The Asylum-seeking Child in Europe

216 Pages·2012·1.98 MB·English

THE ASYLUM-SEEKING
CHILD IN EUROPE

Editors:
Hans E Andersson, Henry Ascher,
Ulla Björnberg, Marita Eastmond
and Lotta Mellander
The Asylum-seeking Child in Europe
Edited by Hans E Andersson, Henry Ascher, Ulla Björnberg, Marita Eastmond and
Lotta Mellander
ISBN: 91-89608-15-1

Cover: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia:
―A girl in a blue coat smiles in the province of Kosovo‖
© UNICEF/HQ99-1084/Roger LeMoyne

Printed in Sweden by Vasastadens Bokbinderi AB

Published by: Centre for European Research at Göteborg University (CERGU)
P.O. Box 711
SE-405 30 Göteborg
SWEDEN
e-mail: [email protected]
phone: [phone]
fax: [phone]
URL: http://www.cergu.gu.se

©The authors and CERGU, 2005
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical or
photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Foreword
The Centre for European Research at Göteborg University (CERGU) was established in
1995. Its main aim is to stimulate multidisciplinary research and studies focusing on
European issues. CERGU primarily fills the function as communication resource for
researchers within different academic disciplines at Göteborg University and as support
organisation for research networks with universities and institutes in Sweden and
abroad. Conferences, seminars and workshops constitute some of the CERGU core
activities, together with courses on the PhD, Graduate, and Undergraduate levels.
CERGU also acts as host for multidisciplinary research projects. To promote contact
between, on the one hand, researchers and students at Göteborg University and, on the
other, interested parties in industry, business and the public sectors also constitutes a
central task for CERGU.
The initiative to organise the conference, The Asylum Seeking Child in Europe, was
taken by the Steering Committee for the Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence at
Göteborg University. The practical responsibilities were delegated to CERGU. The task to
organise the conference was given to an organising committee with the following members:
Ulla Björnberg, Professor, Department of Sociology, Hans Andersson, Lecturer PhD,
Department of Poltitical Science, Henry Ascher, Assoc. Professor, MD, Department of
Paediatrics, Marita Eastmond, Professor, Department of Social Anthroplogy, Lotta
Mellander, Professor in International Medicin, MD, Department of Paediatrics. The
organising committee has been supported administratively by Ms. Birgitta Jännebring
(CERGU).
It is our hope that this publication of the presentations at the conference will help
promote future research in order gain a deeper understanding of the situation that asylum
seeking children encounter in contemporary Europe. Questions and comments are welcome
and should be addressed to [email protected], or to the authors.
The organisers would like to gratefully acknowledge economic support from The
Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence at Göteborg University, The Swedish
Council for Working Life and Social Research, The Swedish Research Council and The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Göteborg, 5 June 2005

Per Cramér
Director of CERGU/Chairman of the Steering Committee for the Jean Monnet European
Centre of Excellence at Göteborg University

Contents
The Asylum-seeking Child in Europe – An Introduction 1
PART I: International Law and European Refugee Policy
Chapter 1: International Law and Children as Asylum-seekers 11
Carl Söderbergh

Chapter 2: Europe and Beyond: The Convention on the Rights of the Child and
its Impact on Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Child
Observations from a UNHCR Perspective 17
Christoph Bierwirth

Chapter 3: European Refugee Law and its Impact upon Children 37
Terry Smith

Chapter 4: European States and the Asylum-seeking Child – An Overview 47
Kirsti Floor

PART II: The Asylum-seeking Child in the Legal Process
Chapter 5: Seeking Asylum Alone 57
Nadine Finch

Chapter 6: Decisions on Separated Children who Apply for Asylum 67
Kate Halvorsen

Chapter 7: A Child Perspective in the Swedish Asylum Process: Rhetoric and
Practice 73
Eva Nilsson
PART III: Traumatizing and Protective Factors During and After the Asylum-
seeking Process
Chapter 8: Seeking Asylum in Denmark: Refugee Children‘s Mental Health and
Exposure to Violence 91
Edith Montgomery and Anders Foldspang

