Call for papers

Migraciones
Instituto Universitario de Estudios sobre Migraciones

Universidad Pontificia Comillas

(Special Issue)

 

Refugee Children: Experiences of Ukrainian Refugee Minors in Europe

Guest Editors

  • Renata Hosnedlova
  • Mikolaj Stanek
  • Cecilia Estrada-Villaseñor

Justification and content

In recent decades, we are witnessing, as Saskia Sassen (2017) stated, a "massive loss of habitat" and human security that contribute to an increase in forced mobilities, as well as fostering various forms of violence and rights violations during the migration process. A good illustration of the process described by Sassen is the experience of the European continent, which in the last two decades has received several waves of migrants forced to leave their countries due to armed conflicts. The latest wave of refugees and protection seekers has been triggered by the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, which was the start of a violent conflict that has had public opinion around the globe on tenterhooks. The escalating conflict in Ukraine has caused heavy civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, compelling millions of people to flee their homes in search of safety, protection and assistance. According to UNHCR (2022), in just the first month of the conflict more than 3,658,000 people applied for international protection in another European country. According to the same source, as of 6 July there were 5,650,272 Ukrainian refugees in Europe who left the country due to the recent conflict.

Although European countries have received hundreds of thousands of applicants for international protection in recent decades, the most recent example being the massive arrival of refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Central Asia in the middle of the last decade, the case of displacement of Ukrainians due to the current war has several characteristics that qualify it as an outstanding and exceptional event. Firstly, the escalation of the conflict has led to a displacement of civilian populations of an intensity and volume not seen on the European continent since the Second World War. The scale of displacement caused by the war in Ukraine is unparalleled by other waves of refugees in the second half of the 20th century and the first two decades of the 21st century. Secondly, the speed and relative efficiency of the international response to the war-related humanitarian crisis is also unprecedented in previous waves of refugees. The most notable example is the diligence of the EU institutions, which without further delay made use of its Temporary Protection Directive to provide refuge for the millions of displaced people leaving Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion. Thirdly, the arrival of Ukrainian refugees has generated an unusual wave of solidarity in the societies of most European countries. Since the outbreak of the conflict, third sector organisations and the civilian population have been extremely generous in helping refugees. Finally, Ukrainian refugee flows stand out in terms of socio-demographic composition. While before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine around a third of the refugees in Europe were minors, in the current humanitarian crisis children, together with women, have become the real protagonists of refugee flows. It is estimated that around 40% of those displaced by the war are people under the age of 18 (UNICEF 2022).

Given their vulnerability and dependency, children migrating in search of refuge are particularly exposed to traumatic experiences related to harsh conditions of displacement, deprivation of basic health care, separation or loss of family members, and disrupted education (Fransen et al. 2018). Violence, unstable living conditions, disintegration of their social networks and difficulties pursuing education experienced at an early age have serious consequences on cognitive development, physical and psychological health, educational performance and later life trajectories (Solberg et al. 2020; Mattelin et al. 2022). UNICEF (2022) warned that Ukrainian children fleeing unaccompanied (or without their parents) are at greater risk of being targeted by traffickers and mafias. On the other hand, refugee flows in which a considerable part are children at an early age require specific management and reception policies. In this way, the displacement of the Ukrainian population, and more specifically of children, puts the international reception system to the test, as well as other areas more relevant to receiving and subsequent integration.

Although the displacement of refugee children is of growing interest to scholars in various social science disciplines (Andresen et al. 2021; Brittle and Desmet 2020), there are still a number of gaps that require further research. The challenges of studying refugee children are exacerbated by the fact that refugee minors require theoretical frameworks linked to their stage of socialisation, the characteristics of their environment (especially the family) and the legislative framework that defines their legal status and thus their rights. Moreover, as refugee children are often hidden and difficult to access, the methodological challenge becomes a central dimension in their research and analysis (Gaywood et al. 2020). Given this background, the prominence of children in the displacement caused by the war in Ukraine provides a new opportunity to approach the reality of forced migration of minors in several of its dimensions and aspects.

The aim of this special issue is to expand on and explore these and other aspects of children seeking refuge from conflict in Ukraine. We invite authors who undertake research activity in any discipline within the field of social sciences and related areas.

Authors may contribute both empirical and theoretical-methodological papers on the following topics (among others):

  1. Theoretical, methodological and ethical challenges in the study of refugee minors. The presence of minors as a factor in the migration decision-making process.
  2. The dynamics of international mobility of Ukrainian refugees - focus on refugee children.
  3. The displacement in search of refuge - experiences and life occurrences from childhood.
  4. Institutional frameworks for reception and fostering of Ukrainian refugee minors - EU, national and local perspective.
  5. Incorporation into the reception system of unaccompanied minors in the context of the war in Ukraine.
  6. The reception system for adult refugees and its implications for refugee children.
  7. The role of NGOs and the third sector in the process of receiving and fostering minors.
  8. The hospitality processes - civil society's role in the reception of refugee minors.
  9. Reception of children in terms of schooling, child protection, and psychological support.
  10. Forced migration in childhood, mental health and psychological well-being.
  11. Challenges of incorporating refugee children into health protection systems.
  12. Institutional frameworks for the schooling of children seeking refuge.
  13. Challenges of incorporating refugee children into receiving education systems.
  14. Experience of social and cultural adaptation of refugee minors.

