Interlinguistic and intercultural mediation with refugee minors: the case of the “Holidays in Peace” program

Abstract

The "Holidays in Peace" program is a humanitarian project of political and social awareness that emerged in 1976 to provide Sahrawi children aged between 7 and 12 years old from the Saharawi refugee camps (Tinduf, Algeria) the chance of leaving the Sahara desert during the summer. Children are taken in other countries, either with families, or in summer camps. In Spain, it is estimated that by 2015 about 120,000 Sahrawi children would have benefited from this program. Cultural and linguistic barriers, socio-cultural differences between minors and their host families, among other factors, pose numerous communicative and coexistence challenges. This qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews aims to analyze how the communicative process is covered, who and what roles the people who facilitate this communication perform.