Accompanied child irregular migrants who arrive to Spain in small boats: Experiences and health needs

ABSTRACT

The European Union is the preferred destination of child irregular migrants arrived from northern Africa, who risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea in small boats. Accompanied Child Irregular Migrants (AChIMs) are exposed to physical and psychological risk. The objective of our study is to describe and understand the experiences and health needs of AChIMs who arrive to Spain in small boats, through the testimony of adults who accompany them on the journey. A qualitative study, based on Gadamer’s hermeneutic phenomenology, was performed. After obtaining approval from the Ethics and Research Committee, we conducted in-depth interviews on 32 adults who travelled with AChIMs. Two main themes emerged: (1) The journey a child should never have to take, with the subthemes ‘AChIMs as a paradigm of vulnerability’ and ‘Crossing the sea, playing with death’ and (2) Characterising emergency care to AChIMs, with the subthemes ‘Prioritising specific care’, ‘Identifying high-risk situations’ and ‘The detaining of innocent children’. AChIMs, along with adults, risk their lives in such a dangerous and perilous journey, therefore, finding out about their experiences may contribute to improving the treatment of their specific health needs during the phases of rescue and emergency care.

KEYWORDS:

• Childs migrants
• boat children
• accompanied immigrant minors
• qualitative research

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the participants who contributed to the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

José Granero-Molina http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7051-2584

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Provincial Government of Almeria (project number 1396/2017), the Spanish Red Cross and University of Almería (project number TRFE-SI-2018/004) and the Health Science Research Group (CTS-451) from the University of Almeria.