The Refugee Crisis and the Rights of Children: Perspectives on Community-Based Resettlement Programs

Abstract

We are currently facing one of the largest and most complex refugee crises in modern times. Conflict and natural disasters have resulted in 22.5 million refugees worldwide, more than half are children. As the world struggles to respond to this massive displacement of people, how is this affecting child refugees' development and what is being done about it? In this commentary, we explore answers to these central questions. First, we review the situation of child refugees in numbers, exploring their geographic concentration. Second, we review child refugees' access to basic services, including early childhood development, with a special emphasis on community-based programs and initiatives that have proven to be particularly effective in addressing the needs of resettled child refugees. We find in particular that early childhood development activities in emergency contexts have seen remarkable improvements with critical benefits for the development of the youngest child refugees. Our aim is to bring attention to the particular difficulties child refugees must endure and to highlight those practices and approaches that are helping child refugees reach their full potential.

An interdisciplinary framework examining culture and adaptation in migrant children and adolescents

“…Parents are vital figures in children's development as this is often the first point of contact in developing an attachment. However, when refugee parents undergo significant strain from prior traumas as well as acculturative stress, this negatively impacts the emotional and social support they can provide to their children (Alipui & Gerke, 2018). Given the circumstances faced by refugee families, the post‐migration stage serves as a critical phase in buffering the negative impacts of former experiences.…”

Children’s narratives on migrant refugees: a practice of global citizenship

“…First, the image is accompanied by text which specifies that a child 'cannot go to the doctor because they don't let him go to the doctor'. Alipui and Gerke (2018) highlight the vulnerability of children in relation to the absence of fundamental rights such as health and education. Second, in the image, the pupils have decided to paint the boy's skin 'black'.…”

Manifesto for new directions in developmental science

“…Adding to these stark figures is a foreseeable increase in migration as a result of climate change. Child and adolescent refugees who are displaced due to conflict, disasters, and other crises are particularly vulnerable to trauma exposure and stressors, hazardous living conditions, unsafe environments, challenges in meeting basic survival needs, and social isolation (e.g., Alipui & Gerke, 2018; Richter, Lye, & Proulx, 2018). Further, these youth may experience difficulties in developing their own identities in the context of their new host societies, and they can be victims of discrimination and prejudice (e.g., Crocetti, Fermani, Pojaghi, & Meeus, 2011).…”