Disciplines

  • Social work
  • Psychology
  • Anthropology
  • Sociology
  • Demography
  • Education
  • Law
  • Political science
  • Social geography
  • Demography
  • Economics
  • Epidemiology
  • Public health
  • Communication
  • Cooperation and third sector

References

Andresen, S., Neumann, S. y Schneekloth, U. (2021). How Children in Germany Experience Refugees: A Contribution From Childhood Studies. Children Indicators Research, 14, 2045–2064. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-021-09828-x

Baker, J. R., Raman, S., Kohlhoff, J., George, A., Kaplun, C., Dadich, A., Best, C. T., Arora, A., Zwi, K., Schmied, V. y Eapen, V. (2019). Optimising refugee children's health/wellbeing in preparation for primary and secondary school: a qualitative inquiry. BMC public health, 19(1).  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7183-5

Bešić, E. y Hochgatterer, L. (2020). Refugee Families With Children With Disabilities: Exploring Their Social Network and Support Needs. A Good Practice Example. Frontiers in Education, 5(61). https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.00061

Brittle, R. y Desmet, E. (2020). Thirty Years of Research on Children’s Rights in the Context of Migration. The International Journal of Children's Rights, 28(1), 36-65. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718182-02801008

Fransen, S., Vargas-Silva, C. y Siegel, M. (2018) The impact of refugee experiences on education: evidence from Burundi. IZA Journal of Development and Migration, 8(6). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40176-017-0112-4

Gaywood, D., Bertram, T. y Pascal, CH. (2020). Involving refugee children in research: emerging ethical and positioning issues. European Early Childhood Education, 28(1), 149-162. https://www.consilium.europa.eu/es/policies/eu-migration-policy/eu-asylum-reform/

Malti, T., Galarneau, E., Zhang, L., Myatt, E. y Yavuz, H. M. (2021). Prosocial Development in Refugee Children. Journal of Refugee Studies, 34(4), 4242–4261. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feaa104

Mattelin, E., Paidar, K., Söderlind, N., Fröberg F. y Korhone L. (2022). A systematic review of studies on resilience and risk and protective factors for health among refugee children in Nordic countries. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-022-01975-y

Pritchard, P., Maehler, D.B., Pötzschke, S. y Ramos, H. (2019). Integrating Refugee Children and Youth: A Scoping Review of English and German Literature. Journal of Refugee Studies, 32(1), i194–i208. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fez024

Sassen, S. (2017). La pérdida masiva de hábitat. Nuevas motivaciones para la migración. Iglesia viva: revista de pensamiento cristiano, (270), 11-38. https://iviva.org/revistas/270/270-11-SASSEN.pdf

Solberg, Ø., Nissen, A., Vaez, M., Cauley, P., Eriksson, A.-K. y Saboonchi, F. (2020). Children at risk: A nation-wide, cross-sectional study examining post-traumatic stress symptoms in refugee minors from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan resettled in Sweden between 2014 and 2018. Conflict and Health, 14(67). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-020-00311-y

Tyrer, R. A. y Fazel, M. (2014). School and Community-Based Interventions for Refugee and Asylum Seeking Children: A Systematic Review. PLoS ONE, 9(2): e89359. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089359

UNICEF. (2022). Ukraine and refugees outflow. https://www.unicef.org/media/118666/file/2022-HAC-Ukraine-and-Refugee-Outflow-revised-April.pdf

UNICEF. (2022). Los niños que huyen de la guerra de Ucrania corren un mayor riesgo de ser víctimas de la trata y la explotación. https://www.unicef.org/es/comunicados-prensa/ninos-huyen-guerra-ucrania-corren-mayor-riesgo-victimas-trata-explotacion

Schedule

  1. Submission of abstracts: until 1st February 2023. All abstracts, in English or Spanish, should be sent in Word format to BOTH e-mail addresses revista.migraciones@comillas.edu y refugee_children@comillas.edu.
    Abstracts should have a maximum of 500 words and should include the following information and structure: author/s, institutional affiliation, e-mail, abstract (title, objectives and theoretical context, methodology, results and conclusions).
  2. The selected abstracts will be communicated to their authors on 20th February 2023.
  3. Final delivery of articles: once the article proposal has been accepted, the full text, in Spanish or English, must be sent via the journal's website until 15th July 2023 for peer review.
    https://revistas.comillas.edu/index.php/revistamigraciones/about/submissions

Important Dates

  1. Call for Papers submission: From 15th September 2022 to 1st February 2023.
  2. Evaluation of the abstracts and communication to authors: 20th February 2023.
  3. Delivery of papers: 15th July 2023.
  4. Guest editors' pre-evaluation papers: 15th September 2023.
  5. Peer review (1st decision after blind peer review): from 15th September 2023 to 15th November 2023.
  6. Modifications/submission of the final version of the article: 1st January 2024. In some cases, a 2nd round of review by the reviewers may be required.
  7. Expected publication date of the special issue: March 2024.

Submission Guidelines

The papers will have a maximum length of 8,000 - 10,000 words and will be written in Spanish or English. Only original papers or works that comply with the usual academic structure in scientific journals will be accepted: summary, keywords, introduction, theoretical framework, state of art and methodology objectives; presentation of the results and discussion thereof; final conclusions and references. Appendices will be accepted. The use of footnotes is discouraged. If deemed necessary, they should be kept to a minimum.

The original texts will be sent to the journal through the Open Journal System (OJS) platform whose access details can be found on the journal WEB.

Evaluation

Articles that do not strictly conform to the required editorial standards will not be accepted.

The positive pre-evaluated originals will be anonymized and sent to at least two external evaluators of recognized competence in the subject area.

The editorial team for the special issue and the editorial board of the journal will ultimately decide on publication of the articles and will notify the authors.