Study on children's rights: Unicef calls for better conditions in Germany for refugee children

Zoom Image

Children in a refugee shelter in Eisenhüttenstadt

Photo: Maja Hitij / Getty Images

Some of the children spoke about the poor hygienic conditions in the shelters, others about their longing to finally be able to attend a real school or to have more privacy. "I wish there might be a psychologist here," said a 17-year-old girl in one of the conversations. "In the past, many men came to the kitchen to sit together. They always smoked and drank alcohol," complained a twelve-year-old.

Over a period of months, employees of the Sinus Institute interviewed 50 girls and boys between the ages of 6 and 17 in four different refugee shelters on behalf of the children's fund Unicef and the German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR). These were located partly in the countryside, partly in cities. At the time of the survey, almost a thousand people lived in the largest facility, including a hundred minors. The older children were given a disposable camera so that they could take photos of their surroundings or their life situation for the study.

»Giving children a voice«

The survey is not representative, but provides deep insights into the feelings and problems of individual children and adolescents from countries of origin such as Syria or Afghanistan. Overall, around 40 percent of the more than two million asylum seekers since 2015 are minors. Among those seeking protection from Ukraine since 2022, it is almost one in three.

In the public debate on refugees, the focus is usually on the dispute over financing or the burden on municipalities, says Christian Schneider, Managing Director of Unicef Germany. "We wanted to give the children themselves a voice." For Unicef, the study is further proof that child-friendly conditions in the shelters are neither structurally anchored nor systematically reviewed, he says. For the children and adolescents, the time there is "a stop for months or even years in an important and irretrievable phase of life." Many of them would have to live in large shelters for months or even years.

According to the study, it is particularly stressful for the children if, due to the lack of space, apartments and rooms are double-occupied or family members are even accommodated separately. For example, a 17-year-old girl reported that she had lived with another family for three months. Her mother had also been quartered with strangers. "We said right from the start that it wasn't right for us to be separated," the girl said in the interview. But those responsible had pointed out "that they no longer had a free room".

An eight-year-old girl said that she and her family had to live with another woman and her baby. "She changes diapers in the room, so the room stinks disgustingly. We bought room spray," she says. Today the child cried. I didn't sleep well."

Awkward situation in the shared bathrooms

Another girl was annoyed that her personal closet could not be locked and that everyone could see the hygiene products in it. The situation in the shared bathrooms must also be unpleasant. One teenager described it this way: "When you take a shower, someone else comes next to you and showers too." And: "You dry yourself off and everything, and then someone opens the door and says: Yes, hello!"

Based on the study, but also on the experiences that its employees "have had for years in the shelters", Unicef and the German Institute for Human Rights see an "urgent need for action." They demand decentralised accommodation for families and "direct access" to kindergarten, school or training. According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, refugee children and adolescents are entitled to the same protection and support as all other children living in Germany," says Michael Windfuhr, Deputy Director of DIMR.

However, many municipalities no longer know where to accommodate newly arriving refugees. According to estimates by teachers' associations, there is also a shortage of up to 40,000 teachers in this country. Things are also not looking good in the daycare centers at the moment. According to the Bertelsmann Foundation, Germany would need 384,000 more daycare places to meet demand this year.