Afghan refugees experienced a surge of crisis in August 2021 after the U.S. troops withdrew operations in Afghanistan, leaving them exposed to the harms of the Taliban regime. Sudden evacuation led ...to family separation and uncertainty. Furthermore, the trauma of leaving loved ones behind and resettling into a new country of which this group had limited familiarity could have challenges in terms of integration. Through our brief practice note, we discuss the challenges faced by Afghan refugees resettling in the United States during these difficult times, along with implications for practitioners and service providers. We highlight strategies to ensure culturally responsive service provision for these refugees.
Often new arrivals from refugee backgrounds have experienced poor health and limited access to healthcare services. The maternal and child health (MCH) service in Victoria, Australia, is a joint ...local and state government operated, cost-free service available to all mothers of children aged 0-6 years. Although well-child healthcare visits are useful in identifying health issues early, there has been limited investigation in the use of these services for families from refugee backgrounds. This study aims to explore experiences of using MCH services, from the perspective of families from refugee backgrounds and service providers.
We used a qualitative study design informed by the socioecological model of health and a cultural competence approach. Two geographical areas of Melbourne were selected to invite participants. Seven focus groups were conducted with 87 mothers from Karen, Iraqi, Assyrian Chaldean, Lebanese, South Sudanese and Bhutanese backgrounds, who had lived an average of 4.7 years in Australia (range one month-18 years). Participants had a total of 249 children, of these 150 were born in Australia. Four focus groups and five interviews were conducted with MCH nurses, other healthcare providers and bicultural workers.
Four themes were identified: facilitating access to MCH services; promoting continued engagement with the MCH service; language challenges; and what is working well and could be done better. Several processes were identified that facilitated initial access to the MCH service but there were implications for continued use of the service. The MCH service was not formally notified of new parents arriving with young children. Pre-arranged group appointments by MCH nurses for parents who attended playgroups worked well to increase ongoing service engagement. Barriers for parents in using MCH services included access to transportation, lack of confidence in speaking English and making phone bookings. Service users and providers reported that continuity of nurse and interpreter is preferred for increasing client-provider trust and ongoing engagement.
Although participants who had children born in Melbourne had good initial access to, and experience of, using MCH services, significant barriers remain. A systems-oriented, culturally competent approach to service provision would improve the service utilisation experience for parents and providers, including formalising links and notifications between settlement services and MCH services.
ABSTRACTThis report examines the role of pre- and post-migration trauma in explaining differences in refugee and immigrant mental health. Data were derived from mother-youth refugee and immigrant ...dyads from six countries of origin who were living in Canada at the time of the study. Youth reports of emotional problems (EP) and aggressive behavior (AB) were the mental health outcomes. EP and AB were regressed on predictor blocksa) status (refugee versus immigrant), visible minority, and gender; b) premigration trauma and postmigration discrimination; c) parent and youth human and social capital; d) poverty, neighborhood, and schools. Refugees suffered higher levels of EP and AB, premigration traumas, and discrimination. Postmigration perception of discrimination predicted both EP and AB and explained immigrant versus refugee differences in EP. Antirefugee discrimination net of discrimination based on immigrant or visible minority status has deleterious mental health consequences.
Offering the first interdisciplinary study of refugees in the Caribbean, Central America, and the United States, Asylum Speakers relates current theoretical debates about hospitality and ...cosmopolitanism to the actual conditions of refugees. In doing so, the author weighs the questions of truth valueassociated with various modes of witnessing to explore the function of testimonial discourse in constructing refugee subjectivity in New World cultural and political formations. By examining literary works by such writers as Edwidge Danticat, Nikl Payen, Kamau Brathwaite, Francisco Goldman, Julia Alvarez, Ivonne Lamazares, and Cecilia Rodr!guez Milans, theoretical work by Jacques Derrida, Edouard Glissant, and Wilson Harris, as well as human rights documents, government documents, photography, and historical studies, Asylum Speakers constructs a complex picture of New World refugees that expands current discussions of diaspora and migration, demonstrating that the peripheral nature of refugee testimonial narratives requires us to reshape the boundaries of U.S. ethnic and postcolonial studies.
Instytut Rozwoju Wsi i Rolnictwa Polskiej Akademii Nauk (IRWiR PAN) we współpracy z Fundacją Badań Wiejsko-Miejskich RURall oraz Fundacją Europejski Fundusz Rozwoju Wsi Polskiej ogłosił konkurs na ...wspomnienia, dzienniki i pamiętniki pod nazwą: „Moja społeczność lokalna wobec uchodźców”.
Empirically assessing the needs of refugees in camps is critical to the improvement of existing policies and programs that aim at enhancing their well-being. By neglecting the needs of refugees, ...interventions may fail to capture the complex patterns of refugees' daily lives within camps. This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the needs of encamped Malian refugees in Northern Burkina Faso following the 2012-armed conflict. In addition to assessing the needs of Malian refugees, the study aimed to critically assess from an upstream perspective the degree of their involvement in policies and practices that are targeted towards improving their livelihood.
We took an "upstream" view on the lives of Malian refugees to identify their unmet needs. A purposive sampling strategy was employed to collect data from various media sources, including data aggregated from the website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The most populous refugee camp (Mentao) was visited in September 2012 and in-depth group discussion and interviews were conducted with key informants, including nine camp representatives and four officials from the central and decentralized administrations.
