On the Non-Circulation of Children: Migrants’ Infrequent Fostering Arrangements Between Germany and Cameroon

This paper explores the surprising rarity of an affective circuit—fostering arrangements between Cameroonian migrant parents in Germany and their kin in Cameroon—generative of new ties. Despite long and irregular work hours, Cameroonian migrants to Berlin infrequently send their young children “home” to be raised by kin in Cameroon. In this way they distinguish themselves from African migrants to countries as diverse as the United States, Spain, and the Republic of Congo. Their reluctance to engage in transnational fostering arrangements is all the more surprising given the commonality of the circulation of children, goods, and emotions among kin within Cameroon. Children born prior to the mother's migration often stay with their maternal grandmothers in Cameroon. But most Cameroonian migrant mothers in Berlin bear their children only after migrating. They lament disrupted circuits—immigration restrictions for visitors who could provide postpartum care. Nonetheless, German federal law gives parents a legal claim to a daycare spot for children one year and older; in Berlin children aged three and older attend publically subsidized daycare free of charge. This ready availability of affordable childcare in Berlin enables working mothers to raise their own children. Daily interactions when dropping children off or picking children up from daycare help mothers make connections to other Cameroonians, creating affective circuits of mutual aid, filling in gaps in off-hours childcare provision, and contributing to building a diasporic community. Governance practices generate new affective circuits among transnational migrants and with public institutions while “thinning” ties to kin back home.