Objectives
In 2014, 51% of the refugee population worldwide consisted of children (UNHCR, 2015). Research on asylum-seeking children and the risk and protective factors associated with their wellbeing has been conducted in the – mostly high-income – host countries where they are staying. However, as many asylum seekers return to their home countries, the refugee cycle does not necessarily end in the host country.
How asylum-seeking children are faring after voluntary or forced return to their countries of origin is not studied widely as yet (Fazel et al., 2012). NGO reports show that returned unaccompanied minors in Afghanistan and returned children in families in Kosovo are facing adaptation difficulties after return, such as living in poverty, not having a family or social network, reintegration difficulties due to being westernized, dropping out of school, and severe social-emotional problems (Gladwell & Elwyn, 2012; Knaus et al., 2012).
This study aims to gain insight into the rearing environment and wellbeing of asylum-seeking children who returned with their parents to Kosovo and Albania, including the factors that are associated with the children’s wellbeing and quality of the child-rearing environment: Which factors seem to predict whether the returned children do (not) fare well, and end up in a high/low quality rearing environment after return to the country of origin?
Methods
As part of a broader European project to develop a monitor on returned migrant children (MRM-project) we collected data on the living situation of 150 returned children in Kosovo and Albania. Kosovar interviewers assessed the quality of returned children’s rearing environment with the Best Interest of the Child-Questionnaire (BIC-Q) (Zijlstra et al., 2012; Zevulun et al., 2016). In addition, social-emotional wellbeing of the child was screened by using the SDQ (Goodman, 1997).
Results
A first look at the results shows that factors relating to the status of the family in the host country and the accompanying possibilities to work, the forced or voluntary nature of their return, and the belonging to a minority or majority ethnicity, seem to influence the children’s situation after return.
Conclusion
Knowledge on the post-return situation of asylum-seeking children and the factors associated with children’s wellbeing after return, can inform the migration decision-making procedures in the host countries. In addition, it provides indications for the strategies to support children before and after the actual repatriation, in order to comply with the best interest of the child principle in the return process.
References
Fazel, M., Reed, R.V., Panter-Brick, C., & Stein, A. (2012). Mental health of displaced and refugee children resettled in high-income countries: Risk and protective factors. The Lancet, 379, 266-282.
Gladwell, C. & Elwyn, H. (2012). Broken futures: young Afghan asylum seekers in the UK and on return to their country of origin. UNHCR New Issues in Refugee Research, Research Paper No. 246. Retrieved from: http://www.unhcr.org/5098d2679.pdf.
Goodman, R. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38(5), 581-586.
Knaus, V., et al. (2012). Silent harm: A report assessing the situation of repatriated children’s psycho-social health. UNICEF Kosovo in cooperation with Kosovo Health Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www.unicef.org/kosovo/SILENT_HARM_Eng_Web.pdf.
UNHCR (June 2015). Global trends: Forced displacement in 2014. Retrieved from:http://unhcr.org/556725e69.html.
Zevulun, D., Post, W.J., Zijlstra, A.E., Kalverboer, M.E., & Knorth, E.J. (2016). The quality of child-rearing in different cultural contexts: Cultural sensitivity and construct validity of the BIC-Q (submitted for publication).
Zijlstra, A.E., Kalverboer, M.E., Post, W.J., Knorth, E.J., & Ten Brummelaar, M.D.C. (2012). The quality of the childrearing environment of refugee or asylum-seeking children and the best interest of the child: Reliability and validity of the BIC-Q. Behavioral Science and the Law, 30, 841-855. doi:10.1002/bsl.1998.
