The population of migrant, refuge, and asylum-seeking children and adolescents across the globe has increased in recent decades. These minors often undergo adverse experiences that negatively impact their mental health and psychosocial well-being (MHPWB). In light of the transient nature and multiple stressors inherent in the transit stage, this scoping review was conducted to characterize the evidence on interventions aimed at promoting the MHPWB of minors during their migration journey. Following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we systematically searched the MEDLINE, Embase, Global Health, APA PsycInfo, and Web of Science databases, as well as the Google Scholar search engine, for studies published between January 2010 and September 2025 that included the evaluation of some aspect of interventions aimed at promoting MHPWB in minors during transit, regardless of the language and location where the study was conducted. Systematic reviews of the literature were excluded. The data most relevant to answering the research questions were presented in tables and accompanied by a narrative synthesis. Of the 1,835 unique documents identified, 28 met the inclusion criteria. Most of the interventions had been implemented in refugee camps and were aimed at school-age children and adolescents who had been forcibly displaced, mainly from the Middle East. Most of the interventions combined different approaches, such as psychoeducation and cognitive-behavioral therapy, and had a family or group approach. All interventions reported some degree of positive change on children's MHPWB. However, few studies considered at-risk subgroups, and no interventions targeted two of the main forcibly displaced populations at the time of the study, Venezuelans and South Sudanese. Our study effectively describes existing interventions aimed at promoting MHPWB for minors in transit and their effectiveness and/or implementation process, as well as identifies gaps in the current evidence and lessons learned that can help improve future interventions.

ABSTRACT This study investigated predictors of gifted identification among Syrian refugee students in Jordan, focusing on academic achievement, gender, and school context. A dataset comprising 13,598 students assessed using the Arabic version of the HOPE Teacher Rating Scale was analyzed. Logistic regression and random forest analyses examined the influence of GPA, gender, school stage (elementary, middle, secondary), and school location (in-camp and out-of-camp) on identification patterns. GPA emerged as a strong predictor, with higher GPA substantially increasing the likelihood of gifted identification. School location demonstrated a modest effect, as students in camp settings were less likely to be identified, reflecting structural inequities in educational provision. Middle school students were less likely to be identified compared to secondary students, while gender differences were not significant. Predictive modeling results should be interpreted with caution, as gifted identification was derived directly from the HOPE total score; models incorporating HOPE items closely mirrored the HOPE-based classification, whereas models using only demographic variables had limited discriminatory power. These findings underscore the importance of culturally validated, behaviorally anchored teacher rating tools in promoting equitable gifted identification in refugee education contexts and highlight the need for policies that reduce reliance on academic metrics alone.

Some refugee children in the United States have an elevated blood lead level (EBLL), which can result in neurologic disease and developmental delays. Little has been published on EBLLs in immigrant infants and children whose families are seeking humanitarian protections outside the refugee program. We evaluated lead testing and anemia in this population. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of lead testing and anemia in infants and children whose families were seeking humanitarian protection (eg, asylum) and treated in clinics in Chelsea, Massachusetts (September 30, 2022-June 30, 2024) and New York City (January 1-November 30, 2023). We extracted demographic and clinical data from the medical records of clinics serving families who received emergency assistance with sheltering. We evaluated the proportion who completed lead testing and the prevalence of EBLL (≥3.5 µg/dL). We used Pearson χ2 and Kruskal-Wallis tests to determine factors significantly associated with EBLL. Among 882 children (most from Venezuela [29.5%], Ecuador [22.0%], Colombia [16.2%], and Peru [6.7%]), 693 (78.6%) completed testing for lead. Lead testing was more common among children aged <5 years than among older children (P < .001). Nine of 693 children (1.3%; 95% CI, 0.6%-2.5%) had EBLL; the mean blood lead level was 5.31 µg/dL. Eight of the 9 children with EBLL were boys (P = .06). Of 882 children, 146 (16.6%) had anemia; 2 children with EBLL had anemia. We did not find a statistically significant association between country of origin and EBLL (P = .23). Clinicians and public health professionals serving newcomer populations should enhance efforts to prevent and screen for EBLL and anemia.

