Since 2015, over 5 million people have arrived, or tried to arrive in the European Union seeking refuge. Other refugee receiving countries are faced with similar situations. Many of these refugees are young people. But whilst much has been written about the experiences of adult refugees and to a lesser extent about unaccompanied minors, there is very little research on the experiences of young refugees who are not (or are not recognized as) “unaccompanied”, and specifically about how these experiences impact their pathways to adulthood in or across borders. This in turn leads to an absence of effective policies to protect young people and to ensure their access to services which are essential to their well-being – both as young people and for their future adult lives.
by Jorojina Elisha, August 2025 In this world we live in, we are faced with a lot of suffering and trouble. Day by day, weencounter something unbearable. It could be getting an F on a math test, breaking up withyour girlfriend, or losing your job. But what if your pain and suffering were constant—everyday, every…
By Glenda and Jane “One of my clients is 9 months and one week pregnant. She was turned away from her local hospital. I’ve been worried all weekend about her and her baby” These are the words of a social worker at Refugee Social Services, a GRABS partner, and one of the only organisations providing support…
Borders Crafted with Care: Biscuits, Trains and Little Ships The title of this piece is inspired by the packaging of the biscuits provided to our team while staying in Dover during a scoping trip in the UK. The biscuits were called “Borders” with the tagline: “crafted with care”. Besides the irony of biscuits in Dover…
Of fenced playgrounds, happy places, and contained spaces Of fenced playgrounds, happy places, and contained spaces is a reflection from a recent field trip part of the GRABS team did to eThekwini / Durban and eGoli / Johannesburg in South Africa, in early May 2025. I wrote about this influenced by my position and experiences…
The first episode of our new podcast is out now ! You can listen here: https://on.soundcloud.com/bm5qtGPFgWBdpCrzNn
On 2nd July, the GRABS team On Wednesday 2nd July, GRABS hosted an online panel part of the 22nd IMISCOE…
On 20th of June, Jessi took part in the PhD Conference ‘Reimagining Migration: Decolonisation and Identity Across Time and Space’,…
On 20 May 2025, Izzy and Jane from the GRABS team presented our project to the Asylum and Refugee Research…
In July and August 2025 two members of our team, Jane Freedman and Glenda Santana de Andrade travelled to eThekwini…
In collaboration with the HEARD team from Kwazulu-Natal University and Refugee Social Services (RSS), the GRABS team conducted focus group…
The GRABS team conducted a scoping research trip to Greece from February 24th to 28th.
We’re launching a survey to see what kinds of activities young people would like to be involved in. If you…
