The Unaccompanied Refugee Minors’ Experiences of Solidarity and Recognition in Their Everyday Social Life

While the majority of research on solidarity focuses on practices among adults, little is known about the experiences of solidarity among children, particularly unaccompanied refugee minors (URMs). Studies involving URMs reveal that their basic needs are often met by the asylum reception systems in Europe. However, the recognition of their human rights, and acknowledging their voices and agency as unique individuals, are frequently faced with encounters of struggle and misrecognition.

This study, part of a larger PhD project, builds on Axel Honneth’s critical theory of recognition, which is fundamentally concerned with social inequalities. It adopts a revised approach to Honneth’s theory through the lens of the new social studies of childhood, situating children as autonomous agents, rather than passive adults in waiting. The study argues that for solidarity, defined as support towards and among forced migrants, to be truly experienced, it necessitates recognition.

Drawing on 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a small-scale reception center for URMs operated by a non-governmental organization in Belgium, the study involves extensive participant observation of 13 young people aged between 11 and 18 years, complemented by 43 semi-structured interviews. It investigates how these URMs understand, exercise, and receive the different forms of emotional, legal, and social recognition, examining where solidarity practices are present and where they lack.

The study calls for acknowledging URMs not solely as recipients of support, but as active and potential contributors who can enrich their new environments, thereby transcending their perpetual victimization and positioning them as agents with capacities.