In this study, we aspired to explore and understand the competence of primary school teachers who teach in refugee camps in engaging with their multifaceted responsibility. The study was conducted in four primary schools in Jewi Refugee Camp, Ethiopia. We used a qualitative single case study approach wherein observation, interviews and document analysis were employed as datacollection tools. The informants who took part in this study were refugee children, teachers, school principals, officials and experts from various pertinent stakeholders. The results revealed a lack of efficient retention and remuneration mechanisms resulting in the teachers being unqualified and hence unskilled to teach children in crisis. This finding highlights the need to deploy teachers who are passionate, skilled and qualified, and to put in place attractive retention and remuneration mechanisms. To this end, we contend for a paradigm shift in the training, deployment and retention of teachers who teach in refugee-hosting schools.

This comparative case study explores how two preservice teachers (PTs), working with recently arrived Afghan refugee students in a reading methods course, navigated and enacted critical translingual stances, despite the course’s absence of explicit translanguaging pedagogy. Framed by Critical Translingual Approach and Culturally Disruptive Pedagogy, this study analyzes the non-linear, situated development of two racially, ethnically, and linguistically different PTs’ ideological stances and pedagogical choices. Findings illustrate the tensions PTs experienced as they sought to recognize and affirm their students’ full linguistic and cultural repertoires while contending with normative language ideologies, conflicting expectations, and narrow views of literacy. The study highlights the importance of critical joy, relationship building, and oral storytelling as literacy practices, while also pointing to the need for deeper theoretical and experiential preparation in teacher education. We end with a call for teacher educators to embed justice-oriented approaches across the curriculum and to create and sustain ruptures that invite the confrontation of whiteness.

As pedagogic translanguaging (PT) gains global traction for its claimed potential to advance social justice, questions arise about its effectiveness across diverse contexts. Responding to this need, this study a) takes a bird’s-eye view approach to the question of which contextual factors to prioritize when evaluating PT’s efficacy; and b) iteratively refines and ground-truths its proposed theoretical framework through empirical research. Specifically, drawing on interviews with teachers and analysis of education policy documents in the context of refugee education in Lebanon, where PT is used in both Arabic-and English-medium classrooms, the study finds that while PT may appear effective within individual classrooms, it can interact with systemic factors to undermine literacy development goals when not designed and implemented within an informed, curriculum-wide plan. Grounded in and illustrated by the case at its center, the study identifies five key contextual considerations to guide the use and assessment of PT: (1) literacy development targets, particularly in which language(s); (2) students’ existing language and literacy skills; (3) the language(s) of instruction across school subjects; (4) prevailing language ideologies; and (5) the linguistic distance between the varieties used in PT and those targeted for literacy development. Overall, findings underscore the need for more context-sensitive research, policymaking, and pedagogical design to ensure that PT supports—rather than compromises—multilingual learners’ access to quality education.

The objective of this study was to evaluate required culture-based overseas tuberculosis (TB) screening in US-bound international adoptees. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 22 053 international adoptees who underwent TB screening overseas and arrived in the United States during 2016 to 2023. Of 22 053 international adoptees (aged younger than 18years) screened for TB overseas, 12 (54 cases/100 000 persons) were diagnosed with TB disease, and 169 (766 cases/100 000 persons) had suspected TB disease (defined for this analysis as a chest radiograph or clinical signs/symptoms suggestive of TB or known HIV infection but negative sputum culture results overseas). Of 15 386 persons who underwent a tuberculin skin test (TST) or interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) overseas, 390 (2.5%) were diagnosed with latent TB infection (LTBI). Among 12 persons who initiated treatment of TB disease overseas, 10 (83.3%) completed post-arrival evaluation in the United States; of these, none were diagnosed with TB disease after arrival. Among 169 persons diagnosed overseas with suspected TB disease, 108 (63.9%) completed post-arrival evaluation; of these, 2 (1.9%) were diagnosed with TB disease. Among 390 persons diagnosed overseas with LTBI, 220 (56.4%) completed post-arrival evaluation; of these, none were diagnosed with TB disease. Of 150 persons diagnosed with LTBI at post-arrival evaluation, 137 (91.3%) were recommended for treatment; of these, 104 (75.9%) initiated and 79 (57.7%) completed treatment. US-bound international adoptees have a similarly high prevalence of TB disease compared with US-bound immigrant and refugee children, highlighting the importance of TB screening before immigration and ensuring timely recommended post-arrival evaluation.

