CHILD REFUGEE ISSUES IN AFRICA: AN EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECTS OF REFUGEE CRISIS ON AFRICAN CHILDREN, SPECIFICALLY CHILDREN FROM SOUTH SUDAN AND COTE D’IVOIRE.

ABSTRACT

The estimated population of forcibly displaced people worldwide as of 2017 was about 68.5 million. Out of this number, 25.4 million were refugees. By these figures, there was an increase in the number of refugees by 2.9 percent from the figures recorded for the immediately preceding year - 2016 figures. As at the end of 2018, 19.9 million refugees were under the mandate of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) whiles the other 5.4 million were under the mandate of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).1 Of these 25.4 million refugees, 52% of them were children and this represented more than half of the refugee population.2 Impliedly, there are more refugee children worldwide than adult refugees.

Refugee children are confronted with multiple stressors which undermine their health (physical and psychological) and general wellbeing. Some of the challenges or stressors also extend to their education and physiological needs such as food, clothing and shelter. What is more, many of these refugee children are under the age of 8. They are, however, accustomed to a life of conflict and violence which is all they know and these conflicts or violent environment in which they grow up undoubtedly take a toll on their lives.3 Some are detached from the biological parents, having been displaced, and are stuck with strangers. Where they are lucky, some family members accompany them. Otherwise, they move about unaccompanied even in foreign countries.

The usual observation is that natural disasters, famine, outbreak of highly contagious diseases, political violence including electoral disputes, ethnic conflicts, wars and other factors forcibly displace people including children. They had to relocate or better still, they are displaced because their present location, which hitherto was habitable, is no longer conducive for them to live in. These will be demonstrated in the course of this paper.