Table 4.

Themes, sub-themes and units of meaning

Themes	Sub-themes	Units of meaning
1. UIMM: risking it all for a better life	1.1 The human cost of reaching the promised land	Political crisis, surviving adversity, violence, lack of rights, difficult childhoods, unemployment, poverty, new opportunities.
	1.2 From despair to salvation	Malnutrition and dehydration, fear, journey in a small boat, near-death experience, detention, settlements, police control.
2. Redefining your identity as a means of adaptation	2.1 The uncertainty of redefining your life	Help to integrate, learning the language, work dictates, dealing with papers, suffering, cohabitation, lack of support.
	2.2 Social stigma and finding refuge among peers	Discrimination, xenophobia, difficulty of integration, grouping by race, socio-economic problems.
3. Obtaining legal status to avoid deportation	3.1 Legal status: a bureaucratic labyrinth	Coming of age, anxiety, depression, misinformation, language barrier, pessimism, legal status, working legally, will to live, composure, self-esteem, solidarity.
	3.2 The vicious circle of job seeking	Effort, work dictates life, building a future, fulfilling a mission, labour exploitation, lack of dignity, lack of rest, contempt and fear.

UIMM = Unaccompanied irregular migrant minors.