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Worldnews

'I Had Never Been Separated From My Family': Refugee Children

If the global refugee population were just 100 people, 33 would be children, each in need of protection. Sameer - not his real name - fled Afghanistan when he was just 17 years old. The Taliban had overthrown the government of President Ashraf Ghani - which his father worked for - placing his family at risk. “I was doing well in my life, practising and exercising normally," Sameer, an aspiring mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, tells Al Jazeera. "But when the Taliban took power … the situation became very hard, like putting us under pressure.” Sameer became a child refugee and endured a journey not unlike that of many other displaced and fleeing children. Today, of the 41 million refugees around the world, 13.3 million are children. In other words, there are more child refugees than the entire population of Belgium, or Sweden, or Portugal, or Greece. That also means that 33 out of every 100 refugees are children, each in need of international protection. To better understand the lives of refugee children - their challenges, vulnerabilities and resilience -  we visualise what the world would look like if it had just 100 refugees. According to the latest figures from the UNHCR , 6.8 million child refugees (51 percent) are boys and 6.5 million (49 percent) are girls. While that division is fairly equal, refugee children often face distinct challenges based on their gender. For example, girls may be more at risk of gender-based violence and sexual assault, whereas boys may face different hardships - including other forms of physical violence. These forms of abuse and violence are more pronounced among unaccompanied minors. For Sameer, this came in the form of police beatings at country borders. “The worst effect or part of the journey was when we used to cross the borders. And different countries' police used to stop or catch us, and they used to beat us in front of others,”  Sameer says. “They did not spare a child or adult or anybody.” In 2024, 44 percent (5.9 million) of child refugees were aged 5-11 years, followed by 32 percent (4.2 million) aged between 12-17 years and 24 percent (3.2 million) aged between 0-4 years. At each stage of childhood, distinct and compounding risks threaten healthy development. For example, young children are especially reliant on caregivers and at heightened risk of malnutrition, illness and disease. Any child refugee of school age will face disruption to their education due to access. However, in adolescents, the effects of a trauma can be compounded as they go through puberty: It’s in this age bracket that mental illness most kicks in. In addition, a child’s ability to articulate distress or seek help evolves over time, David Trickey, consultant psychologist and co-director at UK Trauma Council (UKTC), a project of the Anna Freud Foundation, tells Al Jazeera. “Younger children find it more difficult to tell the carers and those around them what's going on internally.” If Sameer were one of the 100 child refugees, he would be among 21 from Afghanistan. In 2024, two-thirds of child refugees came from just four countries - 21 percent (2.8 million) were from Afghanistan, followed by 20 percent (2.7 million) from Syria, 14 percent (1.8 million) from Venezuela and 10 percent (1.3 million) from South Sudan. When the UN Refugee Convention was adopted in 1951, there were 2.1 million refugees. Now, there are 20 times that number. In 1951, 1 in every 1,190 people was a refugee and now that number is 1 in every 185, with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and civil wars in Syria and South Sudan, among major drivers of the crisis. It took Sameer one and a half years to reach the United Kingdom, making him a part of the 12 percent of child refugees who have travelled more than 2,000km (1,200 miles) to get to safety. According to an analysis of data from the UNHCR, 9 out of 10 refugee children have journeyed more than 500km (300 miles) from home. Half (50 percent) of all refugee children have had to travel between 500 and 1,000km (600 miles) from their homes. That’s a distance that could be covered in a 10-12 hour drive or a two-hour flight. But most refugees fleeing their home country journey on foot, in boats or using other slower means of transport. Sameer tells Al Jazeera his journey was spent in the wet and cold. “We passed through different countries, but we stayed most of the time in forest and mountain areas.” On top of the physical toll of travelling, Sameer faced brutality at the hands of border police he encountered when crossing into Turkiye and Bulgaria. “They beat us in all senses. They used to poke at our clothes and send us back to the previous country.” Sameer’s experience is a microcosm of the violence, unfamiliarity and grief - not just for lost family members, but also for a lost home - that accompany refugee life. “The fact that they're fleeing something - that is dangerous in the first place, that has the potential to be traumatic. You're then taking them away from everything that they know that is familiar, possibly their friends, possibly even their families, going to somewhere that they don't know, a strange place, that all has the potential to get in the way of their recovery,” Trickey tells Al Jazeera. Sameer is one of the very small percentage of child refugees that has ended up in the UK. In 2024, the top host countries for refugees were Iran (1.8 million), Turkiye (1.4 million), and Uganda (965,000). He tells Al Jazeera how he finally ended up in the UK. “First, when I tried to cross the Channel, the boat drowned and we were recovered by French police.” After taking another boat at