Dorte Thorsen is a visiting research fellow at the department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading. She has published book chapters, policy papers and articles in the journals Migrations & Homes, Africa, Forum for Development Studies and the Journal for Comparative Family Studies.Iman Hashim is a Research Fellow at the Department of International Relations, Istanbul Kulutur University. She also has worked for national and international non-governmental organisations as a programme and a research officer.

In trash dumps, brothels and other sites where children toil in the worst forms of child labor, it is not unusual to encounter a preponderance of children who have migrated outside their family support networks. This study is an important early contribution in the nascent literature aimed at understanding independent child migration . It provides voice to independent child migrants in West Africa. The diversity of experiences is thought-provoking. This impressive work will serve as a foundation for further research that examines the extent to which these narrative accounts generalize beyond the voices found by these authors.

• Preface1. Introduction: Interrogating Childhood and Migration2. Contexts of Migration3. Choosing to Move: The Reasons of Rural Children's Migration4: Journeys and Arrivals: Introductions to New Social Worlds5: Navigating Migrant Life: Processes of Constructing Identities6. Moving On