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Fri, 30 Oct, 2015 12:07:37 AM FTimes – STT Report, Oct 30  Asylum seekers in the refugee center in Hennala Lahti, Finland on September 30, 2015 attend Let's play together ball event Which is a welcoming and sports event arranged by local people for refugees. File Photo – Lehtikuva. Unaccompanied underage girls seeking asylum hope to be treated as individuals, not as a group of people from another culture, according to a dissertation made by a student of the University of Oulu.
Mervi Kaukko interviewed 8 to 17-year-old female asylum seekers coming from Somalia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo for her dissertation.
“Even though the girls had a terrible experience, they were so opposed to the fact of being seen constantly as victims in need of assistance,” said Kaukko.
Minor asylum-seeking girls should not be pampered too much but be given the opportunity to be children and teenagers like their peers.
“One day one may be strong and independent, the next day one may yearn for the adult’s armpit. Like Finnish children, emotions fluctuate from one end to another,” Kaukko added.
Children should be allowed to retreat to their own space, if they want to be quiet and undisturbed, found the study.
The majority of unaccompanied minors are boys, but, as the number of asylum seekers grows, the number of girls is increasing.
Kaukko’s study involved a total of 12 girls; however, the asylum centre where the study was made is now home to many asylum-seeking girls.
According to the general assessment, the percentage of underage girls is believed to be about 15 of the total minor asylum seekers.
According to the situation in the beginning of October, a total of 1,075 decisions on underage children asylum applications were expected.
Kaukko’s dissertation will be examined at the University of Oulu in November.
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