Accomodation and Adaptation of Refugee and Expelled Children in Zagreb

Abstract

U praksi se uvriježilo razlikovanje prognanika kao građana sa stalnim boravkom u Republici Hrvatskoj i izbjeglica koje su stalni boravak imali u Republici Bosni i Hercegovini. Iako je ta podjela previše pojednostavnila bit i skrila razlike, ipak je prihvaćena s posve praktičnih potreba. Za prilagođavanje djece važna je i nazočnost roditelja i mogućih drugih srodnika (posebno starijih). U izbjeglica su učestalije tročlane, pa i manje obitelji, a u prognanika četveročlane i veće obitelji. Među izbjegličkim obiteljima vrlo često nema oca, a mnoge su i bez majke, iako je populacija djece izbjeglica znatno mlađa od populacije djece prognanika. Spavanje djece, po izjavama roditelja, bitno je bolje riješeno u prognanika u kojih velika većina ima zasebnu postelju u sobi s nekim drugim, dok izbjegla djeca u pravilu ili dijele postelju s drugim djetetom ili s nekom starijom osobom. Smještajem općenito su najnezadovoljnija djeca koja prema početku zbjega ulaze u srednju skupinu. Oni su jednostavno došli kasnije i dobili lošije. Relativno "mirenje" s postojećim stanjem izraženije je u onih koji su stigli posljednji, poslije 1. travnja 1992. Redovitost obroka još više razlikuje prognanike od izbjeglica. Po izjavama roditelja (ili skrbnika) sva prognanička djeca jedu bar tri obroka na dan, dok djeca izbjeglica jedu "prema prilikama". Podaci dobiveni anketiranjem djece, a potom roditelja nerijetko se razlikuju. Dok su djeca izbjeglice još donekle i kritična prema nekim vidovima smještaja, njihovi roditelji vrlo su oprezni u kritikama, s jedne strane svjesni pogibelji kojoj su izbjegli dolaskom u Hrvatsku, a s druge ne hoteći kritikama nepotrebno iskušavati tolerantnost udomitelja. Prognanička djeca puno više od izbjegličke družila su se, ali i sukobljavala ili svađala, bilo sa drugom djecom u zbjegu, bilo sa zagrebačkim vršnjacima. Ovaj izostanak druženja, ali i sukoba sa vršnjacima možemo objasniti kratkoćom vremena, neuključenošću u školski sustav koji povećava mogućnost i druženja i sukobljavanja, ali i stresnom situacijom koja je izazvala povučenost izbjegličke djece tek pristigle iz zone ratnih operacija. Ovakvi podaci o međusobnim sukobima prognaničke djece više su rezultat dugotrajnog zajedničkog boravka na prostorima koji nisu ni predviđeni za igru, pa lakše dolazi do zasićenja, nego li stresnih situacija koje bi poticale sukobe. To stoga što izjave o druženjima pokazuju normalne reakcije djece.The presence of parents and other relatives (especially older ones) is important for children\u27s adaptation. Three-member and smaller families are more frequent at refugees, while displaced persons have four-member and bigger families. Father\u27s presence is far more rare with refugees and the presence of mother along with her child is also rare, although the population of refugee children is significantly younger than that of displaced ones. According to parents\u27 statements, displaced children have essentially better solved their sleeping problems, a great majority of them have a separate bed in the room they share with somebody else, while refugee children, as a rule, either share their bed with some other child or with somebody older. The respondent children, pertaining to the middle group, according to the time their seeking refuge began, are the least satisfied with their accommodation. They simply came later and got worse. Relative conciliation with the present situation is more expressive by those who arrived the last, after 1 April 1992. The regularity of meals differentiate displaced persons from refugees even more. As stated by parents\u27 (or tutors\u27) responses, all displaced children have at least three meals a day, while refugee children eat “according to circumstances”. The data obtained first by surveying children and then their parents, often differ. While refugee children are somewhat critical towards some ways of their accommodation, their parents are very cautious regarding their critique being, from one side, aware of the destruction they avoided by coming to Croatia and, from the other, not wishing to unnecessarily try out the tolerance of domestic authorities. Displaced children have much more associated with, as well as conflicted or quarrelled either with their fellow-mates in the refugee\u27s camps or children from Zagreb of the same age, than the refugee children. This absence of keeping company with and clashing with the children of the same age as well, can be explained by the shortness of time, their not including in the school system which increases the possibilities both of association and conflict, and by stress situation which brought about the unsociableness of displaced children, only recently coming from the zone of war operations. Such data on mutual conflicts of displaced children are in greater degree the result of more lasting joint stay at places which are not even designed for playing so that saturation is more likely to appear, than the result of stress situations which may provoke clashes. Such conclusions are drawn from children\u27s responses on their associations which only show their normal reactions