Child Refugees

Akari Tagami
Mr. Babcock
May 11 2015

Table Of Contents
Preface.................................................................................................................. 3
Summary of Research.......................................................................................... 4
Factual Information
Background............................................................................................... 5
Expert........................................................................................................ 8
Role of Control......................................................................................... 10
Logic of Evil............................................................................................. 13
Religion..................................................................................................... 15
Case Study: Myanmar............................................................................... 18
Case Study: Somalia................................................................................. 22
Case Study: Syria...................................................................................... 29
International Organizations....................................................................... 34
Connection to Canada............................................................................... 38
Solutions................................................................................................... 41
Conclusion................................................................................................ 46
Bibliography......................................................................................................... 47

Preface
Humans have the ability to create their own problems. People become refugees due to the
course of humans actions. Throughout the past hundred years the refugee problem that was
once an oddity has now developed into a day-to-day battle for more than fifty million people
worldwide.
Arefugee is a person who is outside their home country because they were no longer able
to be located there. This can be caused by a number of occurrences such as natural disaster, war,
or persecution. The United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees defines a
refugee as a person who is owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race,
religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion is outside the
country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail themselves of
the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of
his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is
unwilling to return to it.[1]
There are over 50 million individuals who have had to flee their homes in the world. This
amount has not been surpassed since the end of World War II, when many individuals had to flee
homes due to the war destroying homes and relations with people. More than half of these
individuals are known to be children.[2] The 50 million plus includes refugees, asylum seekers,
internally displaced person. This report will be talking about refugees and even more specifically
child refugees. There were 16.7 million refugees worldwide at the end of 2013, 11.7million
under the mandate of UNHCR, around 1.2 million more than at the end of 2012. As stated before,
approximately half of these refugees are children. [54] Many of these children are forced to
travel alone or in small groups, trying to find a safe place to live. Children who are refugees have
a higher risk of abuse, neglect, violence, exploitation, trafficking, or forced military
recruitment.[55]
All refugees should have the equal chance and right to live a life filled with fulfilment
and opportunities equivalent to those who live in developed countries are offered. Children are
the future, and how the children are shaped determine the future of the world. Many children
who are fleeing their home country do not understand why they are doing so; they have no say or
choice in what happens. This report will analyze the questions, where child refugees go, the

international agreements associating with child refugees, and what prospect does the future hold
for the children.

Summary of Research
Multiple types of sources that have been accessed through the Internet have been noted as
research for this report. These sources include online research databases, such as ProQuest and
Infotrac; government websites were used as well, the Government of Canadas immigration and
citizenship. Information from websites of international organizations and NGO's were also used,
for example the UNHCR and War Child.

Background
The history of refugees and child refugees has coexisted with human conflict since the
rise of competition and rivalry between civilizations. Conflicts between religion, territory, and
wars have all resulted in refugees. Well-known examples of this would be World War I and II.
Through World War I it began to become apparent that refugees were a problem. When
Germany invaded Belgium thousands of civilians were massacred, and there was a mass
destruction of buildings, resulting in more than a million people with no where to go. During this
time many fled to England because the British government had offered victims of war the
hospitality of the British Nation[56]. Many of these Belgian refugees later returned to Belgium
after the War. A similar situation occurred when Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia, another
refugee crisis emerged. Ten of thousands of Serbians were forced to flee. [56]
World War II created more than 40 million refugees in Europe alone. The large number of
refugees triggered rapid movement for advances in international law and creation of international
organizations to deal with refugees and quickly evolved to become the foundation that is still
relied upon today. In 1938, the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees was created to
facilitate a more coordinated approach to aid the resettlement of refugees. In 1943 the United
Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was created. In 1946, the International Refugee
Organization was created. The UNRAA was an international relief agency, the purpose of this
organization was to plan, co-ordinate, administer or arrange for the administration of measures
for the relief of victims of war. The Universal Declaration was created two years after in 1948.
This charter protects the basic rights of all humans. Another two years later the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established. The following year
in 1951 the 1951 Refugee Convention was created. This was to give refugee basic rights and
provide them with essential living materials.
The term refugees was also created 1951 by the UNHCR [3]. It was established due to
the aftermath of the Europeans World War II. These displaced people did not have a home to
seek comfort and shelter in, could not find jobs to pay for food and clothes, and many children
lost their parents and had nowhere to go. Refugees are some of the most vulnerable people in the
world. This is when it was decided there needed to be an understanding of who needs and should
have the right to be granted protection.[3] This became a major influence of the creation of the

1951 Refugee Convention. The 1951 Convention contains numerous rights and also justifies the
obligations of refugees have to their host country. The foundation of the 1951 Convention is the
principle of non-refoulement. Given this principle, a refugee should not be returned to a country
where an individual faces serious threats to their life or freedom. This protection may not be
applied to refugees who are judiciously regarded as a danger to the security of the country, or
have been convicted of a particularly serious crime.
The rights contained in the 1951 Convention include:
The right not to be expelled, except under certain, strictly defined conditions
The right not to be punished for illegal entry into the territory of a contracting State
The right to work
The right to housing
The right to education
The right to public relief and assistance
The right to freedom of religion
The right to access the courts
The right to freedom of movement within the territory
The right to be issued identity and travel documents. [69]

These rights were restricted to refugee whose circumstances had come about "as a result
of events occurring before 1 January 1951", as well as giving States party to the Convention the
option of interpreting this as "events occurring in Europe" or "events occurring in Europe or
elsewhere". However in 1967 a protocol was created which removed both the temporal and
geographic restrictions. This protocol also gave those States which had previously ratified the
1951 Convention and chosen to use the geographically restricted definition the option to retain
that restriction. These basic rights, including the right to be protected from refoulement, apply to
all refugees. A refugee becomes entitled to other rights the longer they remain in the host country.
This is built upon the recognition that the longer they remain as refugees, the more needs and
rights that will become apparent. [4] At this time there were no specific rights and protections
towards children because it was believed that since the parents are protected the child would also
fall under the same protection as the parent.. However the perspective begins to transform to a

more rational view, as people are starting to realize that children are the future generation and
should be equally protected or maybe even more protection than adults.

Many refugees must stay in refugee camps for long periods of times before being
approved entry into a new home country. These camps allow refugees to have a temporary place
to stay. However the length of stay can vary from three months to twenty plus years. [5] The
location, the population, and space can strongly differ for each refugee camp. However there are
some general points for advantages/disadvantages for refugee camps. The advantages at these
camps include, a source of protection, easier to locate numbers of people, and basic services are
easier to arrange. Camp disadvantages include, large population increases risk of diseases
spreading, people become dependent on aid from across the world, isolation, degradation of
surrounding environment, and security problems within the camp. [5]

Expert
Samantha Nutt is an award-winning humanitarian, bestselling author and acclaimed
public speaker, who has a passion for protecting children all around the world. She is a medical
doctor and a founder of the renowned international humanitarian organization War Child.
Through her organization she works to help refugees, and to educate others about them. By
creating War Child in 1999, Samantha Nutt has helped over two million refugees and helped
twenty different countries around the world. [6] In 2014 she and her teams were in eight different
countries, and have been in as many as twelve at once. For fifteen years, Samantha Nutt had been
at the frontline of many world's major crises, from Iraq to Afghanistan, Somalia to the Congo
and Sierra Leone to Darfur. When she was in Somalia the City of Death, she saw gangs of
young men roaming the streets armed with rocket launchers, a woman in a clinic line holding a
dead baby, an overwhelmed, and underfunded aid agency working in such an unsafe
environment that its workers had to travel with armed escorts high on drugs. These experiences
have given her a unique perspective on the brutality of modern conflict. This is when she started
to think about what sustains it and what we can and should do to prevent it and this was the
beginning of her lifetime of passionate advocacy for children and families in war-torn areas
around the world. [57]
When discussing her organization in an interview she states that her team is an
organization that fills the gaps between emergency work and longer-term development work that
tends not to occur until there is some measure of peace and security. We focus on three areas:
education; access to justice; and what we call opportunity. [7] She focuses on these three
major elements, education, access to journey, and opportunity because she sees the areas as
being key to allowing child refugees and individuals and undeveloped countries the opportunity
to reclaim their lives, to live a new normal life. As she said in the interview, these usually do
not occur until after there is peace. Therefore, there would be the transitioning period of the
children from refugee camps and villages to starting a new life. The organization helps kids catch
up on learning, finding new schools for kids to go to, trains teachers, and basic school
rehabilitation when necessary. Some kids do not receive an education or do not attend school for
years due to war, so helping these kids return to school physical, emotional, and mentally is a big
task they take on. In respect to justice, they promote the rule of law and eradicating sexual and

gender-based violence. She and her team train lawyers and paralegals. They support the breaking
of the cycle of impunity. They are able to do so by formal judicial work and informal processes,
community mediation and conflict resolution. Finally, her third main focus is opportunity. For
Samantha Nutt and War Child this means to promote economic livelihoods for families. They
help support families because when families in under developed countries do not have much
money they may have to go to extreme measures to provide food and clothes for their kids.
Particularly the focus is on women because if they are able to provide safe ways of income it is
less likely for the children to be exploited. With this her foundation has made a great impact on
Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Currently her foundation is focusing on
countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria,
and Jordan. [7]

