Unaccompanied and Separated Children in Canada: Issues of Resettlement,

Classifications of Risk

Myriam Denov, PhDMcGill University

Catherine Bryan, MSWDalhousie University

Michéal MontgomeryInternational Institute for Child Rights and Development

Simon AtemUnaccompanied Minor

& Youth Researcher

Today’s Presentation:

Introduction to the issue of Unaccompanied and Separated Children in Canada

Overview of Research Project

Highlight the resettlement goals and expectations of unaccompanied and separated children

Explore the lived-experiences of unaccompanied and separated children as described by the youth themselves and those who work most closely with them Classifications of Risk

Discuss ramifications of these experiences

Offer policy-focused suggestions

Introduction to the issue of Unaccompanied and Separated Children

Who are Unaccompanied/Separated Children? Definitions

Children and Youth

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as “every human being below the age of 18”.

The UN defines a youth as a person between the ages 15 and 24.

Children and YouthLimitations of Definitions

• Highly variable• Dependent on socio-cultural

environment• Many young people who arrive

to Canada may not know precise age

• Engagement in “adult” roles - caregiving, providing for younger siblings

Definitions

Unaccompanied and Separated Children

The UNHCR defines a separated children as “a person under the age of 18, unless under the law applicable to the child majority is attained earlier, and who is separated from both parents and is not being cared for by an adult who by law or custom is responsible to do so”.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada defines an unaccompanied child as an individual, under the age of 18 who is without both parents or adult who is legally responsible for them.

Unaccompanied or Separated?Practical Concerns and Implications

In Canada, these terms are often used differently and interchangeably by various institutions

Affecting…• Available data • The identification of children at borders and by agencies• Provision of services

Why do Children seek asylum?

Children become mobile for many of the same reasons as adults

• Persecution on the basis of ethnicity, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, political affiliation

Reasons unique to their status as children and youth

• Separation from family• Persecution on the basis of

age• Child abuse• Gender-based persecution• Forced conscription • Trafficking and smuggling

Canadian DemographicsBetween 2000 and 2004 (based on CIC data)

Of the approximately 18 million refugees worldwide, 2-5% are unaccompanied and separated children

Unaccompanied Children

1, 087 Mean age of 15.2 years 39.1% female Majority from Sri Lanka, China

and Burundi

Separated Children

1, 683 Mean age 15.3 50.7 female Majority from Sri Lanka, Somalia

and Colombia

For both groups of children: 52% were either 16 or 17, 30% were between 11 and 15, and 18% were between 0 and 10

Understanding the Canadian Demographics

Between 1993 and 2003, the number of unaccompanied and separated children entering Canada quadrupled (Bhabha, 2003)

Why the increase in Unaccompanied and Separated Children?

1) The changing nature of warfare

2) Perceived by families to be less likely to be detected by immigration controls.

3) Improved accessibility of travel and children’s rights discourse has meant that a small but emergent number of children may be choosing to seek out new opportunities elsewhere.

4) “Anchor” or “bullet” children, sent ahead to secure immigration routes for families.

Applicable Policy

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) Article 22(1), 22(2): Asylum and Family Reunification Article 37: Relating to Detention

UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1989) Relating to the principle of Unity of the Family

UNHCR Guidelines on Dealing with Unaccompanied Children Seeking Asylum (1997)

Child Refugee Claimants: Procedural and Evidentiary Issues (IRB 1996) Best Interest of the Child

Overview of Research Project

Impetus for the Research:• The lived realities of unaccompanied children in Canada

Pilot project: • Funded by IDRC and McGill

Objectives:• To examine the short and long-term resettlement experiences of

unaccompanied/separated children in Canada, as well as the psychosocial challenges they face following their arrival.

• To contribute to the development/improvement of policy and programs oriented towards the protection and integration of unaccompanied/separated children in Canada

Study Sample 24 Participants (to date)

7 Unaccompanied and Separated Children

(5 male and 2 female)

Youth were from Sudan, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Kenya and Congo.

17 Stakeholders6 British Columbia

7 Quebec

1 Manitoba

1 Ontario

2 US

How did these youth get to Canada?

• Unaccompanied• World University Services Canada• Government Assisted

Method

Qualitative interviews with small sample of stakeholders and youth: intended to elicit “thick description” and depth

Interview protocol developed by research team, which included a separated refugee youth

What does resettlement mean for unaccompanied and separated refugee youth?

