Euro-orphan or EU orphan[1] is a neologism used metaphorically to describe a "social orphan" in the European Union whose parents have migrated to another member state, typically for economic reasons.
The expression itself is a misnomer since it is meant to describe temporary child abandonment rather than the death of both parents.
[2] Such abandoned children may require therapeutic or psychiatric care to cope.
[4] Migrating families are sometimes divided by local child services like Jugendamt.
[6] A similar term, "old euro-orphans", describes elderly parents left behind by migrants.