Role Of Control
There are several types of roles of control in society. Those who have control, those who
need the control, those who cares about the issue, and those who should care. The roles of
control can vary depending on the situation.
A long history has lead up to the current crisis in Syria, resulting in the extreme number
of refugees. The Syrian refugee crisis has created more than five million children who have fled
their homes. One in three children have been hit, kicked or shot at, and seven thousand innocent
children have been killed. [58]
The Syrian refugee crisis started when anti-government demonstrations began in March of 2011,
as part of the Arab Spring. Prior to the violent reaction of the government, it was considered a
peaceful protest.[59] The government reaction caused a lot of chaos among civilians and deaths
which lead to a large amount of refugees. The cause of the Syrian refugee crisis can be due to
who has control. However, to narrow down the role of control there are two main people
involved. The Assad family has held power in Syria since 1971; the Syria crisis is greatly
impacted by the Syria regime, which the Assad family controls. Furthermore, Russia's president
Vladimir Putin supports this regime. Russia has continued shipping military sales to Syria
throughout the long conflict in which over a hundred thousand people have been killed. Russia
also helped block three United Nations draft resolutions criticizing Mr Assad's repression on the
generally peaceful protests against him in 2011. Vladimir Putin has backed Mr Assad's claims
that the rebels were responsible for an alleged chemical attack, which is believed to have killed
up to one thousand four hundred people on August 21 2013. [8] This has helped in creating a
civil war, resulting in even more people fleeing Syria.
The refugees themselves need and have a desire for control. A young girl who fled to
America gave UNHCR a testimony of why she fled the country. She explained
"I am here because the gang threatened me. One of them "liked" me. Another gang
member told my uncle that he should get me out of there because the guy who liked me
was going to do me harm. In El Salvador (where the young girl had come from) they take
young girls, rape them and throw them in plastic bags. My uncle told me it wasn't safe for

me to stay there. They told him that on April 3, and I left on April 7. They said if I was
still there on April 8, they would grab me, and I didn't know what would happen." [9]
This shows that she had no control over her safety and had nothing but one choice in what
decision was best for her. She states, I didnt know what would happen,[9]. This young girl
experienced an immense lack of control in her life, she was abruptly told what to do without any
choice in whether she wanted to stay or not. When analyzed this could be seen as a cry for help
in two different ways. It would be seen as a cry for help in wanting to know what is happening
to her life. It could also be seen as a cry for someone to help the system and life that refugees
have to face in their own country. [9]
Many international organizations care for child refugees. The protection of 33.9 million
uprooted or stateless people is the core mandate of UNHCR. [10] Since 1999 more than ninety
cents out of every dollar raised has gone directly to the charitable programs that protect these
children and provide opportunities for them. [11] The Women's Refugee Commission works to
make sure displaced children have opportunities to learn and grow so they can contribute to the
future. The Women's Refugee Commissions engagement to the road to solutions with children
and youth are divided into four categories: Ensuring access to education and livelihoods to young
refugees, child protection and economic strengthening (which investigates how to prepare for
and manage the unintended negative consequences of job-training programs for adult refugees,
on the children of these workers), unaccompanied youth (US program) and adolescent girls. [60]
Child refugees are a global issue, one that requires international attention. The domino
theory explains why the all-international individuals should care. The domino theory was first
developed under the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower. [12] This theory argues that if the first
domino is knocked over then the rest topple in turn. This can be applied to child refugees, if there
is an increase in the number of child refugees, there is an increase in the cause of child refugees
(that can affect the international community) such as wars, specifically government rebellion
wars. Children may lose their community and its culture during these wars sometimes having it
reconstituted in refugee situations. [13] The more wars that occur in the world the more people
that has to be sent to fight for their country also leads to the death of many. The death of loved
ones leads to people blaming the government for the deaths, which can lead to government
corruption. The corruption of governments can lead to economically difficulties, essentially

creating hardship in every country. Also with creating hardship in each country this is makes it
harder for children to succeed in the future. Why would this matter? Children not succeeding will
jeopardize the future of the adults and our world.
Gandhi was the preeminent leader of Indian independence movement in British-rules
India. He lead many nonviolent civil disobedience movements. Mahatma Gandhi explained this
very well when he said If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a
real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children. This shows that if we want peace
and end all wars we must teach children to be peaceful and not bitter because they are going to
be the leaders of the wars and violent movements. Therefore if we want a peaceful future with
everyone having safe homes to live in we must all care for the child refugees. Our future lies in
the hands of these children.

Logic Of Evil
When considering the evil that is behind child refugees, one must realize there are
different aspects, types, and levels of evil. Firstly it is possible to look at the type of evil behind
why there are child refugees. If there is a child that is leaving their country due to war, the logic
of evil can be explained by the quote this is a war to end all wars, that was stated by American
President Woodrow Wilson. [14] The irony within this quote is astonishing, why would the
solution to war be more war? The irony is the logic of evil in this scenario. Why do people
continue to have war, causing more and more refugees? The logic of evil is that if there can be
one big war to scare everyone involved to stop fighting, it is thought to be a win-win situation.
Those who have greater powers in the government believe that whatever they are fighting for is
worth the amount of government corruption, economic corruption, and the suffering of people
within their nation.
Different levels of evil can be portrayed in a situation such as when the child is at a
refugee camp, do these children receive the proper care needed and what evil is behind this stage
of a child refugees life? Children not being able to receive enough care can be a result of the
government and NGOs because they do not have enough money to provide all the refugees with
everything they need. The reasoning behind governments not providing enough money for
refugee camps include that the refugees are looked at as having lesser power and dont need the
money or attention. Refugees may not be a priority because they do not have a nationality, a
home, an education and money. When governments are unable to provide enough money for
these refugee camps, children are unable to obtain an education making it harder to get a job in
future. Not being able to have a job makes it harder for them to make money. When the citizens
of a country do not make money the government does not make money either. It can be a never
ending cycle without financial help from the government. That is exactly the reason why
refugees need support. All they need is some vital support to start a new life.
The media and government have a huge connection within one another, (before looking
into the connection between the two and explaining what media can do for refugees). It can play
a huge role for these refugees to create awareness of the problems, leading to possible donations
from nations and individuals. The more people that know can lead to more people donating. Now
the connection between the two, the faster the media gets out to the people the more conversation

will occur on the issue. This applies pressure on the government, prompting the government to
make quicker decisions and or having a greater impact on the government. An example of the
government applying pressure to make quicker decisions would be In 2007. The Washington
Post conducted a four-month investigation of the substandard medical treatment of wounded
soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. As a result of the two-part
feature, the Secretary of the Army and the two-star general in charge of the medical facility lost
their jobs. Due to the media spreading this information around the country.[16] As a result, the
government had to make quick decisions. If the media had a large section on child refugees in
how the government may not be helping, the government may be forced into making quicker
decisions and more impactful decisions that help child refugees.

