Migration Policy Institute
Young Refugee Children: Their Schooling Experiences in the United States and in Countries of First Asylum
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Selcuk Sirin, Associate Professor of Applied Psychology, New York University
Sarah Dryden-Peterson, Assistant Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Dina Birman, Associate Professor of Educational and Psychological Studies, University of Miami
Randy Capps, Director of Research for U.S. Programs, MPI
Conflicts in Syria and around the world have generated an estimated 19.5 million refugees, of whom just over half are children. Most refugees reside in countries of first asylum in developing regions, with relatively few officially resettled in the United States and other developed countries. The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) is releasing a series of three papers, as part of a research project supported by the Foundation for Child Development, about the education and well-being of these children. The first report discusses the mental health and schooling of Syrian refugee children living in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey. The second explores the experiences of Somali Bantu refugee students in a U.S. elementary school shortly after their resettlement. And the third offers a broader look at the educational experiences of refugee children in developing countries—in camps and urban settings. Join the authors of the papers and MPI analysts as they present their findings on the experiences of refugee children and the impacts on their mental health and education.