Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the consequences of losing home and family for unaccompanied youth Syrian migrants arriving in Germany. It explores the influences of the sudden changes in the surrounding atmosphere and the reaction to the new culture as well as the challenges of integration and acceptance.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, unaccompanied migrant children are closely explored by telling their stories as they arrived in Germany. Those children have arrived at a new country, unprepared to face the burden to come. They were sent to seek asylum in order to obtain the right to family reunification and to bring their parents to Germany. The period of arriving in Europe, staying in a youth camp, adapting to the new culture, not being able to speak the language, and facing the unexpected changes without having the emotional support they used to get at home, or any family member to lean on during such difficult times, has caused a deep impact on different sides of those children’s lives.

They were expected to fulfill all the expectations of their family who were left on the other side waiting to be rescued from the crucial war conditions. Since those young teenagers have arrived ahead of the family, learned the language, had a relatively better idea about the system and the laws of the new country. The family has treated them as the caretaker and at the same time he was expected to stay the same obedient child they used to know before sending them to face the world alone. These contradictions between being the leader and the child in the family at the same time have caused a profound impact in the life of those teenagers and have reshaped their attitude toward the concept of family, home, and their own future as well.