ABSTRACT Global humanitarian crises have displaced over 110 million people, with 224 million affected children needing support, placing unprecedented pressure on education systems in the Global South. While international policy frameworks, such as the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), aim to include refugee children in national systems, a significant gap remains between policy and practice. This paper presents an empirical study funded by the Swiss Secrétariat d'État à la formation, à la recherche et à l'innovation (SEFRI) that explores teachers’ lived experiences in uncertain contexts in Niger and Jordan. Narrative Inquiry methodology focused on 20 interviewed teachers, filling a qualitative gap in a field often dominated by high-level statistical reports. The theoretical frameworks of Policy Implementation Theory and Critical Theory guided the study, illustrating how top-down mandates often fail to meet educators’ needs for professional recognition and resources. Findings indicate that teachers act as ‘street-level bureaucrats’ who must improvise psychosocial support in the absence of adequate training or institutional backing. The paper concludes with strategic recommendations for community-based, teacher-centred policy development to bridge the divide between global humanitarian goals and the realities faced by educators working with refugees within the context of Education in Emergencies.

This paper investigates the role of music therapy in supporting refugee children and youth from Ukraine during their initial resettlement in Norwegian schools. With the ongoing war in Ukraine escalating since 2022, a significant number of refugees have sought safety in Norway, prompting the exploration of music therapy as a tool for their emotional and social adaptation. The study employs focus group interviews with school staff, utilizing thematic and narrative analysis to uncover key insights. The findings are categorized into two main themes: How Music Provided Support andChallenges in Implementing Music Therapy. The first theme highlights the positive impact of music therapy, including its ability to provide emotional support through calming activities, foster relationships among peers and between students and teachers, and promote a sense of fun and mastery. The second theme addresses the obstacles encountered during implementation, such as the initial lack of structure and continuity, limited understanding of music therapy’s role, and the need for stronger institutional support at higher levels within the school system. These findings underscore the value of music therapy in promoting resilience and social cohesion, while also emphasizing the importance of clear organizational frameworks and interdisciplinary collaboration for successful implementation. The paper concludes by proposing implications for practice. Acknowledgements The project received support from Polyfon knowledge cluster for music therapy, to create a qualitative study of the initial phase.

Background: This qualitative post-program evaluation study explored the impact of a basic life-saving skills program on refugee students and teachers from the Rohingya Education Centre in Kuantan, Pahang. Methods: A total of 31 refugee children aged 5–14 years and six teachers participated in focus group discussions to examine knowledge gained, confidence development, and preparedness to respond to life-threatening situations. Results: Thematic analysis, guided by Braun and Clarke’s six-step framework, generated 11 overarching themes, reflecting experiential learning, emotional responses, confidence development, preparedness, and program acceptance. Teachers corroborated student findings, observing improvements in knowledge, skill application, and confidence. Conclusion: Findings suggest that culturally and age-appropriate life-saving skills education can significantly enhance refugee children’s emergency response readiness and promote teacher-facilitated sustainability of safety education. Implications for curriculum integration and continued safety training in refugee education contexts are discussed.

