Relationships with family, friends and God: the experiences of unaccompanied minors living in Ireland

In recent years researchers have begun to pay increasing attention to the circumstances of unaccompanied minors or separated children: children and young people under the age of 18 who are “outside of their country of origin and separated from both parents, or their previous legal / customary primary caregiver” (Separated Children in Europe Programme, 2004, p. 2). Records suggest that the first unaccompanied minor entered the Irish state in 1996. Since then, an increasing number of professionals and service providers have come into contact with this population group. Within various disciplines practice wisdom suggests that these young people are faced with a host of challenges, relating to their pre-migration experiences, their journeys from their countries of origin to Ireland, and their post-migration lives. Internationally, research findings lend evidence to these suggestions. They draw attention to experiences of oppressive circumstances and armed conflict prior to exile, abuse and exploitation en-route to Ireland, and loss of culture and loved ones and the challenges of the asylum and care systems whilst living in Ireland and other countries (Ayotte, 2000; Rea, 2001; Kohli & Mather, 2003; Thomas et al., 2004; Hopkins & Hill, 2006; Chase et al., 2008). Some authors have tended to focus on the vulnerability of these young people (Bean et al., 2007; Hodes et al., 2008; Rea, 2001) while others have highlighted their resilience (Robins & Rylands, unpublished data ; Wallin & Ahlström, 2005; Kohli, 2006a; Ní Raghallaigh & Gilligan, 2010).