Young newcomers at the crossroads of new beginnings: A contextual framework on experiences in urban Belgium Minne Huysmans Supervisors Prof. Dr. Dominique Verté Dr. Pieter Meurs A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in ‘Pedagogische Wetenschappen, richting Agogische Wetenschappen’, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Adult Educational Sciences Adult Educational Sciences Vrije Universiteit Brussel January 2020 Dissertation committee Supervisors Prof. dr. Dominique Verté Dr. Pieter Meurs Faculty of Psychology and Educational Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences Sciences Department of Educational Sciences Department of Educational Sciences Vrije Universiteit Brussel Vrije Universiteit Brussel Chairman Prof. dr. Tom Vanwing Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences Department of Educational Sciences Vrije Universiteit Brussel Jury Prof. dr. Ilse Derluyn Prof. dr. Johan Vanderfaillie Faculty of Psychology and Educational Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences Sciences Department of Social Work and Social Department of Clinical & Life Span Pedagogy Psychology Universiteit Gent Vrije Universiteit Brussel Prof. dr. Lieve Bradt Prof. dr. Jean-Pierre Vanhee Faculty of Psychology and Educational Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences Sciences Department of Social Work and Social Department of Educational Sciences Pedagogy Vrije Universiteit Brussel Universiteit Gent Prof. dr. Ilke Adam Faculty of Political Sciences Institute for European Studies Vrije Universiteit Brussel I II Preface During the summer of 2015, when the Arabic spring abruptly stagnated in Syria and Egypt and conflicts throughout the world reached new peaks. Many thousands of people; men, women, youngsters, kids, were forced to search for new livings. Some temporary, many permanent. The sceneries and images in Turkey, the Greek Islands, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Calais, The Maximilian Park in Brussels became part of our collective memory. Heads of state, NGO’s, organisations, we as a society and we as individuals wrestled with our role in the matter, our responsibility. In this quest, a rhetoric of extremes emerged: human rights versus a pull effect, refugees versus economic migrants, open borders versus Schengen should be reconsidered, it also is our responsibility versus protection in their own region, rights versus duties. As researchers we also were challenged in our role, our stake, our responsibility. Research is not just abstract and theoretical. It is also practical and specific. It is engaged. Engagement has an ethical component to it: who are we to be as individuals, professionals, as a society? And how do we want to approach the other? Who is the other and who are we? The other who is divided in a multitude of categories: refugee, migrant, transit migrant, trans migrant, exile, nomad, foreigner, illegal, emigré… just to name a few. The research in our department, went away from the abstract: the refugee, to focus on the human, the person, the individual: young newcomers. Newcomers, an adjective with an expiration date: when does one stop being new? Young people who we consider embodying more than that one image, that one explaining, determining label around which an entire life is structured: REFUGEE. They are each and every one of them, youngsters with unique stories who are adding new chapters, color and nuance to their past. The summer of 2015. A hundred and twenty-two young newcomers who applied for protection in Belgium in the aftermath of the summer of 2015, gave their voice to this dissertation. A research focusing on how these youngsters build and rebuild their lives in a new environment. A research that focusses on how this environment opens and closes itself for ‘the other’. A research that III focusses on how different environments and approaches could switch lenses and cooperate more closely. A research that focusses on a more balanced approach between a welfare and a youth perspective, a more balanced approach between vulnerability and resilience. This dissertation longs for those connections, those perspectives where the newcomers of today are the authors and painters of the history of tomorrow. We all have a stake in the white space between a written past and an open future. A space and place ready for a collective story. IV Acknowledgments THE SUN NEVER SAYS Even after all this time The sun never says to the earth “You owe me.” Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky. (Hafiz, 1320 – 1390) V VI Table of contents Dissertation committee .................................................................................................................... I Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... III Table of contents ........................................................................................................................... VII List of figures ................................................................................................................................. VIII List of tables ..................................................................................................................................... IX PART 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 3 Chapter 2. Methodological approach .................................................................................... 21 PART 2. EXPERIENCES, NEEDS AND STRENGHTS OF YOUNG NEWCOMERS WHO (RE)BUILD THEIR LIVES IN URBAN BELGIUM ............................................................................. 33 Chapter 3. Young refugees, citizenship, cosmopolitanism and youth work policy – theoretical discussion on the current trends in Europe ........................................................ 35 Chapter 4. Jonge nieuwkomers in de stad: De permanente werf van sociale netwerken. Het bouwen en herbouwen van netwerken bij Niet Begeleide Minderjarige Vreemdelingen in Belgische steden ....................................................................................... 51 Chapter 5. Young newcomers’ convoy of social relations: The supportive network of Accompanied Refugee Minors (ARM) in urban Belgium ...................................................... 69 Chapter 6. Young newcomers’ convoy of social relations three years after arrival in urban Belgium ..................................................................................................................................... 91 PART 3. DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................. 123 Chapter 7. General discussion .............................................................................................. 125 List of publications and contributions ........................................................................................ 149 VII List of figures PART 1. INTRODUCTION Chapter 1. Introduction Figure 1. The Convoy Model of social relations by Khan and Antonucci (1980) ............... 14 Figure 2. Overview of the dissertation and its studies ........................................................ 19 PART 2. EXPERIENCES, NEEDS AND STRENGHTS OF YOUNG NEWCOMERS WHO (RE)BUILD THEOR LIVES IN URBAN BELGIUM Chapter 5. Young newcomers’ convoy of social relations: The supportive network of Accompanied Refugee Minors (ARM) in urban Belgium Figure 1. The Convoy Model of social relations by Khan and Antonucci (1980) ............... 73 Chapter 6. Young newcomers’ convoy of social relations three years after arrival in urban Belgium Figure 1: The Convoy Model of social relations by Khan and Antonucci (1980) ............... 94 PART 3. DISCUSSION Chapter 7. General discussion Figure 1. Overview of the dissertation and its studies ...................................................... 126 VIII List of tables PART 1. INTRODUCTION Chapter 1. Introduction Table 1. Characteristics of the interviews, stage one .......................................................... 24 Table 2. Characteristics of the interviews, stage two ........................................................ 254 Table 3. Characteristics of the participants, stage one and stage two (N = 122)…………25 PART 2. EXPERIENCES, NEEDS AND STRENGHTS OF YOUNG NEWCOMERS WHO (RE)BUILD THEOR LIVES IN URBAN BELGIUM Chapter 4. Jonge nieuwkomers in de stad: De permanente werf van sociale netwerken. Het bouwen en herbouwen van netwerken bij Niet Begeleide Minderjarige Vreemdelingen in Belgische steden Tabel 1. Overzicht respondenten ........................................................................................ 566 Chapter 6. Young newcomers’ convoy of social relations three years after arrival in urban Belgium Table 1. Characteristics of the participants ........................................................................ 997 IX X PART 1. INTRODUCTION In this introductory chapter the different interrelated concepts and points of entry of this dissertation will be discussed. The chapter starts by defining and contextualising the ‘young newcomer’. These youngsters, who establish a new living in Belgian cities, are our main focus. We explore their paths into this new context by engaging with the legal frameworks around