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Executive Summary
The inalienable and universal character of children’s rights is asserted as a fundamental principle within the text of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (as it is within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). Yet, our enquiry into the institutional response to Iraqi children seeking refuge in Jordan suggests that such a principle may be hard to uphold in practice. The realisation of children’s basic rights is, instead, contingent upon changing circumstance, most notably: the availability and allocation of funding, the disposition of agencies and individual staff members, and the fluctuating attitude of the host state authorities. Due to their non-citizen status Iraqi children in Jordan lack the institutional support necessary to assure them, as a matter of course, the basis for safety and wellbeing.
Research and Findings
The research that informs this study took place in Jordan from January to March 2014. It involved interviews with 47 people employed across 27 different agencies plus seven independent observers. We also pursued on-the-ground engagement with displaced Iraqis across a range of settings – within a community centre, in classrooms and through visits to families in their homes. This primary research was augmented by review of a large number of studies, newspaper articles and agency reports. The aim of our enquiry was to comprehend the evolving situation of displaced Iraqi children, and the institutional response to this situation. A framework of child rights was employed to guide our line of enquiry and subsequent analysis.
Through the process of research a broad focus on children’s rights as articulated in the UNCRC was narrowed down to consideration of specific themes. Family life, access to services, involvement in exploitative labour, and discrimination emerged strongly from interviews, observations and the literature. The contingency in realisation of Iraqi children’s rights in these domains can be illustrated by reference to (1) access to education and (2) family life.
Read the full research paper attached.