Chapter 9: Rapes in War: Effects on Mother-child Relations 101
Henry Ascher

Chapter 10: ―Why is This All Happening to Us?‖
The Importance of Early Interventions as Protective Factors in Unaccompanied
Asylum-seeking Children 113
Loes H.M. van Willigen

Chapter 11: Refugee Children‘s Long-term Adaptation in Sweden; General
Outcomes and Prognostic Factors 127
Anders Hjern
Chapter 12: Pervasive Loss of Function Progressing to Devitalization. An
Earlier Unknown Life Threatening Stress Reaction Seen in Asylum-seeking
Children in Sweden 135
Göran Bodegård
PART IV: Exclusion or Integration? Social and Educational Aspects
Chapter 13: Avenues of Access and the Parameters of Care: Reflections on
Reception Procedures for Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Children at a
Port of Entry 143
Charles Watters

Chapter 14: Asylum-seeking Children in English Pre-schools: Inclusion and
Supportin the New Policy Climate 153
Vasilia Lilian Antoniou & Rachel Reynolds

Chapter 15: Meeting the Needs of Young Asylum-seekers: The Role of
Creative Activities 173
David Ingleby

Chapter 16: Needs Assessment of Asylum-seeking Children in St. Petersburg 183
Oleg Pechenkov and Katerina Guerassimova

Chapter 17: Changing Family Relations and the Situation of Children: Kosovo
Albanian Asylum Seekers in Sweden 197
Karin Norman

List of Authors 207
The Asylum-seeking Child in Europe – An
Introduction
Migration to and from Europe is hardly a recent phenomenon. The millions of
Europeans who migrated to the US during the 18th and in particular the 19th century
are a well-known example. Less well-known may be that this migration from Europe
continued after World War II. Between 1945 and 1960, for example, about seven
million people left Europe. As the large streams of refugees from Eastern to Western
Europe after World War II show, migration within Europe is not new. For instance,
about eight million Germans from Eastern Europe fled to Western Germany. From
the beginning of the 1960s, most European countries (except for Eastern Europe)
became countries of immigration when people arrived to benefit from and contribute
to the creation of the evolving welfare states. The end of the 20th century was,
however, once more characterized by forced migration. Between 1991 and 1998
more than one million individuals fled from former Yugoslavia.
From the beginning of the 1980s, the number of refugees from third world
countries has increased sharply along with other kinds of immigration1. Because the
increased migration to a large extent has taken place at the same time as a slowdown
in economic growth, many European countries have responded with more restrictive
policies. Concomitant with the economic problems, the world is experiencing many
political crises, terrorism and wars which make life very uncertain and risky for
citizens not only in terms of lack of economic opportunities but also due to fears of
persecution. Many of the people who seek refugee status in Europe perceive
themselves as refugees, whereas they in the receiving countries are not regarded as
refugees with a recognized right to protection as asylum seekers. In many instances
this situation blurs the line between asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. As a
consequence, asylum seekers encounter problems of recognition, visibility and
proper protection. In particular, the current situation makes it difficult for children to
be recognized in their own right.
Children constitute an important part of asylum seekers whether they arrive with
their families or alone. In 2003, there were more than 17 million refugees (43 per
cent of refugees), asylum seekers and others who are of concern to the UNHCR. Of
these millions of people, it is estimated that children under the age of five make up
11 per cent and 32 per cent are children aged six to seventeen.2 Many of these
children have experienced war, violence, acts of cruelty and similar traumas. Others
have been exposed indirectly through their parents‘ traumatizing experiences. Such
experiences are today increasingly recognized as being a similar burden to a child as
if they are assaulted themselves. The adults often have very big problems and the
children run the risk of having their problems concealed. Registration data and
statistics are generally not produced in a way that makes the exposed situation of
children visible. The children‘s reasons for asylum in their own right are rarely
investigated.
The rights of asylum-seeking children are protected in international conventions
and rules, like in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, The European