Many international migrants are parents who have left without their children. In some countries of emigration, there is an established tradition of fostering and a view that temporary separation of children from their biological parents is not a bad thing. In other countries, there is widespread concern that current emigration of parents is a serious threat to the well-being of a generation of children.

The International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) and the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo are hosting a workshop that seeks to bring together international expertise in the field in order to identify commonalities and differences in research findings, explore implications for policy, and identify areas of priority for future research.