Religion
A strong relationship exists between religion and child refugees as refugee crisises can
start from a conflict based on religion. An example of this would be the Holocaust, the
bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jewish people by the Nazi
regime and its collaborators. The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in 1933, believed that
Germans were racially superior and that the Jewish were inferior as well as an alien threat to
the German racial community. In 1933, the Jewish population in Europe stood over nine million
and most Jewish Europeans lived in countries where Nazi Germany would eventually occupy
during World War II. By 1945, the Nazi Germans had killed nearly two out of three Jewish
Europeans although many tried to flee the horrors of Germany and leave their homes without
being caught. This caused an influx of refugees at the time as fleeing Jewish Europeans needed
shelter and support. In the aftermath of the Holocaust, many survivors found shelter in displaced
person camp administered by the Allied powers. Between 1948 and 1951 almost 700,000 Jewish
people immigrated to Israel, including 136,000 Jewish displaced persons from Europe. [17] It is
thought that about half of the Jewish refugees were children. Within this number 10,000 children
became rescued refugee children by a transportation system called Kindertransport. The
Kindertransport was established during 1938 to help children who had lost their parents in
concentration camps and moved them to safer locations.
There is also immigration laws associated with religion. The USA stated goal of the
Freedom from Religious Persecution Act is: to help eliminate religious persecution around the
world. This bill was established in 1998 in the United States.[61] The bill contains refugee and
asylum provisions that could be significant. The bill authorizes a new State Department office to
certify religions that the adherents are persecuted. For instance, the likely first candidates for
such certification are Christians in militant Islamic states and communist countries as they are in
a high-risk situation and individuals with the certification do not need to prove or claim their
persecuted to be considered for refugee status. This allows an individual to have a better
opportunity to receive refugee status. [18]
After gaining refugee status, there are religious based services that are meant to help
refugees. Many religion based organizations believe and respect Russell Moore, President of the

Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and what he said
regarding his position on child refugee.
This is a crisis, and not simply a political crisis, but a moral onethe anger directed
toward vulnerable children is deplorable and disgustingThe first thing is to make sure

we

understand these are not issues, these are persons. These children are made in the image of God,
and we ought to respond to them with compassion, not with fear. [19]
The Church World Services that were established in 1946 in the aftermath of World War
II, exemplify the compassion spoken about in the above quote. Their mission, which has not
changed for 68 years, is: Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, comfort the aged, and
shelter the homeless. Specifically in 1946-47 U.S. the organization acted and churches opened up
their doors and provided over 11 million pounds of food, clothing, and medical supplies to wartorn Europe and Asia. During this time, many Protestants and Catholics pooled talent and
resources for the large number of refugees. The Church World Services have settled nearly half a
million refugees since its inception. Recently, CWS is one of the founding members of a global
partnership of faith-based humanitarian agencies, ACT Alliances, with members in 140 countries
so that ACT Alliance is able to provide a dynamic environment that can respond to human needs
around the world. This shows that different agencies working together allows for maximum
impact to occur. [20]
With help from international organizations, government refugee camps are able to exist
around the world and provide some shelter for refugees. However, refugee camps do not have
ideal living conditions to build a family; in fact there is conflict and uneasy living situations.
This is exemplified in the Sunnis and the Shia, which are the two main yet separate branches of
Muslim religion. The greater majority of people within the Muslim religion are the Sunnis,
accounting for approximately 85% and 90%. This leaves the minority of the people practicing
Muslim religion to be the Shia at approximately 15% and 10%. The Sunni Muslims regard
themselves as the orthodox and traditionalist branch of Islam. In the early Islamic history, the
Shia was a political faction, the Shiat Ali or the part of Ali. [21] These two religions have
similarities but many differences as well, sometimes leading to arguments and conflicts between
the two. Another example of this is in Iraq is being torn apart along sectarian lines, many have
sought refuge. More than 1,300 Iraqis have gone to the United Nations funded Camp Hashem

houses, within these refugee camps some people feel uncomfortable because they are living next
to people of the opposite Muslim religion. However so far large conflict has not arisen in this
particular refugee camp and peace has been maintained. [22]
Religion is a big part of child refugees problems, from being the reason why child
refugees occur to helping these child refugees that are created due to conflict. The irony that
religion causes is interesting, it is able to create conflict and organizations are created to help the
issue it has created.

Myanmar Case Study

In Myanmar, a civil war has been ongoing for sixty-six years between the government
forces and ethnic rebel groups. This has now become the worlds longest lasting civil war.[23]
Both the government forces and ethnic armed groups have planted landmines which have injured
and killed fighters, villagers, and animals. The conflict has caused many people to flee their
homes. There are more than half a million internally displaced people in Myanmar, one hundred
forty thousand Myanmar refugees in Thailand, and around seventy thousand in Bangladesh along
with large numbers of illegal migrants in Thailand.[24] More than half of these refugees are
children. These refugees are living in refugee camps on the border of Thailand and Myanmar.
Some of these refugee camps are a century old; this truly shows the length of this war. [23]
Many have lived in these camps for over twenty years. Most of these people receive little to no
rights. If they are found outside of the camps they may be deported or arrested. The refugees
have no access to employment, education, education or occupational training outside of the
camps. However, non-government organizations try to provide education, health, and other
essential services to the refugees. The Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) provides
food, shelter, and some non-food items. The TBBC also supports the programs that promote selfreliance, while maintaining their culture and social connections. [24]
Nevertheless, because this situation has been one of the most protracted refugee
situations in the world. There has been a large decrease in the food that is provided to the
refugees, although the elderly and the young are still being provided with the supplementary
food portion in order to stay healthy. The refugees diet is traditionally rice, salt, chili and fish
paste, supplemented with items gathered from the forest, plus any vegetables or livestock that
can be cultivated, raised or hunted.

The following are the food rations given per month to the refugees in an average refuge camp in
Myanmar.

Food rations changes (per person per month)

Food item

Provided from August 2008

rice

15 kg per adult; 7.5 kg per child 13.5 kg per adult and older child; 7 kg per young
under 5 years
child

fortified flour
(AsiaMIX)

250 g per adult; 1 kg per child

under 5 years

250 g per adult; 1 kg per young and older child

fish paste

750 g per person

750 g per adult and older child; 0.25 kg per

young child

iodised salt

330 g per person

150 g per person

mung beans

1 kg per adult; 500 g per child

under 5 years

Yellow split peas: 1 kg per adult and older child;

0.5 kg per young child

cooking oil

1 L per adult; 0.5 L per child

under 5 years

0.8 L per person based on a sliding scale of

household size

dried chillies

40 g per person

none

sugar

125 g per adult; 250 g per child 125 g per adult; 250 g per older child and young
under 5 years
child

[24]

Adjustments in January 2011

Up until 1997 refugees in Myanmar would build shelters by cutting down the bamboo to

make their own houses. However in 1997 the Thai Government banned refugees from cutting
bamboo. Since this, the TBBC has provided bamboo and other materials for them to build
temporary houses large enough to meet the minimum international standard of at least 3.5 square
meters of covered area per person. Cooking fuel, fuel-efficient stoves, cooking utensils, blankets
and clothing are also provided. The Refugee Camp Committees are responsible for the
distribution of supplies. Each family has a ration book stating their entitlement, and they are
called to the delivery point for distribution. [24]
However, because this has been such a long lasting issue many beneficial projects and
programs have been made in the refugee camps. The top three beneficial projects and programs
include the Longyi Weaving Project, Karen Young Womens Leadership School, and ADRA
Vocational Training Program. The Longyi Weaving Project was established in 2002 to provide a
source of income and maintain and develop traditional skills that may be lost. The longyi is a
traditional wraparound garment worn by both men and women in Myanmar. The focus of this
project is mainly on women however men can be involved. TTBC provides yarn, looms, and
financial support to the organization to make one longyi that is over the age of twelve. [24] The
second program is the Karen Young Womens Leadership School. It is a twelve-month
development program that is designed for young women to learn about gender issues and
womens rights and share this knowledge with their community. From the program, they are able
to gain practical leadership experience, increase their self-confidence and contribute to
community development.[25] Finally the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA),
which offers training classes in sewing, embroidery, welding, elderly, and child care, basic auto
mechanics, radio mechanics, cooking and baking, and hairdressing. Refugees are able to build
practical skills, which will help them build an income in the future. [26]
All three of these are extremely beneficial to children. The focus for the Longyi Weaving
Project and ADRA may be adults, however having adults who are able to make an income and
successful allows children to have a role model to grow. Also if any of the people involved in
these two programs are parents there are able to support their family. The Karen Young Women's
leadership school allows young women to build their skills, connecting to a brighter future.

Rising voices allows the children to show visual stories of their experiences of being a
child refugee and seeking refuge.

