ARTICLE
Juvenile Refugees
More details
Hide details
Publication date: 2017-09-30
Stosunki Międzynarodowe – International Relations 2017;53(3):83-103
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
The world currently faces a challenge that has come to be known as the refugee
crisis. The term is commonly used to refer to growing mass movements of people
due both to threats qualified under the Geneva Convention and to economic reasons.
There are many children among the migrants, often alone or separated from their guardians during the journey, attempting to make their way to Western Europe via
maritime and overland routes. During the journey, they are exposed to various risks
and detained in detention centres which are not friendly to them. Having arrived
in their country of destination, they are forced to undergo complicated formal
procedures. They receive different treatment in different countries, depending on
the local migration policy. Often no regard is shown for their age or sensitivity.
Some countries, like Germany or the UK, approach child refugees with empathy.
Others, like France, make no exceptions. Against this background, Poland appears as
a country of closed borders, impervious to EU arguments, dominated by the current
policy of its ruling class, and increasingly xenophobic.