Social inclusion is a process that implies creating new, joint and agreed upon cultures. It is based on respecting the autonomy of all involved members. Equal social inclusion of refugee children appears as an imperative of modern schooling and is built on the democratic ideas of equality, participation, and non-discrimination. Creating a safe space in which the refugee children can uninterruptedly explore social relationships, establish first friendships in a new environment and master a foreign language is becoming a challenge for an increasing number of teachers and professional support staff. Recognizing the potential that establishing close friendships during childhood has for creating a sense of belonging and safety, after finding oneself in a new environment; the goal of this research paper is to investigate the quality of peer relationships that refugee children achieve in the school environment and in their free time. In order to look more deeply into these topics, nine semi-structured interviews have been conducted with refugee children who attend schools in Zagreb and are residents of the refugee reception center Porin. The research has found that friendship is important to the children and that they establish them with domiciled children and other refugee children in an equal amount. Friendships with domiciled children are mainly restricted to the school context, while they spend more of their free time with other children from the refugee reception center. Some children show a risk of social exclusion that is connected to various types of discrimination they experienced from domiciled children. The children mainly perceive the role of the teacher in relation to asking for help regarding the school curriculum and show skepticism in cases of peer bullying.