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.
Where do I belong?? I used animals to represent me and my father as well as other people who are part of my story. Each animal has a meaning, my father, the main character is the eagle we see in panel 1, 3 and 4. His animal is an eagle because in my eyes he…
Time, Education, & Weather in Canada My three comics are about time, education, and weather. In the first comic [below, left], I show how time can feel slow when we are waiting for important things such as graduation, work, travel, appointments, or meeting family. In the second comic [below, right], I show my educational journey,…
6ft Apart. Stay Away!! Stay Safe So I picked some words of how it felt moving countries and like my experience in isolation was one of the ones that stood up the most because of COVID, the different languages and everything. So it was a whole process of first how it felt of being alone…
Episode 29: Stories of arrival in Canada by Noor & Hekmat. Episode recorded and edited at the YMCA of Greater Halifax & Dartmouth, Center for Immigrant Programmes, Youth Outreach, K’jipuktuk-Halifax, NS, Canada. June 2026
Episode 28: Cultural shock experiences of living in Canada by Mercy, Evanz, Fatime & Karolay. Episode recorded and edited at the Halifax Refugee Clinic, K’jipuktuk-Halifax, NS, Canada. June 2026
Episode 27 : Story of young Ethiopians who migrate to South Africa by Tofik Nasir (Original Amharic, interviewer Aron Tesfai) épisode 27 : Story of young Ethiopians who migrate to South Africa by Tofik Nasir (English Version translated by Aron Tesfai)
Episode 26 : Gender Inequality by Mohammed, Yusuf, Asra & Nancy
By Aron Tesfai Neighbourhoods such as Yeoville, Rosettenville, and Hillbrow—dense inner-city areas in Johannesburg—are often described through a language of deficit: crime, poverty, overcrowding, and deteriorating infrastructure. Yet for thousands of migrants and refugees, these places are home. It is a place of survival, community, and aspiration, particularly for young people who have grown up…
Fieldwork and scoping visit to K’jipuktuk-Halifax, NS, Canada: A Comics-based essay This comics-based essay is both a report and a methodological exploration produced during my fieldwork and scoping visit to K’jipuktuk-Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, between 18 July and 4 August 2025 K’jipuktuk, which means “Great Harbour” in Mi’kmaw language, forms part of Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral…
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…
On June 11, 2026, the GRABS team were invited to present their research by the IRD–CNRS–CIRAD joint office in Southern…
This work could not be done without the generous and courageous participation of all the young people that joined the…
At the heart of the GRABS Project (Grandir aux frontières)—funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and Université Paris 8—lies a…
Workshop at the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS), University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 20 May 2026 The GRABS team…
We are pleased to share the first peer-reviewed academic publication from the ERC-funded project Growing Up Across Borders (GRABS). Authored by Glenda Santana de Andrade, Jane Freedman and Isabel Morrell, this open-access article has been published in Frontiers in Human Dynamics and reflects on the use of participatory methods with young people on the move. Drawing on early empirical and methodological insights from…
Funded by the European Union under European Research Council Grant ERC-AdG 101141171
