Safeguarding the future: JRS protecting refugee children in Ethiopia
Christian Kombe, SJ – Addis Ababa
The plight of refugee children in Ethiopia, especially unaccompanied minors, presents a dire humanitarian challenge. If the country hosts over 1,1 million refugees, 78,531 refugees reside in Addis Ababa, of which more than 30% are children, including approximately 2,800 unaccompanied and separated children, according to the UNHCR June 2024 report. This situation makes the need for robust child protection services more urgent than it has ever been. Through its Child protection programs and with the collaboration of various partners, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in Ethiopia provides different kinds of child protection services in Addis Ababa, such as essential case management, mental health and psychosocial support, cash-based intervention, non-formal education and various integration initiatives, for targeted refugee children, especially the unaccompanied and separated who are the most vulnerable. JRS also promotes community-based child protection for refugee children in Addis Ababa.
Identifying and supporting unaccompanied minors
Identifying unaccompanied and separated refugee children is a complex task, given their scattered living conditions on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, explains Azale Gulilat, the Child Protection Project director of JRS in the Ethiopian metropolis. The Jesuit Service of Refugees employs 50 Child Protection Refugee Outreach Volunteers (CP ROVs) from different nationalities who live within refugee communities. “They can easily identify unaccompanied and separated children, and they link them with our child protection case workers,” adds Azale. These volunteers, along with refugee community leaders and representatives of various nationalities, partner organizations like UNHCR, Refugee and Returnee Service (RRS), Danish Refugee Service (DRC), Development and Inter-Church Aid Commission (DICAC), and Catholic religious’ congregations, play a crucial role in identifying unaccompanied minors and referring to JRS team. All these stakeholders are instrumental in identifying and reaching out to the most vulnerable children who might otherwise be overlooked, underlines Takele Feyissa, the Case Management Supervisor of the JRS Child Protection Program in Addis Ababa.
Foster parents program
The JRS places a strong emphasis on the role of foster parents in providing care for unaccompanied and separated refugee children, especially by providing them with appropriate and comprehensive training. “The foster parents get training about parental skills development, management of unaccompanied separated child, child protection, gender-based violence (GBV), child safeguarding, psychological first aid (FPA), and leadership”, summarizes Takele. This extensive preparation ensures that foster parents are well-equipped to provide a supportive and safe environment for the children in their care.
If some refugees have been fostering separated children from their country of origin or during the arduous journey to find refuge, others are called upon in the host country to care for unaccompanied minors of their community. The selection process for these foster parents involves refugee outreach volunteers and refugee community representatives who are familiar with the candidates’ backgrounds and behaviours, specifies Azale.
Kisanet, an Eritrean refugee, has been living in Ethiopia for eight years. She chose to become a foster parent to provide a better future for unaccompanied children. Reflecting on her journey, Kisanet shares, “My mother found a baby girl in church, she was being thrown out. She started taking care of the child but after a while, the child got attached to me and she preferred me so I became a foster parent for the child because we have a strong attachment with each other.” This deep bond with the child, whom she brought from Eritrea to Ethiopia, led her to embrace the responsibilities of foster care.
Haile Solomon, also from Eritrea, has been a refugee in Ethiopia for seven years. The enforced military service in his homeland forced him to flee to Ethiopia, where he now lives with his family. Haile decided to become a foster parent because of his deep empathy for children in need. “I have my own family and children. The mother of the child I foster is in Eritrea, his father went to Libya from here, while his stepmother went to Uganda. So, due to these circumstances, I saw the child alone and chose to be his foster parent,” he explains.
Both Kisanet and Haile Solomon have benefited from the support and training provided by JRS. For Kisanet, the training has been crucial in helping her navigate the complexities of fostering, enabling her to provide a stable and nurturing environment for both her biological child and her foster child.
Integration Initiatives
Promoting the integration of refugee children into the local community is a key objective of JRS’s programs. Collaborating with public schools, JRS works to create inclusive educational environments where refugee and local children learn together, Azale emphasized. This is achieved through awareness sessions for teachers, parents, and school administrators to address issues of bullying and discrimination.
Beyond schools, JRS uses various other means to foster integration and a sense of community and mutual respect among refugee and their local peers, like life skills training, indoor and outdoor games, language courses in Amharic and English, artistic and sports activities like judo.
“In my life, I used to play piano at my home in Eritrea. And here, I can play piano. It's good for me. I love it,” says Emraldo, a young refugee from Eritrea, familiar to the JRS Child Protection Programme in Ayat center.
