Transnational networks and border-crossing activities of young refugees

The burgeoning research and literature on transnationalism in different academic disciplines was initiated by insights into new patterns of migration discovered by anthropologists in the early 1990s (Appadurai, 1991; Glick Schiller, Basch, & Blanc-Szanton, 1992). While many studies on transnational migration focus on voluntary and economic migration, little is known about the transnational ways of being and belonging of refugees and forced migrants (cf. also the research report of Yolanda Weima (2017)). The literature on the transnational situation of refugees is concentrated on political activities of adult migrants who are recognized as refugees and, particularly, on those with a specific cultural or national background, e.g., from Eritrea, Bosnia, or Burundi (cf. Al-Ali, Black, & Koser, 2001; Mascini, Fermin, & Snick, 2012). There is still a significant dearth of research on the meaning of transnational practices among (recognized) refugees and how this situation affects their cross-border activities. This research report takes up this lack of knowledge on refugee transnationalism and focuses particularly on unaccompanied minor refugees1 as a specific group of refugees and refugee claimants. For many young people, it is characteristic that adult relatives are living in their countries of origin, still facing difficult or life-threatening situations. Furthermore, their life stage as youth transitioning to adulthood differs from those of adult refugees, e.g., in terms of their permission to work, or schooling, housing, legal rights, and obligations, but also with regard to their life course as emerging adults (Arnett, 2000). Many unaccompanied young people under the age of 18 are arriving in Germany as forced migrants.2 Those who are between the ages of 16 and 18 have little time to prepare for their transition to adulthood (Andernach & Tavanger, 2014). In Germany, refugee youth are treated differently than their adult fellows who will be accommodated in a refugee shelter until they are transferred to the receiving community. Unaccompanied minor refugees3 however, fall under the legal framework of the Child and Youth Care Act (Social Code Book VIII). In contrast to German youth in care, they often stay in care only for a short period of time. Although there are no official numbers yet, many of them have to leave their accommodation in residential care when they turn 18. While young people in care in Germany have the right to stay in care until the age of 21 if necessary, this option is used to a lesser extent for young refugees. Therefore, young refugees face the challenge to establish local support networks, find school or vocational training, learn German, and live independently in an unfamiliar cultural area within a short time frame.