Česnuitytė, Vida

War refugees often are form transnational families, as many of them have members residing across state borders. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, approximately 86,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Lithuania in search of temporary settlement. The majority of these arrivals were women with preschool and school-aged children, as well as unaccompanied minors. Lithuania swiftly mobilized its education, social, health, and other systems to receive war refugees from Ukraine. Initially, the most pressing concerns were accommodating refugees and addressing their basic needs. Currently, the focus has shifted to their social inclusion into the society. War refugee children represent a particularly vulnerable group, and their social inclusion is essential for their full development and well-being. Therefore, a qualitative study conducted in 2024, aiming to explore the social inclusion of Ukrainian war refugee children, focusing on their social inclusion into the education system. The participants were upper-grade students who arrived in Lithuania from Ukraine after the outbreak of hostilities, along with teachers who work with Ukrainian refugee children. All participants either have family members still in Ukraine, or members who have migrated to other countries. The study found that the most pressing issue of social inclusion relates to learning the Lithuanian language. Motivation to learn Lithuanian primarily depends on the family’s decision about their future. If the family decides to stay in Lithuania, parents encourage their children to learn the language. The extent of the child’s interaction with Lithuanian peers greatly influences language learning. Similarly, how much those around the child encourage them to speak Lithuanian also plays a significant role. It became evident that Ukrainian children show a strong interest in Lithuanian history, customs, and culture, eagerly participating in celebrations of commemorative days and seeking similarities with Ukrainian history and traditions.

The arrival of war refugees in Lithuania has created significant challenges for state structures to develop effective inclusion systems to ensure that the needs of the new arrivals are met. Particular pressure was placed on the social and education systems, which had to immediately address the needs of children arriving from Ukraine to the territory of the Republic of Lithuania - to ensure a safe environment, development needs and access to education. War refugee children are a particularly vulnerable group of children, and their rights and inclusion in the education system must be given special attention. As the war in Ukraine continues, minor war refugees from Ukraine, as well as from other countries, continue to arrive on the territory of the Republic of Lithuania. The inclusion of these children remains a topical issue. It is important to assess the challenges and opportunities for ensuring the rights and inclusion of war refugee children in the Lithuanian education system in order to fully ensure the right of every learner, including vulnerable children, to inclusive and equitable educational opportunities. The qualitative study aimed to explore how the rights of Ukrainian war refugee children are guaranteed in the context of their inclusion in the education system. The participants were pupils in upper grades who arrived in Lithuania from Ukraine after the outbreak of hostilities and teachers who work with Ukrainian war refugee children. The study is based on the implementation of the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and inclusive education. The study found that the rights of Ukrainian war refugee children are not sufficiently guaranteed in Lithuania. Children experience discrimination, especially from older people, because of their arrival in Lithuania and their lack of knowledge of the Lithuanian language. The living conditions of the children do not provide them with sufficient privacy and space. Although the learning conditions are sufficient, the learning process is complicated by the emotional trauma each of them has experienced, the anxiety about the course of the war, and the relatives left behind. Some children have difficulties to continue in Lithuania the non-formal education activities they started in Ukraine. Once they arrive, the children become independent very quickly, which affects the importance of their opinion in the family.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, approximately 86,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Lithuania in search of temporary settlement. The majority of these arrivals were women with preschool and school-aged children, as well as unaccompanied minors. The Government of Lithuania swiftly mobilized its education, social, health, and other systems to receive war refugees from Ukraine. Initially, the most pressing concerns were accommodating refugees and addressing their basic needs. War refugee children represent a particularly vulnerable group, and their social inclusion is essential for their full development and well-being. Aiming to investigate the situation of child right implementation among Ukrainian war refugee children in Lithuania, a qualitative study conducted in 2024. The participants were upper-grade students who arrived in Lithuania from Ukraine after the outbreak of hostilities, along with teachers who work with Ukrainian refugee children. All participants either have family members still in Ukraine, or members who have migrated to other countries. The main focus was on the role and efforts of the education system in the process of child right implementation. The research results reveal that the rights of Ukrainian war refugee children are not sufficiently guaranteed in Lithuania. The main problems are based on discrimination because of the language, insufficient living conditions, complicated learning process, lack opportunities to be involved into non-formal education activities.

