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Caring for unaccompanied minors in transit in Serbia

Citation: Serviere, Carole (2020) Caring for unaccompanied minors in transit in Serbia. [Discussion or working paper]

WPS No. 51.pdf

Creative Commons: Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0

Unaccompanied minors (UAMs) have received significant attention in scholarly debates related to transit migration, child migration and social work. However, less consideration has been given to the social work practice with UAMs during their transit phase. Drawing on qualitative interviews with field practitioners in Belgrade, I explore the interactions between social workers and UAM transit migrants on their way to Western Europe but stopped in Serbia. I analyse the complexity of social work practice with distressed adolescents ‘on the move’. I examine practitioners’ perceptions about UAMs’ trajectories and how UAMs’ agency is understood by those caring for them. In doing so, I demonstrate that field practitioners become actors of the transit stage, navigating in their practice between a ‘caring’ and a ‘mobile’ approach.

Creators: Serviere, Carole and
Subjects: Human Rights & Development Studies
Politics
Sociology & Anthropology
Keywords: unaccompanied minors, social work practice, transit migrants, agency, best interest determination
Divisions: Institute of Commonwealth Studies
Refugee Law Initiative
Dates:
  • 12 November 2020 (published)

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