All the youth interviewed stated that education was their principle goal. This, according to stakeholder participants, reflected the sentiments of the majority of the youth they had worked with.

The best thing about living in Canada is, you know, education (Male Youth, BC)

Security – the ability to feel safe, to feel protected, to feel free to pursue a variety of interests, pass times, and options.

What I really admire here is that people have quiet time for themselves, people read, not all the people but if they want it, they do it. Yeah, the freedom – that is, money cannot buy it – it is the only thing I have been able to gain without gaining conventional status. Just being here, by itself, automatically you get that freedom (Male Youth, AB)

A profound need to be loved, understood and accepted

Most of the cases are tragic because they all need to have a parent, whether they know it or not (Male Stakeholder, BC)

Overarching Context

Like other migrants, unaccompanied and separated children do not arrive to an ideologically neutral context.

Child Welfare Immigration Control and Security (Shamir, 2005)

Most [people] are product[s] of Hollywood, product of the UN, a product of media [and] this is how they perceive us. I am here but they perceive me through TV, they perceive me through my passport and they perceive me through my accent (male youth participant, AB).

Unpacking the Experiences of Unaccompanied and Separated Children in Canada

Although unaccompanied and separated children invoke some sympathy by virtue of their status as children, participants reported that many interactions and relationships were marked by:

1. Anti-refugee discourse2. Anti-youth discourse3. Racism4. Immigration discourse

Each of these is influenced by the child’s age and his or her gender.

1. Anti-refugee DiscourseBullet Children and Collusion

Perceptions of refugees have tended to be constructed around issues of identity, trustworthiness, and concerns about the circumvention of legal methods of immigration.

I think that “refugee” is just a bad word…There’s a societal image of the refugee who is just a cheater, who is just trying to jump the queue, [who is] just trying to take advantage of this wonderful country (female stakeholder).

Their association with marginalized global populations. The potential influx of other refugees they represent. Their perceived ability to consent to flight. Their status as non-citizens and irregular migrants who have chosen to

evade illicit means of immigration.

Anti-refugee Discourse

Conceived of as “bullet children”

• This perception presupposes a hidden agenda, labels the child as untrustworthy and de-legitimizes their claim for asylum.

• Serves to displace generalized anxiety concerning uncontrolled migration onto them

Unaccompanied and separated children constructed as “rational agents”, and seen as having consented to flight.

In some cases, [the children] do receive status. In some cases they don’t because they [immigration officials] feel that the child is able to consent to being smuggled and so therefore, the child is not in need protection from Canada. They are not automatically

accepted because they are children (female stakeholder).

2. Anti-youth DiscourseThe Fear of Youth Crime

The classification of youth as “risk” occurs within a socio-political context that increasingly conflates young age and delinquency.

Refugee youth do not need to transgress the law to constructed as “criminal”.

While all youth are vulnerable to this classification, refugee youth are particularly vulnerable.

There have been a few instances in the city where refugee kids have done something and they deport them...Or they just say that the refugees are causing problems in the city. There was a shooting a while ago, “oh it’s a refugee kid”, “oh they shouldn’t be in our country”. That’s how people respond, it’s easy to blame. So it’s not just a student, it’s a refugee student or it’s an aboriginal student. People class it and then society responds by saying “oh all these people are bad, look at all the aboriginal gangs, look at all the African gangs” (female stakeholder, MB).

Anti-youth Discourse

The notion that all refugee youth are potentially criminal is often fostered by the media, which by covering the crimes of ethnically and socio-economically marginalized youth, effectively established the archetypal “youth criminal”.

The moment the police see you, if you look young, they’re like maybe you’re a drug dealer or you’re a bad person. That’s what they do here. That’s why [it] is not good [here], the police make it bad. You know, “all the young people they are bad” but they don’t know who’s bad, they don’t know who’s good and they’re supposed to know (male youth participant, MB).

This archetype provokes and justifies cynical and fearful reactions to refugee youth who may, or may not, be in conflict with the law.

Anti-youth Discourse

This has powerful ramifications for them as they attempt to integrate into their new communities.

After I shared my life story with my teacher and then with my other classmates, that’s when they started to know me. They came to me after [and said], “oh, we thought that you were a bad person.” They felt that maybe I was going to rob them, like I’m going to do something bad to them (male youth participant, MB)

Risk and Gender

In many ways, female gender serves to mediate the “risk identity” classification.

This reflects normative, Canadian gender ideology regarding male and female children.

