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Refugee stories | Department of Social Services, Australian Government

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Improving the lifetime wellbeing of people and families in Australia.

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October 10, 2015

According to a 2015 report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as of the end of 2014, 19.5 million people around the world had been driven from their homes by armed conflict, persecution, natural disasters or other causes. Indeed, the current overall number of displaced persons globally represents a crisis of historic proportions, as the "number of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people worldwide has, for the first time in the post-World War II era, exceeded 50 million people," UNHCR has noted.

Among the refugees, more than 6 million were in the Middle East, Southern Africa and the East and the Horn of Africa, and more than 1 million in Europe. Among all of the conflicts in recent memory that have spurred refugee crises, the Syrian Civil War has proven to be the most extensive and severe, with 4 million registered refugees as of June 2015; the total number of refugees in the Middle East and North Africa has nearly doubled in recent years. As the numbers grow, displacement patterns are shifting away from camps and toward urban areas.

Further, a 2015 refugee crisis flowing out of Myanmar and Bangladesh has been characterized by some observers as the worst humanitarian crisis in memory in South Asia. Many have taken to leaving by water, leaving stranded boats in the Andaman Sea and Straits of Malacca; international organizations have called for surrounding countries to help shelter those in distress.

While millions of migrants cross borders within North Africa or the Middle East seeking safety, thousands attempt dangerous trips across the Mediterranean. In the first three months of 2015, more than 1,700 immigrants from North Africa died attempting to reach Europe. With many European nations still struggling with high unemployment rates, the perceived competition for jobs has caused tensions within European nations, even as they struggle with how to manage and assist their growing refugee populations. In the United States, 2014 saw a surge in unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico border, with more than 47,000 taken into custody between Oct. 1, 2013, and May 31, 2014.

A 2014 report drawn from fieldwork in Lebanon, where more than 500,000 child refugees from the Syrian conflict now live, observes that refugee children tend to have little or no access to education, sufficient nutrition or healthy living conditions. Another 2014 field stud y, based in Jordan, finds that a growing number of Syrian refugees live in urban areas, rather than in the rural camps that are stereotypically associated with large refugee populations. Many live in poor housing conditions, and their growing presence in urban areas has impacted housing markets and the availability of affordable housing. Issues of human rights violations and refugee issues are often inextricably linked, as scholars point out.

Below is a selection of research that looks at issues such as refugee living conditions, foreign aid and media coverage. The studies examine these questions through fieldwork and collection of qualitative and quantitative data on some of the world's largest and most distressed refugee populations, and look to lessons that can be drawn.

"Smuggled Futures: The Dangerous Path of the Migrant from Africa to Europe"
Tuesday Reitano; Laura Adal; Mark Shaw. Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, May 2014.

Findings: "The decision to migrate may be fueled by a multitude of motivations. Africa has the fastest population growth rate in the world, and although the continent is making momentous economic gains, it has broadly failed to translate these gains into sustainable livelihoods for its youth. Social and economic disparities, conflict, and crime in several countries throughout the continent, many Africans seek out new opportunities across the Mediterranean. It is estimated that in 80 percent of these cases, the journey is 'facilitated' by migrant smugglers and criminal groups that who provides a range of services such as transportation, fraudulent identification, corruption of border officials and settlement services. Smugglers in transit countries coordinate with smugglers in source countries to act as guides, escorting individuals across the Sahara Desert, heading towards the coast. Although some smuggling networks are organized criminal structures, many are loosely linked chains of individuals, which make it challenging for authorities to dismantle."

Abstract: "In recent years, North African (NA) countries ceased to be emigration-only countries and are now on the verge of becoming immigration as well as transit countries for economic migrants and refugees. Contextual as well as structural long-term factors are driving these changes. The ongoing crises in Africa and the Middle East are prompting strong outflows of refugees, which are likely to induce NA countries to share some common public policy and public health concerns with European countries in a near future. This article highlights some aspects of these changes, from the study of the consequences of the 2011 Libyan crisis in Tunisia. It addresses individual trajectories and health concerns of refugees in and out North Africa from a study of the Choucha camp in Tunisia. The camp opened to immigrants from Libya during the 2011 crisis and accommodated the bulk of the refugees flow to Tunisia until July 2012. The study includes a monographic approach and a qualitative survey in the Choucha camp refugees. We describe the crisis history and the health response with a focus on the camp. We then address refugees' trajectories, and health needs and concerns from the interviews we collected in the camp in April 2012."

Abstract: "Refugees are increasingly migrating to urban areas, but little research has been conducted to compare health and wellbeing outcomes of urban refugees with those based in camps. This analytic cross-sectional study investigated differences in health-related quality of life (QoL) for urban and camp-based refugees in sub-Saharan Africa, and assessed the influences of both the environment and the perceived environment on refugees' health-related QoL using the World Health Organization's Quality of Life scale (WHOQOL-BREF.).... Refugees in urban environments reported significantly higher satisfaction with overall health, physical health and environmental well being than refugees placed in camps. In multivariate analyses, urban environments were associated with better physical health for refugees, compared to camp environments. In addition, refugees' perceptions of their environment, particularly feeling safe in daily life and in the home environment, as well as being satisfied with living conditions, were more strongly associated with physical health than the environment itself, whether urban or camp-based."

