Minors in the transnacional migratory field (Drari d’sentro)

Abstract

The article analyzes the study case of «Non Accompanied Minors» from Morocco to show how a conception of minors who migrate alone without actively incorporating their agency as subject crossing international borders, precludes a correct and efficient work in both academic research and policies which informs dominant conceptions of them as wither victims or criminals. A new theoretical and methodological proposal of these minors as new migratory actors thus informs the findings of our research on their familial networks, the relations with their parents, and their migratory processes as shaped by a strained articulation of Alien Law and Minor Protection Law. The article is based on fieldwork in Spain and Morocco, and shows how the States involved manipulate minors’ dependency or autonomy through political agreements creating an even increasing exclusionary tendency of minors from the protection system they are claiming to be entitled to.