The news, over the weekend, seemed to revolve around the issue of Ukrainian refugees and their need for a safe harbor. This newspaper reported the story of a 12-year-old girl, Yeva and her grandmother, who appeared on Channel 4 News, and eventually found refuge with an Irish couple, arriving Ireland on Friday.
on the BBC, Michael Martin highlights how the Irish Government is prioritizing the humanitarian concerns of the refugees arriving here over any security concerns. Then, Monday’s reports showed more than 20,000 registered Irish families willing to accept Ukrainian refugees into their homes.
Yeva’s story is particularly moving, as she is said to have kept 160 pages of “war diaries,” documenting her experiences since the invasion began. I can only imagine the fear, confusion, anger or horror that could be contained within its pages.
The truth for many refugee children is that they may have been exposed to a variety of stressors, including insecurity, violence, lack of food, instability, educational disruption, loss or separation. family, have lost their home or community, and are uncertain about their future.
These experiences have the potential to be hurtful, especially if the risks a child takes on the journey here are life-threatening. Indeed, a relatively recent (2018) systematic review of refugee and refugee children in Europe found a prevalence rate of 19-53pc for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 10-33pc for depression, 9-32pc for anxiety and 20-35pc for other emotional and behavioral problems.
While there is no research on the specific issues facing children fleeing Ukraine, there is a wealth of information about refugee children from other war-torn countries such as Syria. According to that study, coping with trauma children may experience is partly related to some internal characteristics and individual resilience, but it is also linked to social connections and social support that children have and receive.
During resettlement, children’s emotional needs increase at a time when their usual social support systems are severely disrupted or even eliminated. Children can be isolated and lost, not knowing who to trust or where to find reliable information and support.
Displaced children lose the social capital they may have enjoyed in their home communities and must instead enter new communities, new cultures and new relationships. This is no easy task for any child but can be overwhelming for a child who is traumatized by reasons to leave home, or their journey to a new home.
Some studies show that children with good relationship skills (the ability to get along with people and make relationships work) do better after being displaced by war. However, there is also the difficulty that some children’s behavioral responses to stress and trauma (performing caregiver-challenging behavior) can make it difficult for children to get and receive the social support they need. very needed.
It’s great to hear about 20,000 Irish families are ready to accommodate families displaced from Ukraine.
However, it is important that those providing such support realize that those who come to them may need more than the physical security of a new home. The loss, horror or violence that children and families may experience can create lasting emotional and behavioral difficulties.
Many of the challenges refugee children can face are the same as those faced by children who entered the care system through abuse or neglect.
Foster care can be incredibly rewarding, but it can also be challenging at times. Current Irish foster carers (more than 4,000 Tusla foster carers and many others in private foster homes) are a wealth of knowledge about the types of difficulties children arriving in Ireland have may have to go through and may have to face.
Connecting deeply and meaningfully with children who have experienced trauma can be difficult. Research has shown that it takes time to build trust with such children. Building trust requires consistency in responding to the child and in established habits. The potential complications that displaced children can face will require warmth, understanding, patience and possibly professional intervention.
Families volunteering to help with their homes demonstrate a kindness, generosity and openness that will need to endure long after an emotional welcome at an Irish airport. It is my hope that those whose offers of assistance and accommodation are accepted will in turn be supported.
