Jean, a 14-year-old refugee from Congo-Brazzaville, hurries in from the cold after a group-home field trip to the local bowling alley.
When war erupts, when families disband, when poverty drains, they leave home.
The United Nations refugee agency calls them unaccompanied or separated children (UASC) because they are minors applying for asylum without their parents or a guardian.
The country of Sweden is experiencing a continued increase in the arrival of UASC; 1510 in 2008 alone. Their circumstances differ, but they all arrive in Sweden alone, without a parent or guardian. Many have navigated a dangerous network of human smugglers in the hopes of being granted asylum in Sweden. Upon their arrival, minors from countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Democratic Republic of the Congo are placed in group homes throughout the country.
Part of an on-going project, the following photographs are from several group-homes in the small northern town of Härnösand, Sweden.
