Need to Rethink Welfare of Teenage Refugees at Ugandan Camp, Cleric Reflects

Living with memories of their past painful experiences that combines with life at a refugee camp, Fr. Arasu reflects, leads the teenagers “to frustration and a sense of hopelessness.”

“This ineptness can lead them to perform poorly in their study, relationship and other life situations. As years go by these traumatic situations can be manifested in deviated behaviour patterns, including physical violence,” the Indian-born Cleric says.

At the refugee camp, the teenagers are not adequately given “youth-sensitive and reproductive education and health care,” an awareness that they need “as they are maturing into adulthood.”

“At this growing period, they need specific protection, guidance and assistance which is the right of any youth. When they fail to receive them adequately, they experience distress,” Fr. Arasu says adding that due to lack of education the teenagers “easily fall prey to abuses, exploitations and manipulations.”

COVID-19 pandemic, which has reportedly infected at least 2,524 people including 1,288 patients who have recovered and 28 who have died in the East African country has worsened the situation at the Camp, the SDB Cleric says.

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“During this COVID 19 epidemic, we have witnessed a surge of increase in teenage pregnancies, defilements, child marriages, and induced abortions,” he laments and adds, “In reality they are Gender Based Violence (GVB) mitted out to girl child … Often times suffering of this weaker sex suffer in different facets, physically, socially and emotionally.”

He adds, “At the wake of a crime a simplistic moral judgement is often rashly made as ‘youth are immoral’, ‘youth do not know what they want in life’, ‘youth are irresponsible’ and ‘we do not know what these girls are looking for’, etc. But often we fail to see the underlying cause and the root of the problem."

Focusing his attention to female teenagers, Fr. Arasu says that the failure to have access to the “basic needs makes the girl child more vulnerable than their male counterparts.”

“Lack of crucial needs such as sanitary pads, inner garments, and hygiene materials push them to make decisions against their personal values, sexual ideals and their study and plan for the future,” Fr. Arasu who has been in East Africa for three decades says.

“Unscrupulous men with loose morality and boys in their mischievous behaviour take advantage of girls’ vulnerability, make them fall into teenage pregnancy, early marriage and other push them into complications of reproductive health,” he bemoans.

He adds, “Salesians and youth workers are faced with the huge responsibility of safe-guarding young people who are vulnerable, exposed and deprived of basic means of survival.”

As a way forward, Fr. Arasu says, “Some of the solutions can be providing a few items for basic and day to day needs, supply of food items, counselling them individually and in groups and organizing group dynamics and moments of animation for them to share and give them time and ear for listening.”

“In practical way, the Salesians are organizing a series of meetings and animation programs to meet young people for a residential animation program where they can pray with them, play with them, listen to them and provide for them a few basic needs such as soap, clothes, sanitary pads, reading materials and a few kilos of maize flour and beans,” he says.

“In the months of August, September and October the Salesian priests intend to meet about 500 teenagers for animation programs,” the Salesian Cleric adds.

He acknowledged with appreciation the support he has received from Salesian partners from our Mission Offices including Insieme Si Puo for the current support.

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“We pray that more help will be available and we will be able to reach out to more young people and bring into reality the motto of our Don Bosco Refugee Mission in Palabek, “Rebuilding Lives, Fr. Arasu says.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.