Pranešime nagrinėjamas transnacionalinių šeimų vaikų neformalusis ugdymas kaip svarbi socialinės politikos dalis. Migracijos procesai keičia šeimų struktūras ir kelia naujus iššūkius socialinei politikai. Transnacionalinių šeimų vaikai dažnai patiria emocinių, socialinių bei ugdymo spragų, kurias formali švietimo sistema ne visada pajėgi kompensuoti. Neformalusis ugdymas tampa svarbia priemone, padedančia užtikrinti šių vaikų įtrauktį, socialinį ryšį bei asmenybės raidą. Tuo pačiu, valstybės socialinė politika vis dar tik fragmentiškai integruoja neformalųjį ugdymą į platesnes įtraukties strategijas. Tuo tikslu Mykolo Romerio universitete 2024-2026 m. įgyvendinamas subprojektas „Vaiko teisių įgyvendinimas transnacionalinėje šeimoje: neformaliojo ugdymo vaidmuo – FAMEDU-CHILD“, kuris yra valstybės biudžeto lėšomis finansuojamo projekto „Ekscelencijos centrų kūrimas Mykolo Romerio universitete“, vykdomo pagal Lietuvos Respublikos švietimo, mokslo ir sporto ministerijos inicijuotą programą „Ekscelencijos centrų iniciatyva“, dalis. Kokybiniai empiriniai duomenys buvo renkami 2025 m. šiais metodais: grupinės diskusijos (fokusinės grupės) su neformaliojo ugdymo pedagogais, dualiniai interviu su tėvais ir vaikais iš transnacionalinių šeimų. Rezultatai rodo, kad neformalusis ugdymas suteikia vaikams galimybių socialinei integracijai, tapatybės paieškai ir emocinei gerovei. Veiklos už mokyklos ribų stiprina vaikų savivertę bei padeda formuoti ateities perspektyvas. Nepaisant to, išryškėja kliūtys: emociniai sunkumai dėl tėvų migracijos, finansinės bei logistinės problemos, informacijos sklaidos stoka. Svarbus vaidmuo tenka neformalaus ugdymo pedagogams, kurie tampa vaikų mentoriais, padedančiais kurti saugius santykius ir skatinti platesnį socialinį įsitraukimą. Tyrimas leidžia teigti, kad valstybės socialinė politika turėtų vis labiau įtraukti neformalųjį ugdymą į platesnes įtraukties strategijas.

Tyrimo idėją įkvėpė teorinės ir praktinės žinios apie transnacionalinių šeimų (toliau – TNŠ) vaikų ugdymą. Čia TNŠ – tai šeima, kurios nariai ne trumpiau nei metus gyvena abipus valstybių sienų. Daugelyje atvejų vaikai paliekami su vienu iš tėvų, seneliais, kitais giminaičiais ar net ne giminaičiais. Bet kuriuo atveju, TNŠ nepilnamečiai vaikai, kaip ir bet kurie kiti vaikai, turi teisę gauti jų talentus bei interesus atitinkantį ugdymą. Tuo pat metu tėvai sprendžia daugelį kitų problemų – integracijos į migracijos šalies darbo rinką ir visuomenę, geografinio bei emocinio atstumo įveikimo, kt. Todėl TNŠ vaikai neretai stokoja tėvų dėmesio. Ypač tai pasakytina apie vaikų neformalųjį ugdymą, kuris nėra privalomas, tačiau būtinas, siekiant išauginti harmoningą ir suaugusiojo gyvenimui kuo sėkmingiau pasirengusią asmenybę. Tyrimas grindžiamas duomenimis, surinktais įgyvendinant subprojektą „Vaiko teisių įgyvendinimas transnacionalinėje šeimoje: neformaliojo ugdymo vaidmuo – FAMEDU-CHILD“, kuris yra valstybės biudžeto lėšomis finansuojamo projekto „Ekscelencijos centrų kūrimas Mykolo Romerio universitete“, vykdomo pagal Lietuvos Respublikos švietimo, mokslo ir sporto ministerijos inicijuotą programą „Ekscelencijos centrų iniciatyva“, dalis. 2025 m. balandžio – gegužės mėnesiais atlikti penki pusiau struktūruoti interviu su TNŠ poromis, kai vienas iš interviu dalyvių yra emigrantas, o kitas – nuolat gyvenantis su nepilnamečiu vaiku, t.y. iš viso atlikta 10 interviu. Tyrimo dalyviai pasidalino patyrimais, organizuojant savo vaikų neformalųjį ugdymą.

The presentation is inspired by the issues studied within the working group WG3 “Social rights and social protection of transnational families” of the COST Action CA21143 „Transnational Family Dynamics in Europe (TraFaDy)“. As a result of global mass migration, lot of families in nowadays are forced to organize their lives across the state borders. One of the main tensions raised by such situation is social integration of so-called transnational families in the countries of destination. The phenomenon of social integration is multi-layered, therefore, the presentation is focused on selected social integration aspect only – social protection of transnational families’ members in European countries. The problem is that most current social protection schemes were created for the citizens of national countries, and are based on social solidarity and social transfers at national level. When members of the family migrate to other country, a question emerges: who protects them in case of social risk – home country or country of destination? In case of social risks experienced by the migrants – European Union citizens, the latter question is more or less solved. Though, for social protection of migrants from Third countries, schemes still need to be transformed and adapted. The presentation is based on the systematized social protection documents existing at national, international and supranational levels. Also, illustrations on social protection of immigrants settled in Lithuania provided.

The articles selected for this special issue are based on oral presentations made in 2021 in two conferences of the Research Network “Sociology of families and intimate lives” of the European Sociological Association (ESA RN13). In prevision of the proposed special issue, a call for papers has been disseminated among participants of these two conferences. In response to it we received over 30 papers from highly motivated contributors, among which the academic editors of the proposed special issue selected the ones presented below. There are two groups of papers. The authors of the first group of nine papers confirmed their willingness in contributing to the SI and to assume the article processing charges (in case they are not institutional members of Social Inclusion). The second group of papers bring together authors who confirmed their interest in participating to the SI, but either asked for a waiver or weren’t sure whether their institution could support the processing charges.