Topalovic Tijana, Episkopou Maria, Schillberg Erin, Brcanski Jelena, Jocic Milica
International Committee of the Red Cross, Tresnjinog cveta 1, Belgrade, 11000, Serbia.
Médecins Sans Frontières Operational Centre Brussels, Athens, Greece.
Confl Health. 2021 Apr 29;15(1):32. doi: 10.1186/s13031-021-00366-5.
Thousands of children migrate to Europe each year in search of safety and the promise of a better life. Many of them transited through Serbia in 2018. Children journey alone or along with their family members or caregivers. Accompanied migrant children (AMC) and particularly unaccompanied migrant children (UMC) have specific needs and experience difficulties in accessing services. Uncertainty about the journey and daily stressors affect their physical and mental health, making them one of the most vulnerable migrant sub-populations. The aim of the study is to describe the demographic, health profile of UMC and AMC and the social services they accessed to better understand the health and social needs of this vulnerable population.
We conducted a retrospective, descriptive study using routinely collected program data of UMC and AMC receiving medical, mental and social care at the Médecins sans Frontières clinic, in Belgrade, Serbia from January 2018 through January 2019.
There were 3869 children who received medical care (1718 UMC, 2151 AMC). UMC were slightly older, mostly males (99%) from Afghanistan (82%). Skin conditions were the most prevalent among UMC (62%) and AMC (51%). Among the 66 mental health consultations (45 UMC, 21 AMC), most patients were from Afghanistan, with 98% of UMC and 67% of AMC being male. UMC as well as AMC were most likely to present with symptoms of anxiety (22 and 24%). There were 24 UMC (96% males and 88% from Afghanistan) that received social services. They had complex and differing case types. 83% of UMC required assistance with accommodation and 75% with accessing essential needs, food and non-food items. Several required administrative assistance (12.5%) and nearly a third (29%) legal assistance. 38% of beneficiaries needed medical care. Most frequently provided service was referral to a state Centre for social welfare.
Our study shows that unaccompanied and accompanied migrant children have a lot of physical, mental health and social needs. These needs are complex and meeting them in the context of migration is difficult. Services need to better adapt by improving access, flexibility, increasing accommodation capacity and training a qualified workforce.
每年有成千上万的儿童前往欧洲寻求安全和美好生活的希望。2018年，他们中的许多人途经塞尔维亚。儿童独自旅行，或与家人或照顾者同行。有陪伴的移民儿童（AMC），特别是无人陪伴的移民儿童（UMC）有特殊需求，在获得服务方面面临困难。旅途的不确定性和日常压力源影响着他们的身心健康，使他们成为最脆弱的移民亚群体之一。本研究的目的是描述UMC和AMC的人口统计学、健康状况以及他们获得的社会服务，以便更好地了解这一弱势群体的健康和社会需求。
我们进行了一项回顾性描述性研究，使用2018年1月至2019年1月在塞尔维亚贝尔格莱德无国界医生诊所接受医疗、心理和社会护理的UMC和AMC的常规收集项目数据。
共有3869名儿童接受了医疗护理（1718名UMC，2151名AMC）。UMC年龄稍大，大多数是男性（99%），来自阿富汗（82%）。皮肤病在UMC（62%）和AMC（51%）中最为普遍。在66次心理健康咨询中（45名UMC，21名AMC），大多数患者来自阿富汗，98%的UMC和67%的AMC为男性。UMC和AMC最有可能出现焦虑症状（分别为22%和24%）。有24名UMC（96%为男性，88%来自阿富汗）获得了社会服务。他们的案例类型复杂多样。83%的UMC需要住宿援助，75%需要获取基本需求、食品和非食品物品的援助。有几人需要行政援助（12.5%），近三分之一（29%）需要法律援助。38%的受益人需要医疗护理。最常提供的服务是转介到国家社会福利中心。
我们的研究表明，无人陪伴和有陪伴的移民儿童有许多身心健康和社会需求。这些需求很复杂，在移民背景下满足这些需求很困难。服务需要通过改善可及性、灵活性、增加住宿能力和培训合格的工作人员来更好地适应。