The child who drew this said that he felt as if he was being watched by Burmas then military
junta dicatorship even after leaving the country. [27]
This a book full of drawing by kids which allows them to express their feelings through
art. The book is called Forced to Flee: Visual Stories by Refugee Youth from Burma. It was
created by Erika Berg. [28] This book was created to increase awareness of and mobilize support
for those who have been forced to flee violent conflict and persecution. This book allows
children to express their thoughts and radiate negative energy away and positive thoughts in. Art
is proven to lower anxiety and stress through simulating the fine motor skills and creativity.[62]
Unfortunately, there may be more fear for the Myanmar refugee kids. In May 2014, the
Thai military seized power from the ruling caretaker government. In July, the Thai army
announced that a hundred thirty thousand refugees were going to be deported back to Myanmar.
Many citizens fear this because some have not seen anything outside of the refugee camps. Also,
some understand the reality of Myanmar and that it is not a stable society to live in, due to the
conflict between the government children face scary reality of wars and deaths and living in
poverty. [23]

Somalia Case Study

Somalia is still known to experience one of the worst humanitarian crisis; it has been in
conflict since the Siad Barre regime collapsed in 1991 and many citizens of Somalia have been
displaced since. Violence and drought are the reason for these displaced people. Furthermore
violence and droughts occur in waves therefore it seems to be a never-ending group of displaced
citizens. One example of a recent event that caused a large number of refugees was the 2011 to
2012 famine in Somalia. [29]
The famine in Somalia was predicted and could have been prevented if the humanitarian
response had been timely and more effective. After eleven months of escalating warnings, the
UN declared famine in two regions of South Central Somalia. In the next two months four more
regions were declared to be in the famine state. During this time, many had to cross the border to
Kenya and Ethiopia. The famine occurred mainly due to the drought that year. However, other
factors that may have been involved such as conflict, the use of anti-terrorism legislation by the
US government to prevent aid reaching Southern Somalia, an increase in global food prices, and
other long-standing, structural factors. [30] The famine took over two hundred sixty thousand
lives, this caused the government to install laws for the countries that are most vulnerable and
that receive frequent attacks from the Al Shabab terrorist group. [29]
Relating to the famine, Somalias crisis is known to be one of the worst humanitarian
crises due to the fact that up to 50% of refugee children have faced severe malnutrition. Ten of
thousands have died and the majority were children. [31] Increased access and stability have
improved Somalias humanitarian situation in recent months, but only by a little. While famine
conditions no longer exist, the UN estimates that there are eight hundred seventy thousand
people in need of life-saving humanitarian assistance. Cities are coming back to life in areas
where Al Shabab has given up territorial control, particularly the capital Mogadishu. However,
the displaced population is not benefiting from this. Somalia is the second-ranking source of
refugees in the world. Kenyas Dadaab camp, designed to hold 90,000 refugees fleeing the
Somali civil war in 1991, holds nearly half a million refugees more than two decades later. The
Kenyan government has announced that they want the refugee population to return home.
However, they are not put back into their country, there is a high chance that those refugees will
become IDPs (IDP: Internally Displaced People) within Somalia, facing the same protection

challenges as the IDPs who are currently living in and around Mogadishu. In November 2013,
Kenya, Somalia, and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) signed a Tripartite Agreement to
establish a framework for supporting voluntary returns to Somalia. The Kenya government and
the UNHCR must continue to provide protection and support for those refugees who feel that
Somalia is not safe enough to return home. [29]
Many of the Somali refugees flee to the world's largest refugee camp located eighty
kilometers away in a small town in Kenya called Dadaab. It hosts three hundred and thirty-four
thousand, six hundred and sixty-two Somalis refugees. With 59% of these refugees being
children under the age of seventeen.[63] Living in this camp does provide protection and food,
however now this refugee camp is full and it is becoming very hard to provide all the refugees
with the necessities to live. Now when the refugees arrive most who are women and children,
they have no money, food, water and shelter. These refugees are in need of immediate care,
however, it takes up to twelve days on average to receive first ration of food and thirty-four days
to receive cooking utensils and blankets from the UN's refugee agency. [64] Another large issue
at the camp is that due to the large numbers at the camps there are not enough vaccines and
medication to help with diseases such as respiratory tract infections, diarrhoea, tuberculosis,
malnutrition, and trauma. Forty percent of the children who arrive at the refugee camps have
never received vaccines. This combined with their nutritional state and poor living conditions in
the camp show a major health threat.[64] Many refugees in Somalia refugees are relying on this
camp to provide shelter and protection for them. However April of 2015 Kenya urged the United
Nations to remove a camp housing more than half a million Somali refugees within three months,
as part of a response to the recent killing of one hundred forty-eight people by Somali gunmen at
a Kenyan university. This has caused much chaos around in Kenya and Somalia. Children from
this area have had to live with memories from their chaotic childhood. Some of these now adults
have decided to write about their experiences. [65]

Moulid Hujale has lived in Dadaab since he was 10 years old. He is currently twentyfour, he has struggled with an identity for his whole life. Hujale, a freelance writer from IRIN,
(IRIN: Integrated Regional Information Network. It is a news agency which focuses on
humanitarian stories) below is an article he wrote about and his life struggles of being a child
refugee growing up. It is an article, which is thought to be truly expressing the thoughts and fears
of a refugee.

"I am embarrassed when I'm forced to introduce myself as 'a Somali refugee living in
Kenya'. I am no longer in Somalia and yet I am not a Kenyan citizen; so where do I
belong? Am I going to be a refugee for ever? I feel I am lost in between. But I believe in
who I am.
"I was only 10 years old when we first arrived in Dadaab from Somalia in late 1997. My
family did not flee when the civil war erupted in 1991. We didn't leave until our father
died. The beautiful coastal town of Kismayo in which I was born turned into a battlefield.
And there was no option but to escape. My siblings and I were separated from our mother
in our struggle to escape the heartbreaking and indiscriminate civil violence.
"The journey was full of horror, exacerbated by ugly images that we came across, like
families who were left along the road because they were too exhausted to go on. I still
have bad memories about it.
"Our much anticipated destination was Dadaab, a refugee camp about 100km from the
Somali border. Fortunately, after travelling the whole way with relatives, my siblings and
I were reunited with our mother once we reached the camp. It was the most incredible
reunion of my life.
We registered with the UN Refugee Agency [UNHCR] when we finally arrived - a
milestone for all refugees because the ration card it provided entitled us to food, shelter,

water and healthcare.

I truly honour the support they offered to all the refugees, specifically the Somali
community, which makes up the largest refugee population in Kenya. There is nothing I
can compare to Kenya's generosity for hosting us for more than two decades.
"But when we first arrived there, we didn't realize that the camp would unfortunately
become our permanent home.
"I immediately enrolled in one of the few primary schools in Ifo, one of three camps that
make up the Dadaab complex. I was put in Standard Two after passing an entry test. I had
no books or paper to use.
We younger pupils had class under the big tree right in front of the principal's office.
Many were the days when we missed classes due to heavy rains that the tree did not
shield us from. Since we couldnt all fit in the classrooms, we were forced to stay away
from school until the ground dried. "All the lessons were in English, except for our
courses in Kiswahili, as dictated by the Kenyan curriculum.
"Throughout my primary education, I rarely heard about my home country. Most of my
history classes were about Kenya and when we learned about East Africa, Somalia was a
side note. I can list all the different tribes of Kenya and explain the country's history and
political system, but I know almost nothing about the people, history and politics of my
native soil. We memorized the Kenyan national anthem. I forgot that of my motherland.

