International migration of unaccompanied minors: trends, health risks, and legal protection

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Abstract

<p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" dir="auto" id="P1">‘Unaccompanied minors’ (UAMs) are a group of migrants whose global numbers are increasing. However, little is known about UAMs as data is not systematically collected in any region, if collected at all. UAMs are a diverse group, potentially at additional risk of harm to their health and integrity because they lack protection usually conferred by a family, which can lead to both short- and longer-term health impacts. This review summarises the most recent evidence regarding all the aspects relevant to UAM international migration and health. UAMs are entitled to protection that should follow their ‘best interests’ as a primary consideration but instead detention, sometimes under the guise of protection, remains a widespread practice. There is evidence of good long-term outcomes if these minors are provided with appropriate forms of protection, including health and psychosocial care. Instead, hostile immigration practices persist, which are clearly not in their best interests. </p>

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Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing

George C Patton, Susan Sawyer, John S Santelli … (2016)

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Michael Marmot, Sharon Friel, Ruth Bell … (2008)

The Commission on Social Determinants of Health, created to marshal the evidence on what can be done to promote health equity and to foster a global movement to achieve it, is a global collaboration of policy makers, researchers, and civil society, led by commissioners with a unique blend of political, academic, and advocacy experience. The focus of attention is on countries at all levels of income and development. The commission launched its final report on August 28, 2008. This paper summarises the key findings and recommendations; the full list is in the final report.

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Adverse childhood experiences, allostasis, allostatic load, and age-related disease.

Andrea Danese, Bruce McEwen (2012)

How do adverse childhood experiences get 'under the skin' and influence health outcomes through the life-course? Research reviewed here suggests that adverse childhood experiences are associated with changes in biological systems responsible for maintaining physiological stability through environmental changes, or allostasis. Children exposed to maltreatment showed smaller volume of the prefrontal cortex, greater activation of the HPA axis, and elevation in inflammation levels compared to non-maltreated children. Adults with a history of childhood maltreatment showed smaller volume of the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, greater activation of the HPA axis, and elevation in inflammation levels compared to non-maltreated individuals. Despite the clear limitations in making longitudinal claims from cross-sectional studies, work so far suggests that adverse childhood experiences are associated with enduring changes in the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. These changes are already observable in childhood years and remain apparent in adult life. Adverse childhood experiences induce significant biological changes in children (biological embedding), modifying the maturation and the operating balance of allostatic systems. Their chronic activation can lead to progressive wear and tear, or allostatic load and overload, and, thus, can exert long-term effects on biological aging and health. Copyright Â© 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.