midnight, Sameer reached British shores in the morning, ending an 18-month journey. Upon arriving in a host country, refugees often face additional risks like being held in detention centres. “For some people, that's [being held in detention centres] the worst bit," Trickey told Al Jazeera. "You know, that was the biggest trauma.” Sameer had a more welcoming experience on arrival. “The UK police was kind and very gentle. And they treated us very gently. They took us to a place where they provided us with the clothes, and also provided the food.” According to the UNHCR, about 153,300 children are unaccompanied or have been separated from their guardians and family. Sameer was separated from his brother in Turkiye. “I was sent a different way and he was sent a different way, and since then I never saw my brother and I don't know about his wellbeing or whereabouts,” Sameer tells Al Jazeera. Some children travel alone because they have been sent by their parents to ensure their survival, while others are orphaned. Peter Ventevogel, senior mental health and psychosocial support officer at UNHCR, told Al Jazeera, “If you're in a good social system, you feel safe, then you feel you're less affected. But for children, that effect is even stronger. “We have these case reports of children who are in terrible situations, but as long as they're with their mother, if it's a young child, and the mother is able to convey that sense of safety, then you can buffer a lot of the consequences, which also means that in displacement settings where family structures are disrupted you see more issues among children.” According to research conducted by scientists at Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University, both in Northern Ireland, high rates of mental illness and symptoms among unaccompanied refugee minors were consistent across national and settlement contexts. But how they are treated once they reach their destination matters, say experts. Trickey tells Al Jazeera about two children from Afghanistan he has worked with. “Both of them were from Afghanistan. Both arrived the same week in the UK. Both were unaccompanied. One was looked after by one particular local authority who found a foster placement that spoke the same language, had children the same age, and he just thrived. “The other one, same age, same experience or similar experience, ended up being placed in this semi-independent hostel where no one spoke his language. The staff were pretty absent, and he really struggled. He really, really struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. So that stability and the connection that you're provided with can make a real difference to your capacity to process things that have partly happened in the past.” Sameer tells Al Jazeera,“Scenes of those things which I witnessed had a very bad effect on me and still when I remember, it [makes] me upset.” Research with refugee children finds the prevalence of emotional disorders to be generally higher than in non-refugee children. According to one study, the overall prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was 23 percent (one in four) in refugee children, that of anxiety disorders was 16 percent (one in six) and that of depression was 14 percent (one in seven). “One of the things about trauma is it keeps you on this very high state of alert,” says Trickey. "And I think those without refugee status, they're living this constant fear of being returned to the place they fled.” But not all children experience trauma the same way, Trickey adds. “A more important risk factor, a predictor of PTSD, is not how big the event was, but it's what you make of it. Were you afraid? Did you think someone was gonna die? “And different children will find different things frightening. There'll be some people that actually experience the most awful things and seem pretty unaffected, and they do OK. There'll be some people that seem to be doing OK, and then they have, we can sometimes call it, latent vulnerability. And later on in life, that's when they develop difficulties.” Ventevogel tells Al Jazeera that often, in younger children, there may be more issues with withdrawal, because they cannot verbalise how they feel, for example where “a child withdraws, stops playing with other children, or a child shows in play, in the way the child enacts issues, that there is something not OK. “It's not diagnostic, but this can be an indication that there is something deeper,” Ventevogel says. Trickey explains that during a trauma-focused therapy session, a boy he was working with described what he was going through by comparing his brain to a wastepaper bin stuffed with "scrunched-up pieces of paper" that represent "all the bad things" he had been through. "And as I walk to school, they fall in front of my eyes. And when I lie down and go to sleep, they fall into my dreams," the boy told him. "But when I come and see you, we take them out of the bin, and we unscrunch them. Then we read them through carefully, then we fold them up neatly, and then we put them back in the bin. But because they're folded up neatly, it means they don't fall out the top, and I've got more room in my head to think about other things.” For Sameer, his ability to cope came down to his mindset. “With the passage of time, I became used to the situation and I feel confident and fine now. And I hope, whatever problems or difficulties I face in the future, I will overcome and hopefully things will get normal.” With thanks to The Children’s Society, the Anna Freud Centre/UK Trauma Council, and the UNHCR for their insights and expertise, which helped inform this reporting on the plight and mental health of child refugees. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Worldnews