"There was only one secondary school in Ifo camp and every pupil was struggling to get
a spot in it. At the end of 2005, we did our final primary examination.
"After the results were released by the Kenya national examination council, UNHCR and
its partners in Dadaab had to see how much funding was available and decide how many
refugee pupils could be admitted to high school. It didnt matter how many qualified
candidates there were. Out of more than 800 pupils who sat for the exams, only 120 were
selected from Ifo camp to continue their studies. I was among the lucky ones.
"The large school compound was fenced with thorny branches cut from the bush. The
walls of the classrooms were made of flattened metal recycled from the USAID oil tins
that were attached to one another and fixed round the walls.
Even the upper class rooms were tightly congested with 80 pupils crammed into one

small classroom. Many of us were seated on the ground and the lucky ones shared a desk
with four other children. It was a total mess, 80 kids listening to one teacher. Teachers
could barely create a path to reach the students in the back benches.
"Those who didn't get the chance to go to high school had no chance. They were left
stranded. Having nothing to do, most of them started abusing drugs that can be bought in
the market. Many others must have joined the militia fighting back home.
"Throughout my school days I was dreaming and gaining momentum. I developed
ambitions and professional goals, and believed in the power of knowledge and the
opportunity that education would bring me. At the end of my final days in high school,
my enthusiasm to keep learning was almost palpable.
"I completed my secondary education in 2009 and attained an [average] grade of C+, a
grade that qualified me to join any university in Kenya. But all my dreams were shattered
abruptly. There was no more! The authorities said even secondary education was a
privilege for refugees, and there was no possibility of higher learning.
(More recently, some of the aid agencies operating in Dadaab in partnership with the UN
intervened in response to the growing number of school dropouts, and developed
vocational training and some very limited international scholarship opportunities.)
"More than 60 percent of the population in Dadaab is young. Only a few of them find
work with aid agencies, as I did. I got a job as a community development worker. We are
often called 'incentive workers' and are paid very poor wages regardless of our
qualifications or work experience.
"The maximum amount a refugee staffer earns is US$100 a month. Some earn as little as
$40 a month.
"Yet the refugee staff members do the hard part of all the operations. We go to the field
daily, identify the vulnerable people in the community, carry out extensive mobilization
efforts, and write reports. We act as a link between the refugee community and the
agencies. We do all these difficult tasks under extremely harsh conditions.
I am paid 10 times less than my Kenyan counterparts. It makes me feel abandoned. In
fact when I get paid I feel stressed instead of joyful. How can I support myself and my
family on so little?
Also, incentive staff get just 24 days of annual leave, whereas the local Kenyans are

given two weeks off every two months. This also makes us feel like the odd one out. I
wonder what makes us so different. Are we not human beings like them? Is that an
international law specific for the refugees? We are forced to accept these conditions and
have no one to advocate for us.
"These employment conditions discourage those who are still in school. They complain
that there is no need for them to go to class for 12 years and end up unemployed or
working without dignity. Even the few who get diplomas and degrees remain underpaid.
Under Kenyan law, refugees cannot move out of the camp, let alone access work
permits.
"One of the biggest challenges the youth face in the camp is the restriction of movement.
I hate looking for a travel document just to go outside the camp. The encampment policy
has crippled our potential. I respect the Kenyan government for doing its job but I feel I
am in prison."
"I've always wanted to become a journalist. I used to write for the student newspaper, and
as part of my involvement with the Ifo refugee youth umbrella organization, I am
currently serving as the editor of its bi-monthly newsletter known as The Refugee
Newsletter.
"We normally write stories that expose the challenges as well as the achievements of the
refugee community and link them up with the aid agencies. We circulate an online copy
of the newsletter to the agencies and distribute printed copies to the refugees. We have a
page on Facebook where we update all the daily happening of the camps, and now we're
working on a blog.
"I recently found out that I got an international scholarship opportunity from the
Transitional Federal Government of Somalia through its embassy in Kenya. I am very
proud and excited. The fact that after all these years living as a refugee I will be
sponsored through my home country makes me feel like I gained my identity back after
20 years of despair.
"My ambition is to be a professional journalist and report on humanitarian news. I would
like to change the world through writing and document refugee crises or stories that are
not heard and extract them for the world to see, and act. Even though it is impossible for
me to achieve my goals in Dadaab refugee camp with the limited resources and

opportunities, my spirit is so alive, and I have a feeling that one day I will see the reality
of my dreams." [32]
This article shows the immense struggle that a child refugee goes through and that it is possible
for a positive outcome for the child if the right aid is provided. Also it can allow children as they
grow older to grasp the sense of hope they have been deprived their life.

Syria Case Study

(Syrian Child Refugees in Lebanon and Jordan)
The Syrian Crisis has played a major role in the significant increase in the number of
child refugees and refugees. In order to completely understand why this is so, one must
understand the crisis itself. On March 18, 2011, protesters gathered in the southern city of Daraa
as part of an anti-government demonstration. [33] This peaceful protest quickly escalated to
violent extremes when Bashar al-Assads government arrested and tortured children who had
spray painted anti-government slogans on a wall in the city the month before. This greatly
infuriated many, and lead Syrian civilians into demanding greater freedom and political
participation. [33] By July of that year, army defectors had loosely organized the Free Syrian
Army and many civilians had taken up arms to join this opposition. [34] As a result of the anger,
death, and rebellion levels rising, and even carrying on to other cities, Assad had offered a series
of concession: a number of political prisoners would be released, and the countrys state of
emergency would be lifted. The regime maintained its innocence, however, claiming that foreign
agents were to blame for the unrest. [33] It has now been almost four years since the civil war
begun. Four years in which more than 220,000 people have died, half of whom are thought to be
nothing more than collateral damage, just innocent civilians caught in the wrong place at the
wrong time. Bombings have, and still are destroying crowded cities, and human rights violations
are widespread. Basic necessities, such as food and medical care or supplies, are sparse. The U.N.
estimates that over 6.5 million have been displaced in Syria and 3 million refugees have fled to
other countries. [35] The first of these refugees came from regions that were most affected by the
massive bombings and the incursions of loyalist forces that came as a result of the crisis.
Millions of people were obliged or forced to leave their district or town. [36]
The repressive management of the crisis resulted in the emergence of armed opposition.
This opposition resulted in a number of withdrawals as the Syrian army committed atrocities.
The resistance was then reinforced by thousands of civilians, who learned how to use weapons to

defend both themselves and their families. Many young children had no other choice but to learn
as well. The armed repression of peaceful disputed and the militarization of the resistance played
a large role in the evacuation from targeted towns. The evacuation has taken different forms.
Thousands of civilians fleeing from Syria every day have sought refuge in Turkey, Jordan, Libya
and Iraq. [36] They often decide to escape after seeing their neighborhoods bombed or their
family members killed. The risks of crossing the border can be as high as the risks of staying.
Many families travel at night for miles because it lowers the risk of being spotted and shot at by
snipers or being caught by soldiers who kidnap young men or child refugees to fight for the
regime. [34]
Even if these refugees make it across the border, the countries that they flee to do not
always welcome them with open arms. Of the1,174,313 Syrian refugees that have fled to
Lebanon, 385,007 are children. [37] The calculations come out as one in five people are Syrian
refugees. [34] In Lebanon, there were Syrian tensions between pro- and anti-Assad forces. This
was intensified by the already unstable Lebanese political alliances. Many refugees who
successfully make it over to the border find themselves in a precarious situation with little or no
financial resources. Lebanon is known as an officially neutral state, therefore they refuse to set
up any refugee camps and sometimes even pushes Syrian immigrants back across the border. On
the other hand, while the Lebanese government does avoid official refugee camps, they do not
actively prevent clandestine camps. This creates a new form of exploitation, where tents are sold
between 300 to 700 dollars or rented for 200 dollars a month. There is solidarity, but this only
comes out at the community level, in Lebanon the risk of the humanitarian crisis. [36]
Another country that many Syrian refugees flee to is Jordan, where one in every thirteen
people is estimated to be a Syrian refugee. Jordan is home to roughly 623,241 refugees, [34] of
which 291,238 are child refugees. [37] A large portion of these Syrian refugees have fled to the
Zaatari camp, [36] a refugee camp located 10 km east of Mafraq, and which is starting to evolve
into a permanent settlement. [38] It was first opened on July 28, 2012 to host Syrians fleeing the
violence in the ongoing Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011. On July 27, 2014, the camp
population was estimated at 81,000 refugees. [39] Due to the large number of refugees seeking a
home in Jordan, the living conditions within this camp are quite poor. The countrys capacity to
host refugee population is reaching its limit and Jordan is no longer able to provide proper aid to

