Part I – Introduction Background
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.
It is beyond doubt that these children need special attention as they face far greater danger to their safety and wellbeing. They have inherent human rights which are protected, upheld and
promoted by all and sundry including institutions such as Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), African Union (AU), Non–Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Red Cross and many more whose work reduces the plight of these children. These institutions, however, face one challenge or the other in the course of their work.4 This suggests that even though various instruments have been put in place to secure and protect the rights of children, and children refugees for that matter, some of these institutions face one challenge or the other. It follows that these children are deprived of the full benefit of these rights.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the child refugee crises in Africa and on African children. Two African countries – South Sudan and Cote d’Ivoire – will receive attention in this paper. While refugee matters affecting adults fall outside of the scope of this paper, they may be mentioned in passing and where the issues raised are germane to the purpose of this paper.
