Lack of medical attention in


identifying and


remedying


psychological ailments among displaced children intensifies and prolongs the culture of statelessness indoctrinated within these youth. Children internally displaced or seeking refuge in camps and shelters worldwide are at a substantially greater risk of violence, exploitation and trafficking[iv]


. Without appropriate guidance and


medical support, forcibly displaced youth will inevitably find other mechanisms to process and respond to traumatic situations. Most


concerning


of all is the potential for forcibly


displaced youth in


areas of armed conflict to become child combatants in war, either forcibly recruited by armed groups or willingly adopted


by disenchanted


or psychologically disturbed youth. The case of the Syrian refugees,


rapidly becoming


the greatest humanitarian crisis in modern history, demonstrates this best: despite over one million refugee children now crowding camps in neighboring countries, and five million others displaced within Syria, the international effort in resolving the civil war has been inexplicably delayed[v]


. With little consensus yet drawn on


how to introduce stability in the steadily collapsing state, more and more displaced Syrian youth are joining hands with rebel forces in their perceived revolution while the international community silently looks on[vi]


.


The refugee crisis requires at minimum an appeal to reform international legislations that govern refugee aid. This must begin first and foremost with a revision in the definition of refugee, which at present excludes internally displaced persons and stateless persons from the protection and rights of those encompassed under the current definition[vii]


. This must be followed with an intense


focus upon the psychological health of youth within refugee camps and living as internally displaced persons within armed conflict zones. Allocation of greater and more comprehensive resources in healthcare must occur or the psychological disturbances of forcibly displaced youth today will most certainly manifest as an


“


incurable combatant personality among entire generations of youth. Equally as important in mitigating this crisis among forcibly displaced youth is the reconstruction of state stability in volatile areas worldwide. The international community has sat idle far too long in forcing resolutions to enduring armed conflicts worldwide. The repatriation of refugees and return of internally displaced persons to their homes and lives cannot be accomplished without a reduction in


the hostilities


The condition of forcibly displaced youth today reflects the condition of human rights and humanitarian crises as they will inevitably exist tomorrow.


necessary changes is overwhelming, particularly in areas of armed conflict. Without the complete commitment of the international community in correcting the core causes of mass forced migrations, the refugee crisis cannot and will not be contained. Allowed to progress at this critical level, the case of young refugees will be one impossible to resolve in coming years. When entire generations of children are raised – some even born – into refugee identities, the fundamental crisis will no longer be repatriation, but managing a culture of transient identity that lends loyalty to no state, to no government, and to no legal system. The condition of forcibly displaced youth today reflects the condition of human rights and humanitarian crises as they will inevitably exist tomorrow. Unless remedied by intense efforts in mental healthcare and repatriation,


” the condition of forcibly displaced


youth today will undoubtedly become the single most impassable divide in international relations in the future.


that forced them away. Without


such repatriation,


forcibly displaced youth will continue to identify with a transient identity, and as they grow older the strain placed by their dependency on host countries and relief agencies will only continue to intensify.


The desperate interdependence need for between states in fostering these


iAM March 2014


11


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