Motherhood at the Crossroads of Mobility: Migrant Mothers' Rights and Child-Sensitive Migration Governance in Kazakhstan

This article examines the situation of migrant mothers in the Republic of Kazakhstan at the intersection of gender, mobility, and migration governance, situated within the broader context of the Turkic world and international human rights standards. Against the backdrop of the global feminization of migration, migrant mothers are conceptualized as a specifically layered vulnerable group whose rights are shaped at the junction of migration law, family law, social protection regimes, and child rights frameworks. The article develops the concept of maternal mobility as an analytical lens that moves beyond conventional labor-migration approaches and highlights the interdependence between a mother’s migration status and the effective realization of children’s rights. Theoretically, the study contributes to gender and mobility debates in the Turkic context by linking historical and cultural models of family responsibility with contemporary regimes of transnational migration. The doctrinal analysis draws on a synthesis of soft law and migration governance approaches, including the normative frameworks and interpretative guidance of the CRC and CEDAW, standards developed by IOM, UNHCR, and UNICEF, as well as the OECD Migration Governance Framework. The article demonstrates that, despite Kazakhstan’s formal commitment to international obligations, the implementation of these standards remains fragmented and insufficiently gender-responsive. The empirical section is based on the analysis of real-world cases from Kazakhstan (Almaty, Shymkent, Astana, and Turkestan Region) and empirical studies conducted in Central Asia. These cases reveal systemic challenges, including barriers to healthcare access, difficulties in birth registration, risks of statelessness, exclusion from education, family separation through deportation, and the heightened vulnerability of migrant women to domestic violence. The article argues for the need to transition toward a family-oriented and gender-responsive model of migration governance in Kazakhstan, grounded in the best interests of the child, inter-agency coordination, evidence-based policymaking, and a clear institutional separation between migration control and the protection of victims of violence. The conclusion outlines policy directions, including simplified birth registration procedures, expanded access to education and healthcare for migrant children, the introduction of firewall policies, consideration of family circumstances in deportation decisions, and the strengthened role of NGOs and international organizations in protecting migrant mothers’ rights.