Iran Could Resume Uranium Enrichment Within Months: IAEA Chief

Rafael Grossi raises concern over Iran’s stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium, just below weapons grade. Iran may be able to restart uranium enrichment in a matter of months despite a wave of attacks by the United States and Israel that targeted its nuclear infrastructure, according to the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi. The remarks came on Saturday, days after US President Donald Trump insisted this month’s attacks had set Iran’s nuclear ambitions back “by decades”. Speaking to CBS News on Saturday, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said while key facilities had been hit, some are “still standing”. “They can have, you know, in a matter of months, I would say, a few cascades of centrifuges spinning and producing enriched uranium,” Grossi said, adding that it could even be sooner. He raised concerns over Iran’s stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium, just below weapons grade, which could theoretically produce more than nine nuclear bombs if refined further. He acknowledged the IAEA does not know whether this stockpile was moved before the bombings or partially destroyed. “There has to be, at some point, a clarification,” he said. The Israeli assault began on June 13 with strikes on Iran’s nuclear and military sites. Israel claimed the attacks were designed to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, an accusation Tehran has consistently denied. The US joined the offensive days later, hitting three of Iran’s nuclear facilities. In the wake of the attacks, Iranian lawmakers moved to suspend cooperation with the IAEA and denied Grossi’s request to inspect facilities, including the underground enrichment plant at Fordow. “We need to be in a position to confirm what is there, where it is, and what happened,” Grossi said. The Iranian Ministry of Health reported at least 627 civilian deaths across the country during the 12-day assault that also saw 28 people killed in Israel in retaliatory strikes launched by Iran, according to Israeli authorities. On Saturday, Iran’s judiciary said an Israeli missile strike on Tehran’s Evin Prison on June 23 killed 71 people, including military recruits, detainees and visitors. Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar Atas said on Sunday that Iranians believe Israel struck the facility to free the prisoners. “Definitely the worst way to do that is to bomb the facility itself and kill civilians,” he added. “This prison is not dedicated to specific crimes. We see political prisoners, journalists, financial offenders, and foreign detainees. “In 2018, the United States put Evin Prison on its sanctions list, and the European Union did the same in 2021 because of human rights violations.” Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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Worldnews

At Least 38 People Killed In Tanzania Bus Collision, Subsequent Fire

Another 28 people injured in the accident between a bus and a minibus in the Kilimanjaro region. Nearly 40 people have been killed after a bus and a minibus collided in Tanzania, sparking a fire that engulfed both vehicles. The crash occurred on Saturday evening in Sabasaba in the Kilimanjaro region after one of the bus’s tyres was punctured, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle. “A total of 38 people died in the crash, including two women,” a statement by the presidency said on Sunday. “Due to the extent of the burns, 36 bodies remain unidentified.” The nationalities of the victims were not immediately known. Twenty-eight people were injured, six of whom were still in hospital for treatment, the presidency added. President Samia Suluhu Hassan expressed “heartfelt condolences” to the bereaved families and wished a “quick recovery” to those injured. She also called for stricter adherence to road safety as deadly vehicle crashes are frequent on Tanzania’s roads. In recent years, the government has made repeated calls to curb road accidents, which continue to plague the country despite various road safety campaigns. In a 2018 report by the World Health Organization, an estimated 13,000 to 19,000 people in the country were killed in traffic accidents in 2016, significantly higher than the government’s official toll of 3,256 people. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

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What Aamir Khans Sitaare Zameen Par Role Teaches The Alpha Males Of Kabir Singh And Animal

