Sri Lanka's Missing Mothers. A Working Paper on the Effects of Mother Migration on Children

Abstract

It is an accepted fact that children of migrant mothers have severe emotional and behavioural problems and face uncertain futures. In Sri Lanka, over one million children face the trauma of absentee mothers. The study undertaken is understand the impact of missing mothers on children, and determine the reasons why so many women opt to leave their children behind in search of economic benefits. The study provides recommendations as to what steps could be taken to alleviate these problems through state and institutional intervention. The overall objective is to promote policy level dialogue on the issue of mother migration and its negative impacts on the children, and to draw up concrete recommendations on how Save the Children can address the problem.