The article examines the initial settlement experiences of unaccompanied refugee children living in Toronto. Keywords: Unaccompanied refugee children, settlement, Convention on the Rights of the Child, best interests, rights, protection, Immigration and Refugee Council.
INTRODUCTION
Important Terms
While the exact meaning of the term 'unaccompanied minor' is disputed, the widely accepted and quoted definition proposed by the UNHCR is as follows: "an unaccompanied child is a person under the age of eighteen years unless, in accordance with the applicable law for a child, , who has reached the age of majority earlier and who is separated from both parents and is not cared for by an adult who is legally or customarily responsible for it” (UNHCR, 1997, p. 1). It is important to note that there is no consensus among Canadian provinces on the age at which an individual is no longer considered a child, so the age range for child protection in Canada varies from province to province.
History of Child Migration
In Canada, in the early 1940s, special programs were created to assist the arrival of young refugees (Rosseau, Montgomery, & Shermake, 2001). Most of these children were placed in the care of children's aid societies (Rosseau, Montgomery, & Shermake, 2001).
Legal Rights of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors
- International Legal Obligations: The Convention on the Rights of a Child
- Domestic Legal Obligations: Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
- The Immigration and Refugee Board’s Guidelines on Child Refugee Claimant….11
- The Negative Construction of a Refugee Child
- Legal and Sociological Sense of Belonging
- The Stress of Waiting for Status: An Identity in Limbo
A significant portion of the IRB guidelines (1996) is devoted to defining the role of the designated representative (DR). Key considerations and factors for assessing the best interests of the child in the Canadian detention context.
LIMITATIONS OF TOPIC AND RESEARCH OUTLINE AND PURPOSE…
Limitations of Topic
Despite the notable vulnerability of unaccompanied minor refugees, there is far too little literature and research conducted on this important population. Although there is little doubt that the experience of becoming a refugee at any age, but especially at a young one, place. It is also noted that there is a lack of reliable data on the number and ages of unaccompanied minors and how they are received and protected in Canada (Wouk, Roach, Thomson, & Harris, 2006).
Given that there is an insufficient amount of literature on this important population, this paper is speaking through a limited lens.
Research/ Project Work Statement
Purpose/Significance of Project
However, given the vulnerability of this community and the additional complexities associated with unaccompanied refugee children in precarious status, I decided to only interview individuals who have already been heard and granted refugee status. My work in Chapters 1 and 2 examined how the theoretical legal framework and rights of unaccompanied refugee children in Canada unfold in practice, and evaluated whether the reception and protection of this population in Toronto reflects the best interests of the child , or that policy improvement. Furthermore, my MRP was intended to reveal how the existing systems and legal rights afforded to unaccompanied refugee children are perceived by those whom these measures purport to serve and protect.
My experiences as a volunteer at Matthew House, a refugee shelter in Toronto that provides a home, settlement support, and assistance with the asylum process to newly arrived refugees, serve as one of the main reasons for taking on this project.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK/ORIENTATION
In contrast to this more traditional approach, the new sociology of childhood treats children as social actors and active agents who are "capable of making sense of and influencing their societies" (Matthews, 2007, p. 324). Furthermore, concerned that the "old sociology" of childhood homogenizes children, the new sociology of childhood aims to seek and reveal the diversity among children. Following this line of thought, scholars of the new sociology of childhood advocate adding an 's' to childhood to indicate the diversity of children's experiences (Jenk, 1996; Matthews, 2007; Prout, 2011).
Further, as the new sociology of childhood warns, in my paper I refrained from talking about children and rejected notions that allow the views and voices of adults to be privileged over children's voices on issues related to children's lives ( Matthews, 2007).
RESEARCH METHODS
Participant Selection and Recruitment Process
Qualitative interviews also allowed for the inclusion of the voice of young people, which is in line with my broader orientation and children's rights approach, as embodied in the new sociology of childhood. During the phone calls, staff at Matthew House explained the exact nature of the research to the potential participants, including the research questions, interview questions and the writing process that follows. After this call - once they had made a commitment to participate and provided their email address - I emailed a copy of the consent.
Considering the scope of the research, one interview (no follow-up interviews) was all that time constraints allowed.
Data Collection
I asked the participants to bring the signed consent form to me on the day we met for the interview. Data collected from the audio recordings of the interview were then deleted from the audio recording device. Signed copies of the consent forms were stored separately from encrypted electronic transcripts in a personal locked desk.
Although this made the interview last almost twice as long as the others, it provided a way to ensure that I represented the participant accurately and to their standards, did not record anything that made them uncomfortable, and allowed me to also enabled me to fill in parts I initially missed.
