FULL REFERENCE: Harris, P. (2019). Nurturing the learning and development of children who are refugees. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal. Special issue presenting position papers, 22(2), pp. 26 – 34.
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ABSTRACT: This position paper provides a plea for children who are seeking asylum as refugees to be detained in an environment that supports their health, wellbeing, early education and care. Being detained in a refugee facility can lead children to suffer chronic fear, chaos, unstable access to food and water, and the witnessing of atrocities (Silove, Ventevogel, & Rees, 2017). Children who are refugees usually have suffered traumatic events and are entitled to “recovery and reintegration” in a safe environment that nurtures their health and wellbeing, and where freedom and equality prepare them to prosper as an individual within society. Although Australia is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children being detained in Australian refugee camps are vulnerable to depression, and this experience may cause them to adjust in developmentally dangerous ways (Minas, et al., 2013).
Key words: Refugees, asylum seekers, trauma, children’s rights, wellbeing, vulnerable children.
INTRODUCTION:
Throughout the world there are people who are forcibly displaced every day owing to war, persecution, conflict and generalised conflict (United Nations High Commission for Refugees [UNHCR], 2017). Many of these are refugees, others are asylum seekers. The Refugee Council of Australia defines a refugee as “people who are forced to leave their homes for many reasons, including conflict and violence. Sometimes ‘refugee’ is used to refer to a person displaced due to a natural disaster environmental change” (2017, para. 2). While asylum seekers are people who have sought protection as a refugee, their claim for refugee status has not yet been assessed (Refugee Council of Australia, 2017). By 2017, 68.5 million people had been forcibly displaced globally, with 16.2 million being displaced in 2017 alone (United Nations High Commission for Refugees [UNHCR], 2019).
