Children Affected by Armed Conflict and Displacement

Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of war, and frequently represent at least half of the population in a conflict area. They suffer fear and insecurity, and disruption to every aspect of their lives. Children who have been displaced are at an increased risk of sexual and physical violence, disease and malnutrition, and separation from family members. As displaced persons or refugees they may experience severe poverty, abuse, exploitation, and psychosocial distress.

Children without parental care in conflict areas are highly vulnerable to abduction or other forms of recruitment by armed forces and groups. Such children may be used to fight, provide labour or be sexually exploited. Involvement in conflict may result in malnutrition, abuse, addiction to drugs, injury, psychosocial distress or death. While children associated with armed forces and groups make up a small minority of the total number of children affected by war, they are extremely vulnerable and in need of particular protection and care.

Opportunities to help children who have been associated with fighting forces may begin with their escape, capture or formal demobilization. Some may be able immediately to reunite with family members, but others may need interim care during tracing. While children may be readily accepted by their family and community, others risk rejection. Family mediation and community sensitization is needed to support family reunification and community integration. Ongoing monitoring, family support services, and placement planning is necessary where children are not reunited with one or both parents or where family and community acceptance is uncertain.

Community action to protect and support war affected children should be inclusive and not limited to children formally associated with armed forces or any one group of children. National efforts should focus on the reestablishment of essential services, particularly in the areas of security, health and education.

While this section contains resources relevant for all children in conflict affected areas, it focuses on children without parental care, including refugees and displaced children, and children associated with armed forces and groups. It includes information on demobilisation, family reunification and community reintegration.

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In the Freezer: Abusive Conditions for Women and Children in US Immigration Holding Cells

Human Rights Watch, 28 Feb 2018

This report examines US authorities’ compliance with the specific protections that should be afforded to children, drawing on 110 interviews with children themselves or women detained with their children.

En la ‘hielera:’ Condiciones abusivas para las mujeres y los niños en las celdas de detención migratoria en Estados Unidos

Human Rights Watch, 28 Feb 2018

Este informe examina el cumplimiento por parte de las autoridades estadounidenses de las protecciones específicas que deben otorgarse a los niños, basándose en 110 entrevistas a niños y mujeres detenidas con sus hijos.

Communities of belonging in the temporariness of the Danish Asylum System: Shalini’s anchoring points

Andrea Verdasco - Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies , 27 Feb 2018

Through the case of a young Sri Lankan woman who arrived in Denmark as an ‘unaccompanied asylum-seeking minor’ and spent five years within the Danish asylum system, this article explores how she experienced moving through different legal categories and the institutional settings associated with them.

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Foster care, recognition and transitions to adulthood for unaccompanied asylum seeking young people in England and Ireland

Ala Sirriyeh, Muireann Ni Raghallaigh - Children and Youth Services Review, 24 Feb 2018

This paper presents findings from two studies, in England (2012) and Ireland (2013), which explored experiences of unaccompanied refugee minors (URM) in foster care.

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Childhood Interrupted: Children's Voices from the Rohingya Refugee Crisis

Plan International, Save the Children and World Vision International, 24 Feb 2018

This report presents the results of a consultation - organised by Plan International, Save the Children and World Vision International - which surveyed children in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh from refugee communities (who identify themselves as Rohingya) and children from host communities.

Unaccompanied migrant minors: A comparison of new Italian interventions models

Nadia Rania, Laura Migliorini, Lucia Fagnini - Children and Youth Services Review, 14 Feb 2018

The present research aimed to describe and compare three new second-level intervention models to improve the care of unaccompanied migrant minors in Italy.

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Assisting the least among us: Social work's historical response to unaccompanied immigrant and refugee youth

Jayshree S. Jani & Michael Reisch - Children and Youth Services Review, 14 Feb 2018

Based on primary and secondary source materials, this article traces the evolution of the US social work field's response to the needs of unaccompanied immigrant and refugee youth during the past two centuries.

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Whole of Syria Child Protection: 2018 Operational Strategy

Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR), 08 Feb 2018

This report from the Child Protection Area of Responsibility (CP AoR) highlights the child protection needs and responses in Syria and includes objectives and targets for continued child protection interventions and strategies.

Mutual benefits: The lessons learned from a community based participatory research project with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and foster carers

Justin Rogers, Sam Carr, Caroline Hickman - Children and Youth Services Review, 02 Feb 2018

This paper presents a community based participatory research project, which adopted a photovoice approach with seven unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) living in foster care in the United Kingdom.

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A call to action: Protecting children on the move starts with better data

UNICEF, UNHCR, IOM, Eurostat and OECD, 01 Feb 2018

In this call to action, UNICEF, UNHCR, IOM, Eurostat and OECD show how crucial data are to understanding the patterns of global migration and developing policies to support vulnerable groups like children.