From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 12 Oct 92 09:33 PDT
Subject: CHILDREN: Exodus of children catche
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700623:000:6402
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Oct 12 09:33:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: CHILDREN: Exodus of children catche

/* Written 12:14 am  Oct 12, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: CHILDREN: Exodus of children catches West unawares/SERIES/

an inter press service feature

by candy gourlay


london, oct 9 (ips) -- the children appear at the immigration
queues of britain's international airports, frightened and alone.
they fly in from various war zones, bearing one-way tickets and
the same tales of war and death.

it is an exodus of innocence from some of the more than 40 wars
that have engulfed the world since the decade of the eighties, a
quiet exodus that has so far eluded the scrutiny of the national
government.

''they usually come from large families that have scraped
together everything to buy them the one-way ticket to safety,''
says mike taylor, director of social services at hillingdon, a
borough near london's heathrow international airport, which houses
36 such children -- escaping a hotchpotch of african and asian
tragedies.

''these children tell stories of living in bunkers, houses being
blown up, and family being killed. they are not rehearsed stories,
these are children who have disclosed continually and consistently
what their experiences have been.''

the phenomenon of refugee children trickling into western
countries unaccompanied is said to have begun in the summer of
1990, when 16 london boroughs reported 252 children from eritrea
in their care. in all, there is an estimated 40,000 eritrean
refugees across europe.

''there were always a few around. three and a half years ago
there were a small number in hillingdon, obviously because
heathrow is so nearby,'' says taylor. ''but it was the eritrean
outpouring that shifted the balance.''

eritrean parents saw the passage to london as a route to safety
for their children, most of whom were in danger of being forcibly
conscripted into the army. later, it became a common escape route
from other countries at war.

the children end up in the care of councils near their point of
entry like hillingdon, their status uncertain until the home
office decides to grant them refugee status.(more/ips)

children: exodus of children catches west unawares/series/(2)

children: exodus (2)

one psychiatric social worker, who asked not to be named,
complained that some boroughs were not equipped to meet the
special needs of the children, many needing psychotherapy to cope
with psychological trauma.

when the social worker offered to help work with the children in
one school, the authorities at the school produced a group of 12
children from different countries and told her she could work on
them.

''it just showed how the school knew nothing about these kids,''
she says. ''the only thing they had in common was the fact that
they'd all come from war experiences.''

she is now trying to persuade the school to set up a training
scheme for teachers on the needs of such children.

hillingdon has so far spent two million dollars on the care of
the children -- care which includes employing psychiatrists and
specialist staff from the same countries of origin to address
their needs.

''we have no community here in hillingdon that these children can
relate to,'' says taylor. ''the predominant ethnic group here is
asian, we've no african community. so we've had to employ
specialist staff who know the language, know the geography, and
therefore have an immediate rapport with the children, giving them
an enormous sense of confidence.''

but there is frustration in the hillingdon community over the
failure of the central government to address the issue despite
hillingdon's petitions dating back two years for guidance and
assistance.

''this is a national and an international issue not a hillingdon
council issue,'' says taylor.

''we are diverting resources from staff who would otherwise be
fulfilling the child care needs of borough residents. there has
been no guidance issued to the local authorities under the
children's act about this. and there had been no positive response
to our repeated requests for funding to meet what is a national
issue.''

over the last decade, ten million children have been
psychologically traumatised by war, four million are disabled, and
1.5 million killed, according to the united nations children's
fund (unicef).

unicef counts 15 million children displaced by war but is finding
it increasingly difficult to document the number transplanted from
war zones to safe havens in other countries as many refugees
filter in through unofficial routes.

the escalating conflict in former yugoslavia has caused a steep
rise in the number of refugees, yet aid agencies can offer only
estimates as displaced yugoslavians stream abroad, many entering
other countries as visitors. (more/ips)

children: exodus of children catches west unawares/series/(3-e)

children: exodus (3)

''there have been so many private initiatives that have gone to
yugoslavia recently and taken out small family groups, taking
advantage of the fact that there are no visa requirements for
yugoslavians in britain,'' says harriet goodman, unicef
information officer.

the independent on sunday, a weekend magazine, on sunday featured
one such group of so-called good samaritans that evacuated as many
as 80 yugoslavian children to britain. ''the picture is changing
with the arrivals from former yugoslavia,'' says taylor.

''whatever view you may have about refugees, the risk here is
huge because these people with all good intent have taken over the
care of a child who's had some terrible experiences. do they know
what the child's needs are? can they cope with the hostility the
child might meet?

''in the power and emotion of offering succor and safety these
people don't realise what they're getting into.''

meanwhile, the numbers continue to mount. western european
governments last year counted 544,000 people seeking asylum, a
hefty portion from former communist states in eastern europe.
none have figures on how many of these are children.

social workers are warning that time is of the essence. as the
children grow into adulthood, the issues convolute -- and
governments would do well to pay attention now.
(end/ips/cw/cg/cpg/92)