Mahdi is all alone in a strange place. This country is not his home, and his parents are not here. He does not speak the language and he has no proper documents. He has no food, no money and no one to look out for him. How did Mahdi get here?

Mahdi is what we call an unaccompanied and separated child. These children are below the age of 18, not in their home country and are without a parent or caregiver. Due to persecution back in his home country, Mahdi’s parents had to send him away to find safety and refuge. There are other children like Mahdi who are also running from religious and ethnic prosecution and had to leave their families behind.

Between 2010 to 2019, around 400,000 unaccompanied and separated children lodged asylum applications in 117 countries. Children who are experiencing persecution, conflict, war or disaster in their childhood have well documented negative impacts on their health, learning, well-being and education progress. Separation of children and parents in these contexts removes the role of parents as an important source of mitigating adversity and it compounds the stress and trauma that the child’s experiences. Without the safety net of their parents they face sexual gender based violence, neglect and exploitation.

Children like Mahdi, given a choice, would want to remain under the care of his parents. But having choices and options to make life decisions is a luxury that is out of reach for unaccompanied and separated children. Many face life or death decisions and at often times decisions are already made for them.

When we reflect on the plight of unaccompanied and separated children, they may not have the opportunity to choose what is best for themselves, but we do. We are able to choose to extend our hand of friendship and get involved positively in their lives. If you are interested to see how you can get involved, do look at our volunteering options at www.sukasociety.org.

Mahdi is all alone in a strange place. This country is not his home, and his parents are not here. He does not speak the language and he has no proper documents. He has no food, no money and no one to look out for him. How did Mahdi get here?

Mahdi is what we call an unaccompanied and separated child. These children are below the age of 18, not in their home country and are without a parent or caregiver. Due to persecution back in his home country, Mahdi’s parents had to send him away to find safety and refuge. There are other children like Mahdi who are also running from religious and ethnic prosecution and had to leave their families behind.

Between 2010 to 2019, around 400,000 unaccompanied and separated children lodged asylum applications in 117 countries. Children who are experiencing persecution, conflict, war or disaster in their childhood have well documented negative impacts on their health, learning, well-being and education progress. Separation of children and parents in these contexts removes the role of parents as an important source of mitigating adversity and it compounds the stress and trauma that the child’s experiences. Without the safety net of their parents they face sexual gender based violence, neglect and exploitation.

Children like Mahdi, given a choice, would want to remain under the care of his parents. But having choices and options to make life decisions is a luxury that is out of reach for unaccompanied and separated children. Many face life or death decisions and at often times decisions are already made for them.

When we reflect on the plight of unaccompanied and separated children, they may not have the opportunity to choose what is best for themselves, but we do. We are able to choose to extend our hand of friendship and get involved positively in their lives. If you are interested to see how you can get involved, do look at our volunteering options at www.sukasociety.org.