Unaccompanied refugee minors and resettlement: Turning points towards integration

Abstract

At the end of 2019, there were an estimate of 153,300 unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs) worldwide. However, due to lack of reporting, the available figures are probably highly underestimated (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2019). URMs are defined as someone under the age of 18 years who arrives without parents or other adults who cares for them, either by law or custom, to seek asylum (The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, n.d.).Unaccompanied refugee minors are often in a state of vulnerability due to various pre-flight distressing experiences. In addition, they usually travel in the absence of their caregivers and the quality of their caregiving on arrival in the host country can be variable. Being separated from family members at a crucial developmental period and subsequent lack of support may affect their sense of security and sense of belongingness. Distressing experiences along with a lack of social support are often associated with higher levels of psychological distress (

Taking a Dialogical Approach to Guiding Gaming Practices in a Non-Family Context

“…Unlike Leurs's case study (2019), which found that online communication is used to strengthen family bonds across borders, the youths in this present study played games to establish or strengthen social ties with fellow unaccompanied refugee youths. Similar to the findings of research on game-based socialization, this study found that gaming might reduce feelings of loneliness (Kaye et al, 2017) that many of these youths often face (Andersson et al, 2021).…”

“…I needed to play with someone. young men who had lived in Norway for some time explained how gaming is an arena that offers the opportunity to mingle with other youths of similar backgrounds over an extended period, as limited friendship circles and loneliness are prevalent among this group (Andersson et al, 2021). They explained that, due to regulations related to the resettlement of unaccompanied refugee youths, their housing situation often changed, and they frequently had to move quite suddenly.…”

Navigating cultural transitions during resettlement: the case of unaccompanied refugee minors

“…They must re-establish their lives in an unknown culture as well as transition from adolescence to adulthood. As they are apart from their family during a crucial developmental period, URMs also need to establish new close relationships outside of their family ( Andersson et al, 2021 ).…”