“My hunch is that girls are understood at far greater risk of exploitation and getting themselves in difficult situations, which are not their ‘fault’ [and] that boys are understood as being risky to Canadian society as much as ‘at risk’. Whereas I don’t think that girls are understood as being risky to Canadian society, they are more ‘at risk’.” (female advocate stakeholder).

These dynamics play out in terms of placement and detention.

3. RacismStereotypes & Discrimination

In addition to anti-refugee and youth discourse, is the positioning of unaccompanied and separated children in opposition to “normative” Canadian citizenry.

Racism and Difference

For unaccompanied and separated children, markers of difference typically include age, ethnicity and language.

There are people who say that I am too African. I don’t know why they say that. How can I be too African? This is who I am, I cannot be someone else (female youth participant, QC).

Youth are positioned as inherently unable to meet Canadian standards of hygiene, morality and intellect.

There are others who keep me in a stereotype. One white guy greets another white guys “hey! How are you, how are you doing”, he turned to me “Hey, wuz up?” (laughing). I get that at a lot, people think I smoke weed and I would say 85% of people my age do smoke [marijuana] but I don’t. It’s not being holy or something, it’s just not me but they automatically - it’s not “do you smoke”, it’s “when are we going to smoke?” (male youth participant, AB).

Racism and Difference

Their “inherent difference” is further emphasized by the message unaccompanied and separated children often receive that conformity to mainstream standards of appearance and language will facilitate their integration.

I had a judge, my hair is in dreadlocks…and he literally commented on that. And a lot of people even before I appear[ed] in court commented, “you know what, you have to cut your hair because when you appear in court, people see appearance”, things like that…[but] he (the judge) was laughing at me, actually. He thought I was respectless (male youth participant).

Immigration Control

Examples of securitization in regards to unaccompanied and separated children:

• Use of handcuffs• Use of detention

That was another shocking moment. I could say I expected, to be around be around police, I didn’t expect any [kindness] in custody. I knew that when I came here, I was going to pass through this type of process. I knew that I was not legal… They arrested me and chained me, took me to detention and they kept me there for 40 days, until I proved my ID, that I was really a juvenile (male youth participant).

The use of handcuffs and detention are a clear breach of the UNCRC and other policies/treaties.

Synthesis

The four types of experiences discussed by the participants do not occur in isolation from one another.

Rather they work in tandem, reinforcing each other.

Prejudicial attitudes are legitimized

Discrimination and Exclusion are Justified

The binary: child welfare/immigration control binary cedes to immigration control.

The narratives of participants ultimately highlight the discrepancy between political rhetoric concerning children’s rights and everyday practice.

Ramifications

Ongoing Challenges:

• Inability to access necessary supportive systems• inconsistently applied across provinces

• Barriers to employment and housing• Limited opportunities to be self-sufficient/or to be “children”• Conflict in school with peers and teachers• Conflict with police (both warranted and unwarranted)• Integration and culture• Isolation • Low-self-esteem

Ongoing Challenges

As observed by both groups of participants, unaccompanied and separated children may resort to behaviours and activities that serve to confirm the identities conferred on them.

HOWEVER, these youth also demonstrate a remarkable ability to overcome these challenges, meet their goals, and make positive connections. Their strength, motivation, and determination must be fostered

throughout the process of resettlement and afterward.

Overcoming These ChallengesPolicy-focused Suggestions

The conceptualization of unaccompanied and separated children as risky rationalizes the decision of host countries to respond to them suspiciously and deny them protection.

The lack of coherent federal policies concerning the protection of unaccompanied and separated children represents a considerable challenge for immigration officials and front-line workers.

Canadian policy must be developed that recognizes unaccompanied and separated children’s inherent right to protection.

Policy-focused Suggestions

Deconstruct previously held notions, not simply of unaccompanied and separated children, but of the markers and risk categories that facilitate the classification of these children and youth as risky

Challenge gender ideologies and stereotypes which construct male refugee youth as innately self-reliant and female refugee youth as innately dependent.

Recognize the impact of biological age, ethnicity, citizenship status, separation from family, gender and culture, while not assigning reductionist meaning to them.

Policy-focused Suggestions

• Developing/improving programs and services that enable these youth to achieve their goals and maximize their potential

• Education• Safety• Support

Given the relatively small numbers of unaccompanied and separated children that enter Canada, Canada is in a unique position to develop and implement a holistic system which recognizes the uniqueness of each youth, supports them in their endeavors, and facilitates the kind of life they, the youth themselves, expect to have here.