Media canvass combined with the UNHCR level 2 census revealed a flawed headcount of refugees, which was 205.4% higher than the real number in Burkina Faso. Although refugees live harmoniously with the natives and their security has been assured, they strongly complained about the number of unused food items distributed. Camps were distributed among humanitarian organizations leading to differential advantage and resources from one camp to another. Additionally, idleness, lack of classrooms facilities for pre-school children and lack of continuous healthcare services were major concerns raised. Further, refugees expressed limited involvement in the planning and implementation of programs that are related to their welfare.
This study revealed that refugees' voices were not taken into consideration in making tailor-made programs. This calls for more comprehensive surge capacity to deal with refugees' basic needs. Further, a strong leadership from hoststate should be encouraged to offer equal opportunities to refugees regardless of their camps. Finally, an innovative strategy is needed to build a reliable database that could enhance the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs.
Refugee children are often exposed to substantial trauma, placing them at increased risk for mental illness. However, this risk can be mitigated by a capacity for resilience, conferred from multiple ...ecological systems (e.g., family, community), including at an individual biological level. We examined the ability of hair cortisol concentrations and polygenic scores for mental health to predict risk and resilience in a sample of Syrian refugee children (n = 1359). Children were categorized as either at-risk or resilient depending on clinical thresholds for posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and externalizing behavior problems. Logistic regression was used to examine main and interacting effects while controlling for covariates. Elevated hair cortisol concentrations were significantly associated with reduced resilience (odds ratio (OR)=0.58, 95%CI 0.40, 0.83) while controlling for levels of war exposure. Polygenic scores for depression, self-harm, and neuroticism were not found to have any significant main effects. However, a significant interaction emerged between hair cortisol and polygenic scores for depression (OR=0.04, 95%CI 0.003 0.47), suggesting that children predisposed to depression were more at risk for mental health problems when hair cortisol concentrations were high. Our results suggest that biomarkers (separately and in combination) might support early identification of refugee children at risk for mental health problems.
The history of Europe as a continent of refugees European history has been permeated with refugees. The Outsiders chronicles every major refugee movement since 1492, when the Catholic rulers of Spain ...set in motion the first mass flight and expulsion in modern European history. Philipp Ther provides needed perspective on today's "refugee crisis, " demonstrating how Europe has taken in far greater numbers of refugees in earlier periods of its history, in wartime as well as peacetime. His sweeping narrative crosses the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, taking readers from the Middle East to the shores of America.In this compelling book, Ther examines the major causes of mass flight, from religious intolerance and ethnic cleansing to political persecution and war. He describes the perils and traumas of flight and explains why refugees and asylum seekers have been welcomed in some periods—such as during the Cold War—and why they are rejected in times such as our own. He also examines the afterlives of the refugees in the receiving countries, which almost always benefited from admitting them. Tracing the lengthy routes of the refugees, he reconceptualizes Europe as a unit of geography and historiography. Turning to the history of refugees in the United States, Ther also discusses the anti-refugee politics of the Trump administration, explaining why they are un-American and bad for the country.By setting mass flight against fifteen biographical case studies, and drawing on his subjects' experiences, itineraries, and personal convictions, Ther puts a human face on a global phenomenon that concerns all of us.
(1) Background: War and displacement are well-known predictors of negative mental health outcomes among affected populations. This is especially relevant for refugees of war, particularly women, who ...often repress their mental health needs due to family responsibilities, social stigma, and/or cultural pressures. In this study, we compared the mental health status of urban Syrian refugee women (
= 139) with local Jordanian women (
= 160). (2) Methods: Psychometrically validated Afghan Symptom Checklist (ASC), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ) examined psychological distress, perceived stress, and mental health, respectively. (3) Results: According to independent
-tests, Syrian refugee women scored higher than Jordanian women on the ASC mean score (SD): 60.79 (16.67) vs. 53.71 (17.80),
< 0.001, PSS mean score (SD): 31.59 (8.45) vs. 26.94 (7.37),
< 0.001, and SRQ mean score (SD): 11.82 (4.30) vs. 10.21 (4.72),
= 0.002. Interestingly, both Syrian refugee and Jordanian women scored higher than the clinical cutoff in the SRQ. Regression analyses indicated that more educated women were less likely to score high on the SRQ (β = -0.143,
= 0.019), particularly in the anxiety and somatic symptoms subscale (β = -0.133,
= 0.021), and were less likely to exhibit symptoms of ruminative sadness (β = -0.138,
= 0.027). Employed women were more likely to exhibit high coping ability than unemployed women (β = 0.144,
= 0.012). (4) Conclusions: Syrian refugee women scored higher than Jordanian women in all used mental health scales. Access to mental health services and enhancing educational opportunities would help mitigate perceived stress and may enhance stress-coping abilities.
A significant outcome of the global crisis for refugees has been the abandonment of forced migrants to live in makeshift camps inside the EU. This paper details how state authorities have prevented ...refugees from surviving with formal provision, leading directly to thousands having to live in hazardous spaces such as the informal camp in Calais, the site of this study. We then explore the violent consequences of this abandonment. By bringing together thus far poorly integrated literatures on bio/necropolitics (Michel Foucault; Achille Mbembe) and structural violence (Johan Galtung), we retheorize the connections between deliberate political indifference towards refugees and the physiological violence they suffer. In framing the management of refugees as a series of violent inactions, we demonstrate how the biopolitics of migrant control has given way to necropolitical brutality. Advancing geographies of violence and migration, the paper argues that political inaction, as well as action, can be used as a means of control.
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