Despite the growing global presence of refugee populations, few validated tools exist to assess early learning and development in these contexts. This study examined the use of the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) with a large sample of 1033 refugee children aged 4–6 years living in Malaysia, a non-resettlement, low- to middle-income country. Using Rasch modelling, we evaluated the psychometric properties of IDELA and found strong person and item reliability, acceptable item fit, and good evidence of unidimensionality, although some item redundancy was observed. Further, children's school readiness scores were significantly associated with child gender and age, as well as maternal and paternal demographic characteristics (age, education, literacy), but not father employment or occupation type. These findings provide preliminary validation for IDELA’s use in refugee settings and underscore its potential as a culturally adaptable, low-cost tool for assessing development in underserved populations. • Psychometric properties of the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) tool was examined with a large sample of refugee children. • Rasch modelling demonstrated excellent person and item reliability and separation. • Item fit statistics confirmed IDELA’s good unidimensionality and construct validity, with some redundancy noted among items. • Correlational analyses indicated significant associations between Rasch person’s measures with key parent and child variables.

ABSTRACT Canada resettled over 74,000 Syrian refugees between 2015–2019. Thousands of refugee-learners were consequently introduced into the provincial education systems. This paper explores a particular subset of this population by focusing on the experiences of Syrian refugee young adults, aged between 16–24 in Montreal, who were aged out of the traditional education system, having to access adult education as their only option to complete highschool. These students struggled to navigate the foreignness of the Quebec education system, with years of missed schooling and financial worries. Ironically, while equity is offered, exclusion is created. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate that while educational opportunities offer a semblance of equity, the lived experiences of these Syrian youth reveal exclusion, unintentionally marginalized by educational policymakers. Semi-structured, one-hour interviews with 29 Syrian refugee-learners and 12 educators provide rich data, analyzed thematically. Critical race theory frames this research exposing systemic issues that hinder inclusion.

Health care resource constraints across North America are leading to decreased access to primary care, particularly for newcomers. In Canada, several pathways to permanent residency shape early navigation to the publicly funded health care system. To explore access to primary care by analyzing the percentage of all minor illness visits seen in an emergency department (ED) in recently arrived refugee and immigrant children compared with their Ontario-born peers. This population-based cohort study took place in Ontario, Canada, and included immigrant children who arrived between 2008 and 2017 and Ontario-born children. Participants were aged 0 to 14 years and followed up for 4 years after index date (ie, 1 year after health care eligibility). Data were analyzed between November 2023 and December 2025. Government-assisted refugees (GARs), privately sponsored refugees (PSRs), successful asylum-seekers (referred to as protected persons [PPs] in Canada), nonrefugee immigrant (NRIs), each matched 1:4 to Ontario-born children by age, sex, and urban area. The percentage of minor illness ED visits (ie, primary care plus ED visits for equivalent reasons) in the first and second 2-year periods after eligibility was calculated for each child with at least 1 minor illness visit. The difference in mean percentage was modeled using linear regression and compared each immigrant group to Ontario-born children adjusting for morbidity, material resources quintile, and primary care affiliation. Overall, 458 597 children were included (mean [SD] age, 8.0 [4.3] years; 221 237 females [48%]; 237 360 males [52%]; GARs, 10 211 [2.23%]; PSRs, 7810 [1.70%]; PPs, 11 540 [2.52%]; NRIs, 83 537 [18.22%]; Ontario-born matches, 345 499 [75.34%]). In the first 2 years, immigrant groups had significantly lower adjusted differences in the mean percentage of minor illnesses seen in the ED compared with their Ontario-born matches (GARs: -5.11% [95% CI, -5.63% to -4.57%]; PSRs: -5.24% [95% CI, -5.80% to -4.67%]; PPs: -3.37% [95% CI, -3.86% to -2.87%]; NRIs: -4.24% [95% CI, -4.40% to -4.09%]). In the second 2 years, differences were attenuated but remained significantly lower. In this cohort study, refugee and nonrefugee immigrant children in their early resettlement period were less likely to use the ED than Ontario-born children for minor illnesses, suggesting adequate access to primary care.

