Children as a Special Category of Refugees - Essay Example

RESEARCH PROJECT DISCUSSED IN ARCHAMBAULT The dissemination is targeted to and researchers who are interested in studying refugees and their transition from one place to another and the policy makers who hope to make living conditions for refuges better and much more fulfilling. All refugees keep hope alive for permanent areas of residences. They wish to find a place to call home away from their countries maybe due to war or political violence. The aim of Archambault journal is to bring to light the experiences of the children of the refugees and the feeling as and emotions that they go through whenever they have to move from one area to another. In order for research to be carried out under this area effectively, the emotions of the children have to be heard from the children themselves. It is by finding out this information from the children that accurate and precise solutions to their problems can be found. Most children of refugees hope that whenever they move to a new place, they will be moving to a better place where they can have their own rooms and the facilities that the Norwegian children enjoy (Archambault, 2012). They keep hoping that they would be moving to a better neighborhood where their friends from school will not be afraid of visiting them. Children are a special category of refugees and they have been ignored or not considered when carrying out research among refugees. They consist of more than a third of all the refugees’ population yet they have never really been studied. Some of the changes that children are required to make are moving to new houses, making new friends, changing schools and changing houses (Archambault, 2012). The parents of the Norwegian refugees have to learn the language first so that they can get jobs and move to where the rest of the citizens live. The frequent moving keeps the hope alive that they will at some point move to the permanent residence. Some of the items they hope to own to consider themselves well off include a washing machine and a decent bathing area. Children in migration are more vulnerable than the rest of the children who do not have to move from one area to another all the time. They are at a risk of getting abused both emotionally and physically. Living in congested areas may make them vulnerable to diseases such as cholera and dysentery. Congestion in the refugee camps makes transmission and outbreaks of diseases very easy. Children are more likely to die from such diseases and therefore they have to be treated with more care. It is necessary that children are taken care of and understood so that their needs can be met. In this case, as refugees, the needs of children are not met and hence the move from one area to another from time to time. Moving from time to time disrupts the normal running of things (Robb 2014). For instance, they have to make new friends, they have to get used to new neighbors and new neighborhoods and they have to learn to take care of themselves and their families. The situation sometimes gets so hard that they have to steal so that they can eat. Living as refugees in such areas is not such an easy task and it takes a lot of effort for people, both children and adults to get used to it. Because of moving from one place to another from time to time, the children do not feel that they belong. Every time they get settled in an area, they have to move to another place and this makes them feel that they have no place to call their own. As long as they have not obtained permanent residence, then it follows that they do not have a place they can call home for the rest of their lives. The homes that they move into do not necessarily belong to them but rather, the government which decides on the sizes of the houses, the location of the houses and even the people who will live in a particular neighborhood (Ruxton 2014). For instance, the first boy who was interviewed said that he hoped that they would not have to move again and that the place that they had lived for so long had been good and that he hopes that the place they will be moving to will also be a good place. They do not have the sense of belonging that the children of Norwegian origin enjoy. The second child who had weaved curtains for the new house was disappointed to find that the house they were moving into did not reach the standards that she had expected and thus could not use them in the house that they had been given. She thought that the house did not match the standards of the curtains and it was much better for her and her family to save them for later in a better house (Robb 2014). For many of the refugees, a sense of belonging is brought about by them having their won space where they can call their own. As long as they do not have this, they do not consider themselves as citizens with a right to do anything. The knowledge that they are refuges makes them to have lower self-esteem than the rest of the citizens and thus they have been forced to work hard for themselves so that they can gain the status of the citizens. Furthermore, it is important that they have a sense of belonging so that their status improves and so that they can live in safe neighborhoods and do the things that they could do safely (Robb 2014). For instance, in one of the refugees’ apartments, there was a lot of noise and men playing and taking drugs. Such an environment is not conducive for a child to grow in and for the child to feel that they belong. A child who grows up in such an environment is likely to become an addict as well, and is likely to get introduced to drugs at a very early stage. Refugees are usually associated with a lot of crime and illegal activities. Therefore, anyone with a