the refugees. This builds a negative effect on the economic and general politics of the country,
causing internal tensions to form. However, the Jordan government has used the Syrian crisis as
a bargaining tool to request international aid. Jordan has exploited this crisis, giving them an
assisted economy. [36]
The reason for the large numbers in Lebanon and Jordan are very similar in the fact that
they are the countries surrounding Syria and have a safer environment than living in Syria. With
this being said, the effects that living in refugee camps, or being a child refugee, in general, can
have on a person are similar and often looked at as one. A lot of research has been done about
the emotional and physical states of child refugees in these two countries. [37] Refugee children
face an alarming degree of isolation and insecurity. If they arent working as breadwinners, often
by doing menial labor on farms or by working in shops, they are confined to their homes. There
is a statistic that proves that 29% of these children leave their home once a week or less. [37]
Home is often a small spaced apartment, and/or a shelter that just cover their heads. This
means they are not getting an education, engaging in physical activity, or engaging in social
activities that build character. Many children have been wounded either physically or
psychologically, and in most cases, both.
Children have been wounded or killed by sniper fire, rockets, missiles, and debris. They
have experienced first-hand conflict, destruction, and violence. Some children have been drawn
into a war, have had their innocence exploited. These traumatic events leave a horrifying scar on
their mental state. It can affect their general well-being, their sleep, their speech and their social
skills. Living in families where everyone is stressed makes kids feel scared and vulnerable. The
displacement itself makes dramatic changes in lifestyles and leads many Syrian refugee children
to feel isolated and insecure, both inside and outside of their homes. Many children are often
kept inside for their safety, however, the children who dont fall into the 29% who rarely leave
their houses are often children who are working long hours for little pay, sometimes in extremely
dangerous environments. These children can be as young as seven years old, and although many
of these children are boys, there are girls who work, usually in agriculture or domestic work.
These children have no choice but to work because of the financial necessities that cannot always
be met. This places an enormous burden on the working childs shoulders, only adding to the fact

that many are mistreated or exposed to illegal activities in the workplace, which leads to these
children coming into conflict with the law.
Another significant issue that is being looked into recently is the lack of education that
child refugees receive. More than half of all school-aged Syrian children in Jordan and Lebanon
are not in school. In Lebanon, it has been estimated that there will be 200,000 school-aged
Syrian refugee children unable to attend school by the end of this year. [37] This low enrolment
rate is due to factors including school capacity, cost, transportation and distance, curriculum and
language, bullying and violence, and competing priorities, such as the need for children to work.
However, if Syria is not able to find a solution and help Jordan and Lebanon create education
facilities in these countries, Syria will end up with a generation disengaged from education and
learning.
The Crisis in Syria has torn many families apart, with over 3,700 children in Jordan and
Lebanon living without either one or both of their parents or any adult caregiver at all. Often,
these parents have either died, been detained or have sent their own children into exile alone, out
of fear for their safety. One of the latest, most concerning, problems for the Syrian refugees are
the children who are being born in these refugee camps, and who are unable to receive the birth
registration that provides evidence of a childs age and legal identity. This is a necessity the
newborn child will need in order to access and demand their rights. A survey done by the
UNHCR revealed that 77% of the 781 Syrian refugee newborns did not have an official birth
certificate. It is thought that the low numbers of birth registration are linked to the lack of
understanding or knowledge of the importance of birth registration and the inability to produce
the required documents. [40]
A specific story that shows the reality of the Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon is the
story of Khaled. It truly captures not only the pain and fear child refugees face, but the also the
resilience they must build, and the responsibilities they must take on. This is a summarized story
of a fifteen-year-old boy in the Zaatari camp in Jordon.
In an interview he was asked if he misses his mother, Khaled tugged the brim of his
baseball cap low over his face and began to cry. I miss coming home and finding her

there, he said. "I miss having her around us, to sit with her, to actually get to see her
face."His parents divorced before the conflict began. As fighting escalated, Khaleds
mother fled north to Idlib in 2012, while his father stayed in Daraa. Shortly afterwards,
Khaled, his brother and two sisters, and several aunts and cousins escaped to Jordan to
join extended family members, while his father stayed behind.
Over the course of five months in Zaatari camp, Khaled and his siblings were abandoned
by all of their extended family. The pressure the teenager feels to protect and provide for
his siblings in an unknown country is often overwhelming.It was scary, he said. We
were suddenly all alone and I found myself responsible for my siblings... If anything
were to ever happen to them, I could never live with myself.Without parents, Khaled has
become the family protector, but at a steep price to his own education and future.

He would like to move out of the camp, but would then need to find a job and pay rent for an
apartment. He has two enduring goals: to be reunited with his mother, and to send his siblings to
school. [40]
To help kids like Khaled, local and international organizations offer a wide range of
recreational activities for children, to try and brighten their day. Not only do they offer
recreational activities, they try to assist in providing food, education, and medical support.
Support is the best way to help children avoid long-term consequences, such as the many
psychological problems that are more common than one might think. Studies of child refugees
have shown that newly arrived refugee children exhibit rates of anxiety from 49% to 69%. When
a group of 46 children were studied, 47% had and Axis 1 diagnosis and comorbidity were
common. Rates of PTSD were at 40%, depression at 21%, and anxiety at 10%. Three years later,
levels were still high with 48% manifesting PTSD and 41% depression. After six years, PTSD
was still prominent, suggesting that the children will be left more vulnerable to later traumatic
experiences.
Not only do these refugees suffer mental health needs but a study in New York on child
refugees showed that 30% of children with medical conditions required further medical attention
that they didnt receive. Diseases such as anemia, parasitic infections, and dental caries were

most frequently seen in these children. Furthermore, 43% tested positive for hepatitis B surface
antigen and 20% were found to be infected with tuberculosis bacterium.[66]
This is why it necessary for international organizations to support children. There needs
to be a decrease in these numbers.

International Organizations
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is one of the leading
governmental organizations that help both child refugees and refugees in general all over the
world. The UN refugee agency emerged as a result of World War II, to help Europeans displaced
by that conflict. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was
established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly, with a three-year
mandate to complete its work. The next year, on July 28, the United Nations Convention relating
to the Status of Refugees (the legal foundation of helping refugees and the basic statute guiding
UNHCR's work) was adopted. [41] The agency was made to lead and coordinate international
movements to protect refugees and move towards decreasing the number of refugees. The initial
purpose was to protect and provide the rights and prosperity of the refugees. The rights they
began to protect were the 1951 Refugee Convention. The UNHCR also has a mandate to help
stateless people. The UNHCR has three main ways of attacking the problem and solving the
issue of refugees: advocacy, assistance, and capacity building.
Advocacy is an important activity to help protect refugees, as it aims to influence
decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions. [42] It is the
cornerstone of protection strategies, including information dissemination, monitoring, and
negotiation. This can allow transformation in policies and services on national, regional, or
global levels. [43] Within advocacy is the protection that the UNHCR provides the refugees with.
This protection must be provided, because when an individual becomes a refugee, the normally
guaranteed basic human rights and physical security that the government provides disappears. In
other words, the safety net is taken away from these individuals. Refugees may be in an
intolerable situation where their basic rights, security, and their lives may be in danger. The
UNHCR ensures that the basic human rights of uprooted or stateless people in their countries are
not returned involuntarily to a country where they may face persecution. They also promote legal
and physical protection, and try to minimize the threat of violence, including sexual assault. [44]
The UNHCR provides assistance in several ways, including housing, migration, medical
care, food, and caring for specific needs. When the word refugee is said, many think of a lot of
tents laid out side by side. However, the UNHCR tries to assist refugees and get them living on
land or in housing which they rent, own, or occupy informally. This allows refugees to practice

their rights and freedoms, to make meaningful choices about issues in their lives, participate in
their community, and to live with more pride and independence. [45] The UNHCR understands
the dangers many refugees go through to flee their country. The agency tries to assist by
promoting the need for practical protection safeguards to ensure that migration is not done in an
indiscriminate or disproportionate manner and does not lead to refugees being returned to
countries where their life or justice was at risk. [46] The agency also provides food and medical
attention to families and individuals that are in refugee camps, individuals who were able to find
housing, and to any other refugees who need assistance. As well, it tries to provide specific care
for women, children, elders, and the disabled. Some of the many things they provide is feminine
products, places for children to play, necessities for the elders, and special medications for
people with disabilities. [44]
The UNHCR only wants to assist, and does not want to tell the refugees how to live. The
agency understands that allowing the refugees to live in communities lawfully, peacefully, and
without harassment builds their ability to take responsibility for their lives and communities. The
UNHCR tries to bring the personal skills and abilities each individual has to the surface of where
they are. Refugees who maintain the independence, build further skills on living, and are able to
stay livelihoods during displacement will be more resilient and will be better suited to overcome
further challenges. [45]
More specifically, with child refugees the UNHCR has 6 main goals, aside from the goals
they have for assisting refugees in general:
GOAL 1: Girls and boys are safe where they live, learn and play
GOAL 2: Childrens participation and capacity are integral to their protection
GOAL 3: Girls and boys have access to child-friendly procedures
GOAL 4: Girls and boys obtain legal documentation
GOAL 5: Girls and boys with specific needs receive targeted support
GOAL 6: Girls and boys achieve durable solutions in their best interest [47]

