Accompanied and Unaccompanied Migrant Children’s and Adolescents’ Perspective on their Communication Needs: A Field Study in Two Italian Reception Centres

Abstract

In the last four decades Italy has become a country of destination for migrants, many of whom are unaccompanied children. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) guarantees every child “the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers”. Although it might seem obvious, it is important to underline that these rights can only be enjoyed if children are aware of them, understand them, and can communicate their views effectively. Children are a particularly vulnerable group who have specific communication needs - even more so if they are migrants. Semi-structured interviews with 15 children and adolescents living in reception centres in the South of Italy were conducted with the aim of investigating their communication needs and gain information about if and how they were catered for. Transcriptions of interviews were analysed using thematic analysis to identify recurrent topics and issues. The main aspects emerging from the analysis of interviews were grouped into external factors - mainly situational and social - and inherent/subjective ones, notably physical, emotional and relational ones. As far as these young and very young migrants’ communication needs are concerned, the results show a generalised lack of structured and organised language assistance to help them understand and cope with their situation, especially upon arrival. All participants expressed their wish to learn the local language as soon as possible as a means of becoming autonomous and finding their place in the country of arrival.