Volume 3, No 2 (2020) Date of publication: 18-08-2020 DOI: http://doi.org/10.7577/hrer.3835 ISSN 2535-5406 BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWS Catastrophic migration and its impact on the education of children and youth on the move Suarez-Orozco M.M. (2019). Humanitarianism and Mass Migration. Confronting the world crisis. Oakland, California: University of California Press, Ross Institute. 416pp., US$ 32,95 (paperback) ISBN: 9780520297142; $85 (hardcover) ISBN- 9780520297128; $32.95 (ebook) ISBN: 9780520969629. Reviewed by Anna Trylinska Polish Academy of Science, Institute of Law Studies, Poland. Anna Trylinska: trylinska.anna@gmail.com http://doi.org/10.7577/hrer.3835 mailto:trylinska.anna@gmail.com HRER Book and Media Reviews 92 BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWS Catastrophic migration and its impact on the education of children and youth on the move DOI: http://doi.org/10.7577/hrer.3835 ISSN 2535-5406 Suarez-Orozco M.M. (2019). Humanitarianism and Mass Migration. Confronting the world crisis. Oakland, California: University of California Press, Ross Institute. 416pp., US$ 32,95 (paperback) ISBN: 9780520297142; $85 (hardcover) ISBN- 9780520297128; $32.95 (ebook) ISBN: 9780520969629. Reviewed by Anna Trylinska Polish Academy of Science, Institute of Law Studies, Poland. trylinska.anna@gmail.com Migrations are multidimensional phenomena and not easy to explain. They have psychological, cultural, economic, demographic, legal and political aspects. Migration movements have intensified and taken on a global character in the last decade. Migrations, especially forced ones, are a huge challenge in the modern world (Martin, 2016). Due to conflict and climate change, more and more people will embark on dangerous journeys to save their own and their families’ lives. The crises of recent years - mainly European from 2015, and the Rohingya crisis of 2017 - show that states must learn to welcome and integrate people and respond to their special needs for protection. This volume focuses on the concept of catastrophic migration and its impact, with a particular emphasis on the children of refugees and migrants. Editor Suarez- Orozco criticises the archaic policy frameworks that deal with new forms of forced migration (due to climate change or crime). He points out that most refugees are internally displaced or located close to their borders. They live in extremely poor conditions and are often left in limbo. He correctly notes that conflicts in countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq have lasted longer than the First and Second World Wars. He reminds us that host countries forget about refugee children’s developmental needs. This volume consists of four parts and sixteen chapters. The first part, ‘The New Cartography of Mass Migration’, presents two new reasons why people need to seek protection – climate change and crime. The second part, ‘Frames on Children and Youth on the Move’, is about the mass migration of children and young people, which has increased in recent years. In part three, ‘Catastrophic Migrant Lives at the Margins’, we learn about the fate of millions of refugees who can neither go back to their home countries nor reach a country which can protect them. The fourth and longest part, ‘The Work of Education in the Transitions of Immigrant and Refugee Youth’, examines the role of education in the lives of children and youth on the move. It is extremely important to recognize the increasing risk of the radicalization of immigrants by fundamentalist ideologies. http://doi.org/10.7577/hrer.3835 mailto:trylinska.anna@gmail.com HRER Book and Media Reviews 93 This publication is full of valuable expertise. Almost half of it takes up educational issues. Education is extremely important for refugee and migrant children (Albakri and Shibli, 2019; Culberston and Constant, 2015). Suarez-Orozco points out that the danger of fundamentalist radicalization will be greater if there is inadequate education. The book introduces two interesting concepts. The first of these is presented by Banks in chapter 11 – ‘Civic Education for Noncitizen and Citizen Students: A Conceptual Framework’. Banks proposes the concept of ‘failed citizenship’, which describes how children of refugees and immigrants focus more on their own needs, group identities and structural inclusion than the shared goals of the nation state. His chapter describes two elements of a framework for civic education for non-citizens: multicultural citizenship education, and human rights cosmopolitan education. The second concept is developed by Pedro Noguera, in chapter 14. This is the concept of the ‘crisis of connection’, seen in the international response to the refugee crisis. Noguera and Crul provide in-depth analyses of the education systems of countries with huge numbers of migrants or refugees, such as USA, Germany, Sweden and Turkey. Noguera argues that American schools are unprepared for refugee students. The situation seems to be similar in Europe, where schools also face challenges (Koehler and Schneider, 2019). Banks and Noguera strongly recommend that HRE of the mainstream population should promote more empathy and civic activity, and develop critical thinking and decision-making. Banks suggests a transformation from mainstream to transformative knowledge; this will allow students to gain the information, values and skills needed to confront inequality in their communities and to create democratic, multicultural societies. Maurice Crul, in chapter 13, recommends instruments that should be used to provide equal opportunities for refugee children to succeed in school. In the next chapter, Sarah Dryden-Peterson describes separated schools and the social exclusion of child refugees. She presents a model of integration into the education system and the everyday practice of separate classes and schools. The authors in this fourth part of the book present current challenges and warn against the harmful practice of educational separation. Refugee or migrant children should be seen as human beings with their own backgrounds and stories. In my opinion, this is an interesting and important book. The authors directly or indirectly refer to HRE, above all by pointing out the role of education in shaping respect for the dignity of other people, and the ability to create and participate in social groups. I think this is a difficult task because refugee children come from countries that do not respect human rights, and such concepts are often abstractions. They try to protect themselves against violations, but are not always aware of them. While they recognize torture or the death penalty are wrong, they do not always consider that sexual abuse, slave labour or female genital mutilation are violations as well. The editor introduces the new concept of catastrophic migration. This volume presents new reasons for seeking protection: climate change and crime. This publication has a thorough account of the situation of children and youth refugees and immigrants on the move, with a particular focus on education and its role in social integration. Unfortunately, I am afraid that the book’s title does not fully reflect its contents. Half of it is about the education of children and youth on the move. If this were to be reflected in the title, people interested in this topic would be more likely to read it. This publication should find its way onto the reading list of policy makers responsible for the integration of refugees and immigrants, NGO’s and educational HRER Book and Media Reviews 94 professionals, including teachers. The book contains extensive recommendations regarding the education of children and youth on the move, and there is no doubt that it can be a perfect manual. The authors of the different chapters are very well- known experts in this field and their detailed analyses of the most frequently encountered challenges and proposed solutions can be extremely useful for those working to integrate migrants and refugees through education. References Albakri, T.Z., Shibli R. (2019). How to improve sustainability: the critical role of education for Syrian refugees. Development in Practice, 29(5), pp. 662-669. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2019.1612323 Culberston S., Constant L., (2015). Education of Syrian Refugee Children: Managing the Crisis in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. RAND Corporation, pp. 65–72. Retrieved from https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR800/ RR859/RAND_RR859.pdf Koehler, C., Schneider, J. (2019). Young refugees in education: the particular challenges of school systems in Europe. Comparative Migration Studies, 7(28), pp. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-019-0129-3 Martin S.F. (2016). The Global Refugee Crisis. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 17(1), pp. 5-11. https://doi.org/10.1353/gia.2016.0000 https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2019.1612323 https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR800/RR859/RAND_RR859.pdf https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR800/RR859/RAND_RR859.pdf https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-019-0129-3 https://doi.org/10.1353/gia.2016.0000