These goals primarily should be the responsibility of the state to protect and all children
and should promote the establishment and implementation of child protection systems, while
following their international obligations, ensuring access to all children under their jurisdiction.
The UNHCR seeks to strengthen these systems, so their six goals can be met. In context when
the state is not able to fulfil these responsibilities for the children the UNHCR provides this
function with support. These six goals are approached from six different areas, legal and policy
framework, knowledge and data, coordination, human and financial capacity, prevention and
response, and advocacy and awareness. [48]
These goals have been successful to a point; however there are still many child refugees
in the world who are left to suffer in silence. This may be due to the fact that developing
programmes for child protection can be a long process. This process includes three major steps.
Step 1 map and analyse, step 2, prioritize, plan, and implement, and step 3 monitor and evaluate.
If these three are successfully followed, you must next pick indicators. These longer processes to
help child refugees are not able to keep up with the fast rate that child refugees are growing each
day. The rate is growing so quickly due to all the conflicts around the world. Ultimately is it only
possible to solve the problem of child refugees only with stopping the root of the conflict?
However with these efforts in more than six decades, the agency has helped millions of people
restart their lives. Today, a staff of more than 7,600 people in over than 125 countries continues
to help tens of millions of people. [48]
Another organization that helps children refugees is a non-government organization
called Women's Refugee Commission. The Women's Refugee Commission was established in
1989, and was part of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) until the summer of 2014, when
it became legally separated. They are located in New York, Washington, and Geneva. Their
mission is to improve the lives and protect the rights of women, children, and youth who have
been displaced by conflict and crisis. They research their needs, identify solutions and advocate
for programs and policies to strengthen their resilience. Their three main goals for the displaced
women, children and youth include: One, they are safe, healthy and self-reliant. Two, have their
human rights respected and protected. Three, informed and drive their own solutions and
development. This group was especially made for women and children because 80% of the
worldwide refugees are women and children. [67]

The Women's Refugee Commission serves as a watchdog and an expert resource,

offering solutions and providing technical assistance. Staff carry out an active program of
research and advocacy, making recommendations on how to improve assistance to refugee
women and children to policy makers in the United States government and UN agencies, and to
NGOs. They travel the world to refugee camps, urban refugee communities, and detention
centres to conduct field research and technical trainings. They meet with refugee women and
children to learn their needs and conditions. Recent delegations have travelled to Jordan,
Southern Sudan, Colombia, Liberia and Thailand. The Women's Refugee Commission makes
sure that they go to the places that need help and experience it firsthand. This way, it ensures that
they are doing exactly what the people there need.

Connection to Canada
The government of Canada does actively try to assist refugees who enter the country. The
Canadian refugee system has two main parts: [49]

Refugee and Humanitarian Resettlement Program (for people seeking protection from
outside Canada)

In-Canada Asylum Program (for people making refugee protection claims from within
Canada.)
Canada annually accepts one out of every ten refugees, through both government-assisted

and privately sponsored refugee programs. When they arrive in Canada, they essentially start
from the bottom and completely re-make their life. Canada is a member of the international
community helping to find solutions to prolonged and emerging refugee situations. This
community also helps to develop democracies that try to solve the problems that create the
refugee populations. To do so, Canada works closely with the United Nations Refugee Agency.
[49]
Individuals and families selected under the Government-Assisted Refugees (GAR)
program are provided with immediate and essential services and income, supported under the
Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP), to assist in helping them become established in Canada.
This support is often accessible for up to one year, but can be extended up to two years for
refugees with special needs. [49]
The Resettlement Assistance Program provides income support to government-assisted
refugees and offers other essential services such as:

welcoming at the point of entry

temporary housing

help to find permanent housing

other settlement services (ex: financial assistance.)

This is the basic explanation of how one can obtain a refugee status in Canada, however,
this process can slightly differ when it is a child refugee. A person is considered a child refugee
when they are eighteen or younger. These child refugees are allowed to make a claim to be a
convention refugee and have the claim determined by the Convention Refugee Determination
Division (CRDD) of the Immigration and Refugees Board (IRB). The international community
has realized that the requirements of children are different from adults when seeking refugee
status. The UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child has made obligations of a government
take measures to protect the child seeking refugee status. Furthermore, the UNHCR has issued
guidelines on protection. [50]
There are three vague categories of children who make refugee claims at the IRB. In each
category, there are procedural and evidential issues which can affect the childs claimant.
The first category is children who arrive in Canada at either the same time as their parents
or a close time after. In most cases, the childrens parents will be seeking refugee status as well;
therefore the child is an accompanied child. This claim is usually heard jointly with the parents,
however, the decisions are made separately
The second category consists of children who arrive in Canada with or being looked after
in Canada by, people who purport to be members of the childs family. If the CRDD is satisfied
that the persons are related to the child, then the child becomes an accompanied child. However,
if the CRDD is not satisfied, the child will be considered as an unaccompanied child.
The third category involves children who are alone in Canada, without either their parents
or anyone who purports to be a family member. For instance, an older child may be living on
their own, or a child may be in the care of the childs family. These children will be considered
unaccompanied.
The way that Canada categorizes refugee children is necessary due to the increasing
number of unaccompanied children fleeing to Canada. More than 300 unaccompanied minors are
pouring into Canada seeking refugee status every year. The biggest influx was in 2009 when 460
children crossed the border of Canada. [51] Since 2008, there have been approximately 1,937
children who have crossed the border into Canada, the average age of whom is only ten years old.

Many of these children arrived in Canada with no parents and no documents and have fled their
home countries because of war, poverty, or other conflicts/issues occurring.
Canada has been accepting to refugees for the most part, accepting 12, 200 refugees in
the year 2013, [52] however, Canada sometimes has a difficult time deciphering who is truly in
need of the countrys protection. Canada wants to help those who are genuinely in need, but does
not want to accept those who wish only to abuse the system. They must also be able to ensure the
health and safety of Canadians. Overall, the refugee protection program has helped many
refugees bring their experiences, skills, hopes, and dreams and in time being able to turn it into
reality. This allows Canada to become an even richer and more prosperous society for all people
living in Canada. [53]

Solutions
Many organizations have set goals and have accomplished them to help with the issue of child
refugees. Related to the issue of child refugees there are so many other issues/problems
associated with it, from lack of food to lack of physical activity to lack of education. The six
goals that the UHNCR have made have solutions and movements on how to fix the issue and
how to accomplish the goal.
All children should be safeguarded from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
This is more relevant to child refugees for the fact that they have a higher risk of facing these
problems in their lifetime. Children should be able to live, learn, and play in an environment
which is safe and secure. Child refugees should have the ability to feel safe; this is the purpose of
the first goal in the UNHCR. Goal One: Girls and boys are safe where they live, learn and play.
The actions the UNHCR are taking to accomplish all of the above they are taking approaches
from legal and policy framework, knowledge and data, coordination, human and financial
capacity, prevention and response, and advocacy and awareness. [47]
Under legal and policy framework, the actions that are being taken place are identifying the
relevant national laws, and social norms and practices. Also being the supporter for
implementation in support of girls and boys physical and emotional security in all private and
public places. For knowledge and data the UNHCR conducts assessments to identify protection
risks in home, schools and the community which consider children at particular risk, for example,
children with disabilities. They also establish systems that collect data, disaggregated by age and
sex, to monitor abuse, violence and neglect against children. Coordination allows the
establishment, support and participation in interagency child protection coordination mechanisms
to come to life. This includes the specialized task forces; MRM and MARA country task forces
where applicable. Human and financial capacity, the UNHCR promotes codes of conducts and
trains all staff, teachers, police and adults who are in contact with child refugees. The do not only
teach codes of conduct, but they respond to misconduct. They also try to make the refugees
aware of their rights for their own protection. Under prevention and response, they establish
mechanisms which prevent and respond to childrens protection risks, including referral
pathways to child-sensitive health, psychosocial and care services. Finally with advocacy and

