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CIDA Photo: Roger LeMoyne
Children Forced to Flee
"We left our village when the bombs began falling. Some people stayed, but we were afraid of being killed. The bombs were like earthquakes that didn't stop. You spend many years building up a home, and then, in one moment, it is destroyed"
- 17-year-old Aygun, Azerbaijan
Today, about 20 million children are forced to leave their homes and communities because of war. In the chaos of conflict and escape, many children become separated from their families and end up alone. These children are especially vulnerable to hunger, disease, violence, military recruitment and sexual assault. The first priority for separated children and adolescents is to ensure their protection by reuniting them with their families.
Once displaced, people often flee to refugee camps in neighboring countries or internally displaced persons camps within their own country. The future for children in these camps can be bleak as they are not always able to pursue an education, there is overcrowding, a lack of food and clean water and poor sanitation. Adolescents are important actors in these camps, but they are also the ones who do not get enough support and assistance.
Ultimately, displaced children and their families need to return home, resettle or be integrated into a new country. The safety and well-being of displaced women and child headed families depends on their access to property, housing and essential services, such as medical and education services.
Consider this
Adolescents have identified some of the resources and specific programs they need:
- Leadership, skills and vocational training;
- Formal education through schools;
- Counseling programs that deal with sexual and gender-based violence;
- HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention;
- Life skills training;
- Help in finding their families - reunification;
- Help in maintaining hope while they live in these camps.
Graça Machel Recommends
- Moving families together when evacuations from conflict areas are necessary. Documentation should be used to ensure that children can maintain contact with other family members.
- Care for separated children be provided by relatives or known adults to maintain customs and traditions. It is essential that brothers and sisters be kept together in one family.
- Enforcing the guidelines for refugee camps developed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
- Establishing programs focused on adolescents.
Definitions
Refugee = a person who is forced to flee to another country.
Internally Displaced Person (IDP) = a person who is forced to flee within their own country.
Child headed household = a child takes on the role of parent and provider for younger children.
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