Afghan unaccompanied refugee minors’ understandings of integration. An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Abstract

There is a lack of knowledge concerning how unaccompanied refugee minors (UMs) perceive integration. This study concerns how Afghan UMs in Sweden understand integration. Seven young men, age 18–23, who came to Sweden as UMs, participated in semi-structured interviews, analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The results showed that integration was understood as a process in which relationships, connectedness, and concrete support are fundamental. Education, employment, and leisure activities were important for integration. Integration also improved by contributing to the new country, for example, through paying taxes or voluntary work. We discuss how integration could be supported, for example, through making UMs co-creators of interventions and through acknowledging the importance of meaningful activities, relationships, and concrete support.