Sesen Dawit, a 10-year-old girl who has been in Ethiopia for three years, enjoys the art classes at JRS Child Protection Center (CPC) of Cherkos, and dreams of becoming a painter. She attends a local school and finds the programs enriching. Her interactions with other refugee and host children have been positive, and she feels welcomed by the local community.
The interaction between refugee children and those from the host community is also a positive and enriching experience for them, says Elsabeth, a 15-year-old Ethiopian. The programs have had a significant impact on her education and personal growth, teaching her valuable life skills and providing opportunities to attend tutorial classes, to learn music and art. But most of all, she has with refugee children formed strong friendships, especially with Eritreans. “I feel very positive about this experience because it has been truly enriching for me. Initially, I thought refugees were very different and might all have psychological challenges due to leaving their country, making it difficult to connect with them. However, after interacting with them, I found them to be friendly, outgoing, and wonderful people.”
The involvement of Ethiopians as foster parents is another effective method to encourage the integration of young refugees, adds Takele. That is what happened with Merhawit, a 17-year-old refugee from Eritrea, who has been in Ethiopia for eight years, but unfortunately lost her mother seven months ago. She has since been living with Ethiopian foster parents she and her mother met in the church where they prayed.
Persistent challenges
The main challenge faced by JRS in protecting refugee children is the limited financial resources, a worrying trend which is getting worse, particularly with donor attention shifting to other global crises, such as Ukraine and the Middle East. With its difficult economic situation and large-scale internal displacement, the country struggles to support its own population; consequently, refugees in Addis Ababa, and in other places, face extremely desperate circumstances, explains Azale. “They are suffering both economically and socially. For example, ten years ago, many refugees lived in central parts of Addis Ababa. However, due to rising living costs, they have been forced to move to the outskirts of the city or even to nearby small towns in the Oromia region. They face various hardships, such as problems with basic needs including food, housing, and medical care. These are the primary challenges for refugees in Addis Ababa and Ethiopia as a whole. Their situation is dire, with many suffering from various socioeconomic issues, including mental health problems.”
The high cost of living and inflation in Ethiopia make it difficult for foster parents to provide adequate care to unaccompanied and separated children, with the limited financial assistance available. Moreover, explains the Child Protection Project Director, this situation affects the selection of foster parents, as fewer people are willing to take in foster children due to economic hardship. A precariousness that Haile Solomon is familiar with as a foster parent. "We are not allowed here to work in Ethiopia as refugees and we beg from friends, and family abroad to live here in Ethiopia,” he says.
Another significant issue is the political instability in the country and the slow process of registration and documentation, explains Takele. Due to this situation, some refugee children do not have access to formal education, and while some might be detained, their release often depends on JRS, UNHCR and RRS intervention with the police and other government services. Merhawit is going through this difficult situation due to her expired identity card. The same goes for Fesseha Fabio, who arrived in Addis Ababa after a perilous journey from his native Eritrea to the Ethiopian capital, passing through the Adi-Harish refugee camp in the Tigray region, which was destroyed during the war. Many refugees who left the Tigray, as well as the troubled Amhara region, find themselves without documents or with expired papers; they are being required to return to the camps, an unacceptable option for people who fled their country in hopes of a better future, explains Fesseha. “The government is trying to facilitate this registration and documentation, but not as the refugee demand. The refugees need to renew their documents and newcomers need refugee status, but this is done very slowly, so this is one of the biggest challenges for us,” emphasizes Takele Fessiya.
Furthermore, he explains, the limited capacity to provide durable solutions, such as resettlement, exacerbates the challenges faced by long-term refugees. Despite the high demand for resettlement among refugees in Ethiopia, the available quota is very limited. “As a result, refugees who remain here for a long time often face mental health challenges. Without economic opportunities and support and durable solutions to go abroad, the absence of sustainable options is one of the biggest challenges for us”.
Success stories and hopes
Despite the numerous challenges, JRS’ Child Protection programs have yielded significant success stories, among them the reunification of some separated children with their families. The work of this department is a testament to the power of dedicated humanitarian efforts in protecting and nurturing refugee children. Making a positive difference in the lives of unaccompanied and separated refugee children, offers them hope and a chance for a better future.
Many young refugees who attend JRS centres have big dreams for their future. Emraldo remains hopeful for the future, aspiring to continue his studies and help his family back in Eritrea. Merhawit dreams of finding her father, being resettled in another country and becoming a professional musician. Haile Solomon also hopes for a better future for his foster child and his children, dreaming of resettlement in another country where they can find stability and opportunities for growth.
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