The conflict in Ukraine has led to the displacement of millions of children and their mothers, posing an unprecedented challenge to host countries such as Spain. The aim of this paper is to analyse the perceptions of refugee children and their mothers of Ukrainian origin on the social and educational factors that influence their reception process in the Spanish education system. A qualitative approach was adopted, with 26 participants, 13 mothers and 13 children aged between 8 and 15 years. The results obtained were classified inductively into three categories of analysis: barriers to educational inclusion, facilitators of educational inclusion and suggestions for improving this process. As a strength, the commitment of the actors involved was demonstrated by an unprecedented protective response. However, significant barriers were identified in relation to language immersion, the attention and understanding of teachers and classmates, the workload of the school and the invisibility of their circumstances and needs, which compromised the process of welcoming refugee minors. In conclusion, all social and educational agents should contribute to an effective response to the migration paradigm, for which it is essential to guarantee the fulfilment of the right to quality education for all minors.

Vocational education and training are essential for the integration of refugee youth into Greek society. Therefore, it seems that there is an urgent need for the Greek Ministry of Education and Religion and for the Ministry of Labour (herewith, Greek Ministries of Education and Labour) to redesign and adapt their strategies and practices to address the specific learning needs of refugee youth. The aim of this study is to explore the types of policies that the Ministries of Education and Labour should design, reform, and implement to increase the number of students attending vocational education and training in Greece. The researchers adopted a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. Ten participants took part in the study: seven Refugee Education Coordinators based in camps across Greece, two experts from the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), and one academic specializing in adult education and serving as an EPALE Ambassador. The findings indicate that both Ministries of Education and Labour need to collaborate more closely in redesigning and implementing targeted policies for refugee students. These should include expanding reception classes in EPAS (vocational school) and EPAL (vocational high school) schools, reducing bureaucratic procedures, ensuring adequate staffing with trained teachers, and adopting simpler administrative processes.

This article explores the development of educational knowledge on integrating refugees to the Danish welfare state, conceptualised as “educational integration knowledge”. The topic is studied by analysing the Danish Refugee Council’s (DRC) educational social integration and language education for refugees ca. 1968–85, a period of increasing immigration and welfare state expansion, with which DRC’s development intertwined. The article examines how DRC developed educational integration knowledge in relation to its encounters with refugee groups, as well as changing circumstances in the welfare state. It was a two-way process entailing education both for and about refugees. Initially, DRC had pioneering autonomy to implement and develop its educational integration knowledge in the welfare state’s margins. However, the expanding and consolidating welfare state brought about increasingly rigid regulatory structures and efficiency requirements, respectively diminishing DRC’s autonomy.

In recent years, global conflicts have caused a significant rise in displaced individuals, increasing the number of asylum seekers and refugees. Iceland is no exception. Objective: To assess the dental hygiene practices, oral health status, and dental caries experience (dmft/DMFT) among children and adolescents, 0-18years, seeking international protection in Iceland. The secondary purpose is to identify areas for improvement of preventive measures and dental care services among this demographic. Basic research design and participants: Review of dental examination charts of 189 children, 0-18years, who attended the Faculty of Odontology, University of Iceland, between January 1, 2023, and April 1, 2024. Results: Half (52.9%) the children had either never attended a previous dental appointment (39.7%) or not in the previous 2years (13.2%). Dental pain was the main reason for previous visits (29.4%), with 43.1% reporting having experienced dental pain before. Most children (87.3%) brushed their teeth since the eruption of the first tooth, and 82.4% used fluoride toothpaste. Dental caries affected 61.4% of the children, and 20.6% had dental infections at the time of examination. The mean dmft for six-year-olds was 4.33, while for twelve-year-olds, mean DMFT was 2.55. The prevalence of gingivitis was 37.8%, dental erosion 12.3%, dental fluorosis 8.8%, and molar incisor hypomineralisation 12.3%. Conclusions: The dental health of children seeking international protection in Iceland is poor compared to their peers in other Nordic countries and beyond. The findings highlight the need for a comprehensive and integrated approach to dental healthcare for these children.

