- South Asia in collaboration with Bernard van Leer Foundation released and screened “Migrating Childhood”- a documentary unfolding the lives of migrant children living at worksites on 22^nd September, 2014 in Hotel Crown, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.

The event started with a welcome address by Mr. Umi Daniel, Regional Thematic Head, Aide et Action International who briefed the participants about the film. The address was followed by the release of the film by a panel of five which included Mr. Biren Das (Filmmaker), Ms Dharitri Patnaik (India Representative- Bernard van Leer Foundation), Mr. Teki Vishy (Director, Communication Resource Centre), Mr. Digambar Saptahthy and Mr. Umi Daniel (Regional Thematic Head- Aide et Action International- South Asia).

Later, the film was screened and the house was open for discussion. According to Mr. Teki Vishy, “There are lots of migrant children living at the worksites who miss out on early childhood care and education and fall prey to child labour. They fail to get access to the basic entitlements and government services. Health is a bigger issue which such children face when they migrate along with their parents to live in such unsafe, unhealthy and hazardous environment.” He added, “I am thankful to Aide et Action for giving me this opportunity to direct this film and capture the issue on our lenses.”

Sharing his experience about the film, Filmmaker Mr. Biren Das said that the film has been beautifully portrayed. According to him, “It’s good to see such a complex issue being captured in such a simple way. I hope government takes some proactive action o this issue and provide the children a better living.”

The documentary was shot in four cities of India- Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chennai and Hyderabad. The film depicts the plight of children of migrant workers and lay forward solutions towards creating safe & healthy environment for children living in unhygienic, unsafe and hazardous worksites like brick kilns, construction sites and stone crusher units.

The film aims at creating public awareness and raise policy issues to better the lives of migrant children who spend half of their lives in worksite while they migrate with their parents. It is conceptualized by Aide et Action International- South Asia with support from Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF). The video is produced by Communication Resource Centre (CRC), Hyderabad.

Background

Aide et Action intend to address the issues of seasonal young migrants who migrate along with their parents to different locations of the country in search of better living and livelihood. As per UNESCO, 2011 report, annually 50 million migrants in India migrate seasonally in search of wage employment. Out of the total migrant, 15 percent of them are children. The young migrants generally accompany their parents and live in very unhealthy, unfriendly living conditions at various worksites like brick kiln, stone crusher, building construction and other informal sectors. The elder and adolescent ones often migrate with their parents to look after their siblings and help their parents in wage work. Mostly the migrant families and their young ones get excluded from accessing basic govt services and entitlements both at source and destination. Since children are excluded from accessing quality child care, nutrition, and safe & healthy environment while living at the temporary location as migrants, it often results to their malnourishment, ill health and morbidity, which also hampers their psychological, cognitive and physical growth.

India is home to the largest child population in the world of 420 million children in the 0-18 year age group. The Indian State guarantees all children their rights and entitlements under the Constitution of India through its various provisions. According to the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Constitution, it is an obligation of the State to ensure that children are protected from exploitation, moral and material abandonment throughout the period of growth and development. However, in India millions of children grow without any social and legal protection. One such category is that of vulnerable migrant children who are still considered as invisible and unnoticed due to their frequent mobility and fragmented location. As per UNESCO, 2011 report, around 15 million children in India are migrants and are denied of their right to basic entitlements, rights and services guaranteed in the UN declaration and the Constitution of India. These children face vulnerability being out of their domain and at the workplace; they are mostly away from care and protection, health and nutrition, learning and exposure, and overall childhood wellbeing in comparison with their peer in the source village.

Based on the study conducted by Aide et Action in 2013, children in the 0-14 year age group constitute 47% of the total child population. These migrant children do not access their basic rights & entitlements in destination areas as they remain invisible and undocumented by the Government; do not get enrolled into Anganwadi, or local schools due to the language barrier. Children in the early years are particularly more vulnerable. Deprivation at this stage affects human beings throughout their whole life cycle. Those who are neglected or abused in the first years of life suffer damage from which they may never fully recover and that may prevent them from reaching their full potential as older children, adolescents and eventually as adults. Lack of access to proper food and health services lead to malnutrition which not only weakens children physically, it also impairs their ability to learn.

The film aims at influencing various stakeholders like the government, the INGOs, Civil Society Organizations, Facility Owners and the Media to look into the issues of these migrant children and adopt ways to better their lives by providing them access to the basic rights and entitlements, safe, healthy and learning environment at worksites.