Data Analysis
It was possible that participants were reluctant to be critical of the immigration system. To avoid misquoting or misunderstanding a participant, I made sure to contact the participants and ask them if I had presented them accurately. Some participants, to my surprise, were not at all critical of the immigration system and therefore did not have to suppress their words.
Others were not afraid to be critical of the system and used the interview as a platform to express their frustrations with the system.
FINDINGS
- Leaving Home: Reasons Behind Coming to Canada
- First Night in Toronto: Initial Impressions
- Making a Refugee Claim: Seeking Protection
- Immigration Hearing Date: Waiting for Status
- Immigration and Refugee Board: Procedures and Policies Surrounding the Hearing
- Support and Protection: Suggestions for Improvement
- Sense of Belonging and Identity: A Warm Welcome?
- Upcoming Years: Plans for the Future
However, the literature I previously reviewed, and the testimony of several of the participants I interviewed, reveal a different narrative. It is often disconnected from the majority of the lived experiences of children around the world (Kenneally, Forthcoming/2018). While the ratification of the CRC was an important breakthrough and promotion of children's rights, without proper implementation.
This will ensure that the best interests of the child and the protection of unaccompanied minor refugees are prioritized and taken into account within.
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Small Sample Size
Although smaller than I had originally expected or hoped for, this sample size still allowed for in-depth and thick descriptions of URM's experiences in Toronto. That is, in the spirit of Article 12 of the CRC, I wanted to create a space where the voices of URMs can be heard and their opinions can be expressed. Narrative research – a subsection of qualitative research and the form my MRP research takes – enables stories and lived experiences to be heard and considered as valid information, thereby revealing essential parts of human existence and what it means to those individuals , that make up society (Polkinghorne, 2007).
Further, although more participants would certainly have been welcomed and appreciated, a smaller sample size allowed more space for each individual participant.
Construction of a Refugee Child
URM's stories and impressions of the immigration system and the processes surrounding it are unfortunately missing from the debates surrounding them, which in turn hinders the discussion on how to better understand and support this refugee population. In addition to being a violation of Article 31 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, her detention had a serious negative impact on Participant #2's long-term well-being. Experience of participant no. 2 through detention exposed the inconsistency between CRC principles and immigration officer practices, as her concerns were not listened to, nor taken so seriously that immigration officials did not even attempt to understand her. or discuss the importance of an interpreter.
While the interviews, particularly Participant #2's, support the literature that talks about the devastating effects detention has on a child's physical and psychological well-being and that this is a direct result of the construction of the refugee as a threat, the interviews also uncovered areas that that was not sufficiently addressed in the literature.
Legal and Sociological Sense of Belonging
Additionally, in the interviews, all three participants mentioned the importance and usefulness of the mock interrogation program provided by Matthew House. This program guides refugee claimants through the interview process, including what to expect in terms of questions that will be asked, how they should answer certain questions and the importance of a presentation. This means that there is (as I have discovered) the likelihood that many URMs do not want to talk about their experiences.
This can be for several reasons, such as a lack of trust and fear of the consequences for them.
Upcoming Plans and Future Aspirations
Nevertheless, as important and significant as refugee children's views are, scholars, researchers and advocates cannot intrude on their privacy. Before their arrival in Canada, they were beings in their own right and on their own separate paths to adulthood. As Prout (2011) asserts, “children must be seen as becomings without compromising the need to respect their status as beings or persons” (p. 8).
However, this status as beings is not timeless – as the participants demonstrate, like all people, their past as much as their projected future defines who they are and will become.
Recommendations
- The Role of the DR and the Importance of a Guardian
- Complicating the Notion of Best Interest of the Child
- Ratification to Implementation
- Reconsidering the Image of a Child
In any discussion around the protection and care of children in general, and URMs specifically, the principle of the 'best interests of the child' should be complicated. Reynaert, Bouverne-De Bie and Vandevelde (2012) offer a proposal of how to actualize the recognition of the great diversity of children through "the Mestiza. For example, articles 6 and 27 of the CRC focus on the need of children to have the ability to develop physically, mentally, morally and socially.
What do rights and protection look like when children are accepted as active and co-constructors of the world.
CONCLUSIONS
When we conceive of child rights and protection, what do these look like when we think of children as political and social agents. Challenging the ideology of the universal child and the image of the child as a passive victim, this paper proposes a different paradigm that allows for the acceptance and exploration of multiple narratives and versions of childhood. In this regard, while the needs and possible weaknesses of URMs must be accepted in this process, a human rights approach must also be taken into account, where the child's agency and their role as fellow citizens and meaning-makers of the world around them theirs. account.
The success of these policies will be measured by their ability to promote child welfare and ensure that the government's mandated promise to safeguard the identity, rights and safety of unaccompanied refugee minors is upheld and respected.
