Scouts-in-Exteris

Badge of Scouts-in-Exile camp held by ESGAV-the Ethnic Scout and Guide Association of Victoria. The flags represent (from left to right) Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Ukraine

Scouts-in-Exteris, also referred to as Scouts-in-Exile, are Scouting and Guiding groups formed outside of their native country as a result of war and changes in governments. This concept is not to be confused with overseas branches of Scouting associations for Scouts whose parents are stationed in countries due to military or business assignment, such as the Transatlantic Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

From time to time throughout its existence, Scouting has been suppressed by a change in government, usually when an authoritarian regime comes into power, as is the modern-day case with Cuba, Laos, Myanmar and the People's Republic of China.

History

In Victoria, Australia there is the Ethnic Scout and Guide Association of Victoria (ESGAV), which comprises seven European nationalities and runs an annual camp for Venture Scout and Rover Scout age groups. In many countries, such as the United States, exile units function as troops within their host nation's organization. There are Estonian exile troops in New York and Armenian exile troops in California, as units of local councils within the Boy Scouts of America.

In Germany there is a Scout Fellowship founded by Scouts and Guides from Afghanistan, named De Afghanistan Zarandoi Tolana-Afghanische Pfadfinder Organisation (Afghan Scout Association) and affiliated to the Verband Deutscher Altpfadfindergilden e.V. (Fellowship of German Former Scout Guilds), a member of the International Scout and Guide Fellowship. The Chairman of this Scout Fellowship is Said Habib, former vice president of the Afghanistan Scout Association.

For the Scouts-in-exile groups, serving the community outside their homelands, there is sometimes resentment that they were not recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement during their nations' totalitarian periods. Due to this, such groups are openly courted for membership in the World Federation of Independent Scouts (WFIS).

See also

• Boy Scouts of the United Nations
• Scouting in displaced persons camps
• Non-aligned Scouting and Scout-like organisations
• World Friendship Fund

References

• The Undaunted (English): Piet J. Kroonenberg book about Scouts in Central and Eastern Europe who kept the Scouting spirit alive despite oppression and persecution, over many decades, and revived the Scout Movement at the earliest opportunity. 200 emblems and badges, 420 pages.
• The Undaunted II (English): Piet J. Kroonenberg-the continuation of Kroonenberg's first work, dealing with Albania, Estonia, Lithuania and Vietnam, 94 pages.