Dental caries remains the most common chronic childhood condition and in Australia persists as a leading cause of potentially preventable hospitalisation. Despite various public health initiatives and improvements in oral health among the wider community, significant disparities exist among refugee families due to the unique challenges they face. Beyond the effects on a tooth level, dental caries profoundly influences a child's oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) which encompasses the physical, psychological and social impacts oral health has on daily life, an area that is often overlooked. This study explores the OHRQoL of Western Australian refugee children who experience childhood caries. This nested study was conducted within a larger randomised controlled trial (ACTRN12616000456459) investigating caries arrest in newly resettled refugee children. Participants were recruited from the tertiary paediatric Refugee Health Service (RHS), where demographic information, clinical dental examination findings and OHRQoL data were collected using the Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS). Non-parametric methods were employed to assess differences in total and domain-specific ECOHIS scores across stratification groups, including caries burden, caries depth, age and geographical region. A total of 223 children were included with a mean age of 4.6 years. Approximately, 65% of the children had high caries burden (> 5 affected teeth), and 160 out of 223 (72%) had frank dentine lesions. The mean (SD) total ECOHIS score was 6.52 (6.68). Parental distress had the highest mean score among the ECOHIS domains (1.79), while the symptoms domain score was unexpectedly low (0.96), despite participants experiencing severe and extensive caries. Refugee children experience a high burden of caries, yet reported symptoms were low, suggesting under recognition of oral pain. Conversely, high parental distress scores reveal the significant psychological impact on families. These findings highlight the need for early, culturally appropriate dental care within a family-centred model of care.

ABSTRACT This paper explores how children’s picture books (PBs), through multimodal resources (MRs) of visuals, words, social semiotics, and colour, represent child refugee experiences and foster critical multimodal literacy (CML) in early childhood (EC) education. It argues that PBs are ideological texts where MRs construct meanings around identity, power, and belonging. Through this multimodal ensemble, representations shaped by intersecting identities - marginalised sociocultural, historical, and political contexts - invite young readers to reflect on their social positioning. This paper presents a case study from a broader research project that analysed three Australian PBs about child refugee experiences. The focus text, Out, is a Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year winner for EC (3-5 years). Guided by Critical Multimodal Discourse Analysis (CMDA) and Social Semiotics, this paper examined how MRs depicting interpersonal and ideational semiotic patterns, and colour construct intersecting identities and emotional meanings. Findings reveal that visual and textual choices produce ambiguous or contradictory meanings that simultaneously humanise and obscure refugee identity. The study presents a transferable analytical framework demonstrating how recognising intersectionality in multimodal meaning-making informs CML pedagogies, enabling young readers to question whose stories are told or silenced and how social positioning is visually constructed.

ABSTRACT Drawing on a year-long study, this article explores the pedagogical practices of a U.S. secondary social studies teacher working with refugee-background students. Framed by Critical Refugee Studies, a theoretical approach that critiques dominant humanitarian, saviorist, and assimilationist discourses while centering refugees as active agents of political and social critique and as producers of their own epistemologies, this study examines how the teacher engages refugee-background students in his social studies classroom and how the ideas of Critical Refugee Studies are reflected in his instructional and pedagogical approaches. The findings highlight several key dimensions of his practice: foregrounding historical and contemporary forms of oppression and injustice relevant to refugee-background students’ lives; challenging colonial discourses and U.S. saviorism in global displacement and refugee production; and leveraging refugee-background students’ lived experiences and their historical and socio-cultural knowledge while foregrounding their agency and resilience. Ultimately, this study calls for a reimagining of refugee education that moves beyond discourses of trauma, victimization, and rescue-liberation and instead embraces more critical, empowering, and transformative pedagogies in secondary social studies classrooms.