In an era dominated by chest-thumping alpha males and hyper-masculine portrayals on screen, Aamir Khan’s return with Sitaare Zameen Par feels like a much-needed breath of fresh air. The actor, often referred to as ‘Mr. Perfectionist,’ doesn’t just return to the big screen; he returns with purpose. With Sitaare Zameen Par, Aamir breaks away from the testosterone-fueled archetype of the modern-day Bollywood hero and presents us with a deeply flawed, vulnerable, and ultimately healing male character. Set against the backdrop of a basketball court and a community of children with intellectual disabilities, Sitaare Zameen Par isn’t just a film; it’s a powerful counter-narrative. At the heart of it is Gulshan, a perpetually frustrated coach who begins the film as someone hard to empathize with. But as the story unfolds, so does Gulshan. We meet a man hiding behind layers of trauma, suppressed emotions, and a stubborn fear of confrontation. Slowly, the mask of anger slips off, revealing someone far more human and far more relatable. In recent years, Indian cinema has seen the meteoric rise of the alpha male archetype characters like Kabir Singh and Animal’s Rannvijay, who wear their emotional baggage like a badge of honor and use violence and aggression as expressions of love and loyalty. These are unstable men, emotionally unavailable and habitually destructive not only to themselves but to those around them. Kabir Singh (2019), starring Shahid Kapoor, became a hit even though it had a problematic message. His explosive temper, drug abuse, and acceptance of emotional abuse were used as signs of extreme, unrelenting love. Likewise, in Animal, Ranbir Kapoor’s Rannvijay is another emotionally scarred male whose love and hurt find expression through abusive dominance. These figures were cult idols not because they were heroes, but because they catered to a fantasy that romanticized uncontrolled male fury. But what happens when a character faces similar demons and chooses empathy instead of dominance? That’s where Aamir Khan’s Gulshan steps in. Gulshan, in Sitaare Zameen Par, is no saint. He drinks, he yells, he abandons conversations midway, and he emotionally neglects his wife, Sunita (played beautifully by Genelia Deshmukh). But rather than descend into self-destruction, he is assigned to an unfamiliar setting, serving alongside children who are differently abled in a community service order. At first resistant and aloof, Gulshan gradually starts to bond. Not with words, but with small acts of noticing, shared delight, and finally, true concern. These children, in their innocence and toughness, become mirrors to him. He finds in them what he has suppressed in himself: hope. His change is incremental and plausible. He doesn’t become an instant perfect human being. He trips, he struggles, and he cries. But that’s why his journey is so strong. It’s not redemption through spectacle; it’s healing through modesty. The genius of Sitaare Zameen Par is how it redefines masculinity. Gulshan’s emotional odyssey tells us that crying is not a sign of weakness, being unsure doesn’t make you less of a man, and healing can only start when we stop acting tough. At a time when Bollywood continues to mint money by projecting emotional abuse as ‘true love,’ Aamir Khan dares to play a character who doesn’t want to win at all costs. He simply wants to understand, to grow, and to be better. And maybe that’s the kind of hero we need more of. This isn’t the first time Aamir Khan has ventured into the grey. In Dil Chahta Hai, his Akash was emotionally avoidant and dismissive, almost losing his best friends and his chance at love. In Fanaa, he played a terrorist who truly loved the woman he was betraying. In Talaash, he portrayed a grieving father drowning in guilt and loneliness. But Gulshan is perhaps his most grounded character in recent memory, one that doesn’t rely on dramatic twists or high-stakes action. It relies on something far more powerful: emotional truth. In the grand scheme of Bollywood narratives, Sitaare Zameen Par may or may not shatter box office records like its alpha male counterparts. But it’s already done something far more valuable: it has started a conversation. A conversation about masculinity, emotional health, and the kind of stories we uplift. The success of Sitaare Zameen Par, both critically and commercially, proves that audiences are ready for nuance. We’re tired of the noise, the chest-thumping, and the relentless rage. We’re craving stories that remind us of the quiet strength in empathy, the courage in accountability, and the beauty of human imperfection. In the Japanese art of Kintsugi, broken pottery is mended with gold, highlighting its cracks instead of hiding them. In Sitaare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan gives us a character who does exactly that; he shines not in spite of his flaws, but because of them. And that, perhaps, is the truest kind of heroism.