CHAPTER 30 CHILDREN AND FORCED MIGRATION JASON HART Sitting in neat rows in makeshit classrooms under canvas, or waiting in line for food or medical treatment, children have dominated the imagery of humanitarian response to situations of forced migration. Popular imagination has been ired by photographs of the young having their basic needs met by relief agencies. In consequence such imagery has helped to mobilize inancial and political support for interventions. Over many years, the common assumptions about children as the most vulnerable section of a displaced population whose experience is dominated by trauma and whose needs are self-evident discouraged serious enquiry from most parts of academia apart from psychology and social work. More recently, however, studies from a broader array of scholars have emerged, providing a more complex picture and challenging practitioners to consider their interventions afresh. In this chapter I seek to explore how the under- standing of the situation of children in settings of forced migration is evolving as a result of research that brings a more socially engaged aspect to a ield of study convention- ally the provenance of researchers whose focus has been largely on the individual. Such enquiry will entail consideration of diverse ideas about the needs and competencies of the young and their interaction with the social environment. Brief Overview of the Current State of Play he United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) suggests that of the 33.9 million ‘people of concern’ to that organization around half are under 18 and thus classiied as ‘children’. 1 his igure includes refugees, those seeking asylum, the inter- nally displaced, as well as recent returnees. Not included in the UNHCR statistics are the OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – FIRSTPROOFS, Wed Feb 12 2014, NEWGEN oxfordhb-9780199652433.indd 383 2/12/2014 2:45:08 PM