Kinship Constellations in the Narratives of Unaccompanied Refugee Minors in Norway

Kinship emerges as a constellation of relational ties for young adults who arrive in Norway as unaccompanied refugee minors, shaped by migration, separation, and the uneven terrain of family reunification. Drawing on long‑term ethnographic fieldwork and narrative interviews with 14 young adults, the article presents three scenes that show how kinship is reconfigured through chosen networks, diasporic connections, and enduring family ties.

Chosen kinship appears in relationships with peers, caregivers, and trusted adults who become anchors of continuity in uncertain environments, while diasporic networks develop through shared histories, linguistic and regional ties, and community spaces. Familial relationships persist but are marked by separation, shifting responsibilities, and care that unfolds transnationally, showing that the young adults’ biological ties are also remade throughout their migration journey.

Across these scenes, kinship appears as a dynamic terrain shaped by institutional constraints, affective longings, and the everyday labour of creating and sustaining ties in a new social landscape. The findings call attention to how rigid, legally defined models of family fail to recognise the lived realities and social worlds of the young adults and underscore the need for migration policies that recognize the relational constellations the young adults build for themselves.