Young Iraqi and Syrian child refugees' play

Introduction

This Froebel Trust webinar draws on key findings from Dr Sandra El Gemayel’s PhD thesis, which was supervised by Professor Rosie Flewitt and Professor Phil Jones at University College London, Institute of Education. The PhD was funded jointly by the Froebel Trust and University College London.

It reports on ethnographic case studies with four young Iraqi and Syrian children living with their ‘temporarily displaced’ families in the northern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, offering unique insights into the children’s family lives, their play and the continuing violations of their rights.

Underpinned by Froebelian principles of the integrity of childhood in its own right, the seminar discusses how the intersection of armed conflict, forced displacement and reduced social status as refugees affect the childhoods and play of young Iraqi and Syrian refugee children in Beirut's northern suburbs.

The webinar closes with discussion of the children’s state of 'in-between-ness', with suggestions for possible ways to improve refugee children’s lives and opportunities to play in Lebanon.