Personal Experiences of Children Seeking Political Sanctuary - Dissertation Example

Young refugees seek Asylum in the United Kingdom of Great Britain due to a number of reasons. In this sense, many studies, including those authored by Macaskill (2002) and Kidane (2001a) have already been conducted in the hopes of exploring the different reasons behind why these young refugees seek Asylum. In Hek and Sales (2002) as well as in Thomas et al (2004), it was revealed that many of these young refugee seekers have reported that they have experienced the disappearance and imprisonment of their father, mother, and other family members.

It is generally because of the high levels of anxiety that they experienced that they were forced to leave their home countries and at the same time, traveling to other countries in order to escape from the latter. In addition, Ayotte and Williamson (2001) mentioned that young people often seek refuge to escape poverty, deprivation and sexual abuses encountered in their home countries. Nevertheless, it was mentioned that these young children continue to experience exploitation in the country where they sought refuge.

For instance, McCallin (1996) pointed out that while a number of young refugees continue to live with their parents while in the United Kingdom, the same nevertheless fail to experience a good life as the latter are emotionally incapable to cater to their needs. Furthermore, exploitation is further expected amongst those living with their relatives whom they do not know, those with social services, and those young refugees who are living alone. Finally, Patel and Hodes (2006) also stress that children seeking asylum tend to display high levels of distress and psychiatric disorder brought about the bad experiences that they have encountered.

Undoubtedly, young asylum seekers have various needs. In general, their needs are the same as that of normal children. Unfortunately, in the countries where they seek asylum, these children are not often seen as children first; in fact, they saw and dealt with as refugees primarily.