awareness, they increase the awareness of the harm associated with some traditional practices,
this is accomplished through community-based programs. [47]
Children have big roles in their families, schools, and communities. The different perspectives
children can provide to society are strongly valued and appreciated. These children need to
participate in their own protection; their participation is informed, voluntary, and beneficial to
them and allows the realization of rights. To support this playing, sports, and recreation are
highly recommended to not only protect themselves but allows children to build resilience and
coping capacities. This leads into Goal Two: Childrens participation and capacity are integral to
their protection.
Once again to accomplish these goals, the approach is taken from legal and policy framework,
knowledge and data, coordination, human and financial capacity, prevention and response, and
advocacy and awareness.
Legal and policy framework, the UNHCR seeks opportunities for refugee childrens view to
be solicited and included in policy developments and legislative reform processes that affect
them. Knowledge and data, ensure children are able to participate in an ethical way (safe,
confidential and respectful) in assessments and monitoring activities undertaken by the UNHCR
and partners. Under coordination, the UNHCR fosters coordination and cooperation between
various child groups/organizations to encourage initiatives to engage children. The actions being
taken place for human and financial capacity are identifying and building ways for children to
support themselves through life-skills and leadership training and programs. Prevention and
response support and develops child-to-child initiatives through mentor programs. Under
advocacy and awareness, becoming the supporter for children participating in decisions which
affect them. This includes in their school, community, and in their own families. Also, they
encourage children to participate in broader social forums. [47]
Girls and boys should have access to age and gender sensitive protection procedures. There
should be age-sensitive information available about reception, registration, and refugee status
determination. Children should have procedures and decisions informed to them, according to
their age, maturity, gender, language, social and ethnic backgrounds. In the case where a
consultation is needed children should be able to feel safe and have the consultation in a

confidential environment. Children should be able to gain assistance when they want and/or need
to gain information. This will lead into Goal Three: Girls and boys have access to child-friendly
procedures.
The actions taken place under legal and policy framework are making adjustments to the
process and communication strategies when necessary. This action requires assessing both
national and UNHCR procedures from a childs perspective. A solution under knowledge and
data is systematically tracking by age and gender, and the prioritization of cases. For
coordination, all staff that comes in contact with children should have the ability to explain the
existing referral pathway exits. The UNHCR, government, and partners staff are properly trained
to communicate with children with respect and in a child-friendly manner, this falls under the
Human and financial capacity. Prevention and response allow for the prioritization of vulnerable
children. Under advocacy and awareness, advocate with national authorities for childrens
specific needs to be reflected. [47]
Newborns are usually registered and issued official birth certificates by authorities when you
are born. This allows children to access the rights the children can have. Children have the
necessary documentation related to nationality, travel, status, education, custody, property or
other civil matters. This information allows for Goal Four: Girls and boys obtain legal
documentation.
Legal and policy framework assess gaps in legal and administrative frameworks as well as
procedural or practical obstacles that prevent children from accessing documentation. Under
knowledge and date, data is being collected to which boys and girls are able to access legal
documentation, including birth registrations. Human and financial capacities the action being
taken place are train administrative, judicial and security actors and health professionals on birth
registration procedures. This ensures the ability to plan for the issuance of individual
documentation. Establishing and improving mechanisms for birth registration and issuance of
birth certificates by authorities allows all refugee children to be provided with an identity card
and travel documents when needed. These actions fall under prevention and response. Finally in
advocacy and awareness, the UNHCR advocate for access to legal documentation, raising
community awareness of the importance of legal documentation, and the prevention of child
statelessness. [47]

All children should be able to receive the care they need. Even more so children with specific
needs should be provided additional support. Children usually are at a heightened risk for a lot of
things. Children can be vulnerable to HIV-AIDS, forced to be engaged in hazardous labor, and
risk of sexual and gender-related violence. Children have access to family tracing services
without delay and family reunification programs and temporary care arrangements as needed.
Also, case monitoring to ensure continued follow-up through home visits and referrals for
children and families. Which leads into Goal Five: Girls and boys with specific needs receive
targeted support.
Under legal and policy framework assessing the national legal framework in relation to the
childs protection is a movement, especially as it applies to unaccompanied and separated
children. Also reviewing the national policies governing persons living with disabilities is
something that has been occurring for the children. The UNHCR has been mapping the
protection needs of children with specific needs in order to guide program responses. They also
establish information systems which facilitate the identification, tracking and monitoring
children all day and night. This is under knowledge and data. Coordination plays a part in the
solutions for child refugees problems. The UNHCR works closely with national authorities and
communities to ensure children with specific needs are prioritized. The human and financial
capacity builds the capacity of staff and partners to work with children that are at risk, including
case management. To prevent and respond the UNHCR ensures the children who are victims of
any form of abuse have access to child-sensitive health, psychosocial, legal, and care services.
Advocacy and awareness allow to ensure awareness among children about risks affecting them
and their communities. Also to raise awareness of the importance of the risks they may be at and
the importance of their safety. [47]
Finally being able to access and decide a durable solution is very important, this is a priority
for all children. For stateless children, this means ensuring every childs rights to acquire a
nationality. For some, solutions could include permanent and/or temporary care arrangements.
Children that are in higher risk should always be prioritized. This will lead into Goal Six: Girls
and boys achieve durable solutions in their best interests.
Under legal and policy framework actions being made are ensuring frameworks governing
long lasting solution for refugees and internally displaced are made and specific need for

children are made. Also, advocate for nationality laws to prevent and reduce child statelessness.
For knowledge and date, the UNHCR are gathering data and information on children and are
prioritizing their needs to provide solutions. They also try to share as much information as they
can to allow children to learn and grow. In coordination, cross-border monitoring is being done
to ensure adequate services to be made available to children at risk. The UHNCR consider
specific child protection staffing needs, especially for voluntary repatriation, refugee status
determination operations, and durable solutions, these actions are being made under the human
and financial capacity. Prevention and response prioritize and consult children at risk to help find
appropriate solutions for the children. Finally in advocacy and awareness they ensure ageappropriate material is available for the children. [47]
Aforementioned are very specific goals and solutions that are being made to help child
refugees live a better and normal life (whatever that may be). However, the big picture is to
reduce child refugees as a whole. To look into this, it is necessary to understand why and how
child refugees come to be. This can include war due to ideological change, self-determination,
national control, resourced, territory, and religion. Another cause of refugees is natural disasters.
To stop creating these child refugees, there must be a solution to the things listed above. The
aspects that need to be looked at to reduce the already existing child refugees is how to calm the
situations in each country and also how to properly transition them back into their society.
Each war is different, therefore each solution will be different. For wars that are started due to
the rebellion against the government, there is a need to for the government and the rebelling
opposition to come to a compromise. It would be ideal for both sides to put their weapons down
and have a civil meeting on what changes can be made. Also once a treaty or an agreement it is
necessary for the government to follow through and not make any changes. Also for the rebelling
side once they agree on a compromise, it is necessary for them to understand that there was
already a large change made. Therefore, if they ask for more it will only upset the government
and may lead to another war to uprise. For wars started for territorial reasons, once again there is
a need to come to a compromise. Both sides need to look at the land from a logical view and
accurate historical view to see who has more power over the land. Then if the land is able to be
divided discuss how it will be divided. All of this is obviously easier said than done. One topic
that is discussed as solutions to all wars is freedom. It is believed that free, democratic nations do

not declare war on one another and overall known to have the least foreign violence. This is a
continuum when the more democratic two nations, the less likely they will make war on each
other. On the other hand, the less democratic two nations are the more likely for war to begin.
This means that fostering global free is a solution to war and foreign violence.

Conclusion
Over the course of this report, my perspectives were opened to a whole new world. When you
live your day at school, you do not usually think about issues that are going around in the world.
This report allowed me to learn about where child refugees go, international agreements
associating with child refugees, and what prospect does the future hold for the children. I have
learned that even though these children living with a broken safety net they can have such a
bright future ahead of them. I hope to see a decrease in the number of child refugees and
refugees overall. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to do global and research an issue over
the course of three months. It has taught me so much about not only this issue but about how to
use time wisely and smart ways to research.

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