refugee status is viewed with suspicion and people are afraid to be associated with them. Their dependence on the government makes them a burden to the state and if the state decides to chase them away, then they will have nothing to go to. They therefore, work very hard so that they can obtain permanent and good residences in Norway (Ruxton 2014). Moving to a new place for the refugees could mean a lot of things. For instance, it could be moving from a place of poverty to a place of permanent residence and moving from a place where there is a lot of crime to a place where it is more peaceful. Every time that they move, they are presented with a lot of possibilities and a lot of hope that the place will be their final and permanent place of residence. It could also mean that they have succeeded after a long period of waiting and an option out of living away from the asylum centers. They hope that they can get permanent residences so that they can form long lasting bonds with the people who live in the area (Archambault, 2012). If they keep moving from time to time, it means that they cannot form long term friendships and bonds since at some point or another they will be moved. Just like other citizens, they wish to have relationships with other people and to be able to be identified with a certain group of people. Every time that they move, it means that they have to start afresh and this does not give the children the normal upbringing that they should enjoy (Archambault, 2012). Settling in one area gives them peace and the normalcy that they should enjoy to live a fulfilling life. They can be able to create linkages with their past and track relatives and friends who got lost along the way. It makes them have a sense of belonging in a country that is not originally theirs and one that they have to get used to. Children can get attached to the things and the people that they find in the neighborhoods. The refugees in Norway are given places of residences according to their status. In the beginning, they are given houses as asylum seekers. The type of houses that they are given are common places of residences. They have to share facilities with the rest of the refugees and there is no privacy or security. Such places are associated with outbreak of diseases which is very dangerous for all the people that they are considered unhomely (Archambault, 2012). Asylum seekers are provided with the basic things that they need such as access to a bathroom that can be locked, a kitchen and a washing machine. However, the spaces are too small and the civil rights organizations have been pushing for the spaces in the refugees’ homes are increased and so that they can have bigger and separate apartments where children can have access to play areas and other social activities. Rather than the areas being places where the refugees are discriminated against, they are made to feel that they belong and a place where they can learn Norwegian. The children who have to go to school as they await their applications to be approved have lesser responsibilities than the adults (Robb 2014). All of them wish that they could have a place that they belong and one that they could call home. A home for them can be in the form of physical place and the people who reside in that area. They wish to be identified with family and as part of the group of people in an area. Children on the other hand, hope to make permanent friends and stay in schools that they do not have to transfer from. The way that the people live their lives in the refugee camps is indicative of their life experiences and the culture that they have carried from their countries of origin. They do things the way that they are used to doing them back at home and if they cannot do them to the extent that they are used to then they have left some elements of the culture. Families get disrupted as they look for shelter and refuge in the foreign countries and keeping with their traditions and culture is the only thing that reminds them of their past and their families. Some die along the way and their memories are kept alive by the culture that they are used to (Archambault, 2012). The interviews by Archambault reflected the views of re children and the adults as well. By talking to the children and engaging with them, he was able to obtain information that was priceless. He got firsthand information on the feelings of the children, their emotions and their expectations of the places that they move into. He was able to capture what the children were looking forward to in terms of houses and areas of permanent residence. By interviewing them in their areas of residence, he ensured that the children did not feel obliged to lie about their living conditions and what they go through. He interviewed the parents first then the children and thus ensuring that he got both sides of the story: the adults’ view and the view of the children. The entire family lives with the hope that they will get permanent areas of residence and the news is awaited with much anticipation and excitement (Ruxton 2014). In conclusion, the children who look forward to having better places to live in should be able to have faster access to them so that they can settle much sooner and have a better sense of belonging. The government or the policy makers should make the procedures better and faster so that the refugees can settle much faster as well. References Archambault, J. 2012. It can be good there too": home and continuity in refugee children’s narratives of settlement, Children’s Geographies, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 35–48. Robb, J. (2014). Concealed in Death. New Dallas: Wiley and Sons. Ruxton, D. (2014). Refugee Life. Washington: Routledge. Read More