The integration of asylum seeking and refugee children: resilience in the face of adversity

Forced migration, particularly as it applies to children, tends to be viewed as a fraught and difficult experience. As a result, the vulnerability of young forced migrants has tended to dominate the literature, especially within quantitative studies. Concerns abound in relation to the ability of refugees to rebuild their lives and to integrate into new countries, particularly if they come from places that are considered very different from their reception countries. These differences might include the languages spoken, political systems in place, or the ethnic, religious, or cultural backgrounds of the majority population. However, increasing emphasis is now being placed on the resilience of child refugees, with attention drawn to their sense of agency, their capacities, and their efforts to cope with the challenges they face. This is especially highlighted in qualitative studies where the perspectives and voices of migrant children are privileged (e.g. Ní Raghallaigh and Gilligan, 2010; Smyth et al., 2015; Lind, 2017).