ABSTRACT
In this edited volume, we define refugee children as children under 18 years of age who are outside their country of origin, Syria in our case, and who are unaccompanied refugee children if they have been separated from both parents or previous/legal customary care givers. Accompanied refugee children are children who are accompanied by either both or at least one parent or a legal customary care giver in their host society. Deliberations in this volume are premised on the reality that the young in exile find themselves in a state of exceptional suffering, one that necessitates urgent academic and policy responses. That said, it further broadens this deliberation by arguing that the ‘story’ of refugee children is not only one of their suffering but also one that displays the ability of the young to creatively navigate and make sense of their condition of suffering as refugees. It is in view of this conception of the life of refugee children that this volume brings together contributions that engage in a nuanced dialogue on the trials of the young in exile and account for their suffering while remaining committed to the notion of refugee children as imbued with inherent agency, despite being in exile.
