Da'aro Youth Project was established in 2018 by members of the Eritrean community in London in response to the deaths of a number of teenage Eritreans by suicide. We work to support young people arriving in the UK alone from the Horn of Africa (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia).

Eritreans and Ethiopians (taken together) were the largest nationality group of unaccompanied minors to arrive in the UK in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Sudanese minors were the largest nationality group to arrive in the UK in 2020. Asylum-seeking children and young adults from the Horn of Africa arrive here after traumatic journeys through the Sahara Desert, Libya, the Mediterranean Sea and after crossing borders in Europe, such as in Calais. Once here, young people often struggle to adapt to new lives separated from their families, and find that navigating the complex asylum system can be stressful and traumatic. They face social isolation, discrimination and sometimes even hostility.

We aim to promote the wellbeing of these migrant young people living in the UK, through direct support, through building bridges in the Eritrean community and through advocating for changes to unfair and discriminatory systems which undermine their wellbeing. We believe that building sustainable relationships of trust and support within the Eritrean community is the best way to empower young people and enable them to overcome their marginalisation within society.

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