In 2024, global displacement reached unprecedented levels, with over 120 million refugees worldwide - nearly 40% of them children (UNHCR, 2024). Among them are more than 350,000 Ukrainian refugee children currently residing in Germany, following Russia’s invasion in 2022 (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2024). Globally, 1.3 billion people live with disabilities, yet little is known about the intersection of disability and forced displacement, especially regarding refugee children. This paper explores the lived educational experiences of Ukrainian refugee children with disabilities in Germany - an often invisible population subjected to intersecting forms of exclusion.

Framed by Levinas’s philosophy of the ethical responsibility to the Other (1986) and informed by inclusive education theorists such as Slee (2011) and Veck (2009, 2014), the study listens to voices rarely heard, seeking to learn from rather than speak for the Other. This ethical imperative challenges the technical framing of inclusion and instead calls for an openness to difference rooted in hospitality and asymmetrical responsibility.

Drawing on qualitative data from a broader mixed-methods study, the paper presents findings from interviews with five Ukrainian refugee children with disabilities, aged 10–13, attending various schools in Germany. Interviews, analyzed inductively (Strauss & Corbin, 1994), explored past and present schooling experiences and future aspirations.

Two key themes emerged: ‘seeking recognition’ at the individual level and ‘epistemic ignorance’ within educational institutions. Recognizing refugee children with disabilities requires encountering their unique epistemes - ways of knowing shaped by displacement and disability- without assimilating them into dominant discourses. Embracing the logic of the gift (Kuokkanen, 2008) may offer a path toward genuine educational hospitality.

This paper argues for a shift in inclusive education: from policy and provision to ethical engagement with the Other, resisting epistemic laziness and fostering spaces where diverse knowledges can be seen, heard, and respected.

This study aims to describe and analyze the personal stories of child refugees from Ukraine, exploring their unique experiences, attitudes, and needs. The study draws on theories of forced migration and trauma, emphasizing how displacement disrupts the psychosocial development of children. It also incorporates perspectives on the role of education in addressing the emotional and psychological needs of refugees, positioning schools as critical spaces for fostering resilience and supporting transitions to stability. This qualitative research analyzed 43 narratives of children and young people aged 7 to 20, with most stories written by children younger than 11. These narratives were collected to capture personal reflections on forced migration and displacement. A thematic analysis was employed to identify recurring patterns and themes related to trauma, adaptation, and emotional well-being. The findings suggest a strong connection between forced migration and trauma, as reflected in vivid descriptions of fear, loss, and uncertainty in the children’s stories. However, the study also highlights the resilience of child refugees and the crucial role of schools in providing a safe space for children to process their conflicting emotions. The research emphasizes the importance of culturally sensitive interventions to address the emotional and social needs of child refugees, enabling them to transition into their new roles and environments more effectively.

This study investigates the puzzling underrepresentation of Yemenis (both youth and children) among global refugee populations despite more than a decade of ongoing conflict, humanitarian crisis, and economic collapse. Unlike other war-torn areas such as Iraq or Syria, Yemen’s displacement patterns remain mostly internal or regionally bound, with minimal international asylum-seeking. Hence, this study seeks to unpack the cultural, political, and structural reasons behind this phenomenon by focusing on the lived experiences of Yemeni youth and their communities' decisions to remain within or near national borders.

Based on interdisciplinary refugee and migration theory—including Mallick’s and Schewel’s concepts of “non-migration” (Mallick, 2020; Schewel, 2019), Ravenstein's laws of migration, and “forced immobility” (Carling, 2002)—the study draws on qualitative interviews with aid workers, educators, and displaced families in Yemen, Djibouti, and Egypt, alongside policy analysis and secondary data on refugee flows. It investigates how tribal customs, local-conflict resolution traditions, gender roles, and distrust of exterior systems shape both practical and symbolic choices about mobility. Findings indicate that children in Yemen often remain within kinship networks or local displacement camps, where access to education and psychosocial support is extremely limited, yet the option to flee internationally is constrained by tribal, legal, logistical, and cultural barriers. In several cases, Yemeni young men and women are discouraged from seeking asylum abroad due to perceptions of moral risk, loss of family honor, and fears of social fragmentation. This paper argues that Yemen challenges dominant frameworks of refugeehood and calls for greater recognition of non-migratory displacement, particularly among youth who remain largely uncounted in international systems. It advocates for policy and scholarly approaches that consider rootedness, tradition, and regional displacement patterns as central to understanding child refugeehood in the Global South.