"The Bali Process and Global Refugee Policy in the Asia-Pacific Region"
Kneebone, Susan. Journal of Refugee Studies, June 2014, Vol. 27, No. 4. doi:10.1093/jrs/feu015

Abstract: "This article examines the role of two regional actors in the Asia-Pacific region, namely the Bali Process and the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN), a platform of civil society organizations, as two very different models of mechanisms and agenda-setting on Global Refugee Policy (GRP). The Bali Process has limited actors and a narrow discourse on refugees which reflects a hierarchical agenda-setting process or 'steering mode'. By contrast, the APRRN is a non-state network actor which works through non-hierarchical mechanisms as a transnational activist network (TAN) and has a normative agenda. This article demonstrates the tension within GRP which is being created within the region through these two intermediaries between the global North and the global South."

Findings: "The fluctuating relationship between the Jordanian government and UNHCR has led to fluctuating protection space in the urban setting. Advocating for any policy change that suggests integration as a solution is usually "off the table" [in the Jordanian context], where the MOU has designated a 6-month resettlement period for refugees to third countries... Technical capacity and coordination within UNHCR and among its implementing partners has improved, which has allowed it to further develop its Community-Based Approach (CBA) model. However, fluctuating dialogue and trust with the refugee as well as host populations has in part, undermined the impact of such positive technical development. Decrease in donor funding and interest in protracted refugee situations will challenge the viability of using a CBA model to ensure protection space... The camp approach has both positive and negative aspects in terms of "managing" displacement in Jordan and impact flows to urban spaces."

Introduction: "This report provides an overview of Syrian migration to Turkey since the start of the revolt in Syria in March 2011. The number of displaced Syrians crossing the border into Turkey has dramatically risen with the escalating use of violence employed by the Syrian regime to suppress the revolt. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, 182,621 Syrian refugees were living in Turkey mid-February 2013. With the influx of huge numbers of Syrians into Turkey, anti-immigrant, anti-Arab discourses have surfaced among the Turkish public. Furthermore, due to the Turkish governments' openly hostile position to the Syrian regime, Syrian migration became closely linked with Turkish domestic politics and foreign policy. Those individuals and political bodies critical of the Turkish government assumed an anti-immigrant position accusing displaced Syrians of being armed, sectarian rebels. Therefore, analyzing the Syrian migrant community in Turkey means contextualizing it within the political framework of the host-society. This study utilized qualitative research methods, conducting open-ended interviews with Syrian activists, Free Syrian Army members and collecting the life stories of displaced Syrians residing in the camps and in cities in Turkey. Fieldwork for this study is limited to the provinces of Gaziantep, Kilis, Islahiye, Hatay and Istanbul."

Text: "The Syrian crisis poses an unprecedented challenge for neighboring countries. The refugee influx has resulted in a 10% population increase in Jordan and a 25% increase in Lebanon (according to UNHCR data). Turkey, Iraq and Egypt also face increasing strain on their infrastructures. With no political solution in sight, host countries are implementing new measures to alleviate the burden on their economies.... The US$2.99 billion Jordan Response Plan, endorsed by the Jordanian government, moves away from a solely aid-focused strategy, towards one that places comprehensive host community development at the front and center of the humanitarian response, to meet the needs of both refugees and host communities. However, the likelihood that this money will be raised is low; previous funding appeals have fallen markedly short of their targets. The Government contends that a funding shortfall would necessitate the reduction of other refugee services, including education, cash assistance, and protection services for women and children.... It is therefore crucial that donor countries fulfill their commitments, and the new development-centric Regional Plans be given a genuine chance. Failure to do so will cause unconscionable suffering and misery to millions."

Abstract: "This media analysis article aims to reveal, by a qualitative examination of the content of two well-established grassroots media outlets (published in English by refugees living in Kenya's two largest refugee camps) and four mainstream media outlets, the stark differences that exist between what camp refugees in Kenya identify as critical issues versus topics that Western media outlets perceive as important. The grassroots newspapers, published online from inside Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya's northern border region, have the potential to be fresh, innovative new actors in shaping global refugee policy, a counter to the mainstream media perspective that largely ignores - or oversimplifies - the refugee voice. Mainstream news outlets in the U.K. and the U.S. have not highlighted the refugee voice in Kenya, nor taken note of topics of importance in refugee-run media. This article argues that these differences in coverage support the idea that refugee-run media have the potential to be emerging voices for understanding the effects of global refugee policy, and can perhaps offer more insight than Western media sources, which may be missing the mark on exposing both the successes and failures of said policy."

Conclusions: "This review has examined the literature on Global Public Policy (GPP) to identify concepts, themes and debates that might help inform the study of Global Refugee Policy (GRP). It has outlined the origins, themes and uses of GPP, including some of the literature's starting assumptions, its focus on the role of non-state actors, and its emphasis on process, issues and norms. The review then considered some of the critiques and challenges to GPP, before outlining key areas where the lessons of the GPP literature may be relevant to the future study of GRP. In this way, the review outlined how the GPP literature may offer new tools for understanding GRP as a process, and may help to frame it in broader, macro-level ways. Most of all, GPP studies can encourage GRP frameworks to look far beyond states as the unit of analysis. The study of GPP begins with assumptions of globalization and interdependence, and approaches problems with the idea that actors can cooperate to address them. There are, however, limits to what GPP can offer. In some instances, GPP may be seen to replicate many aspects of approaches currently central to international relations, global governance and globalization studies. Moreover, the concept and assumptions of GRP may be open to many of the same criticisms scholars have voiced about GPP: it continues to need greater clarity of terms, as well as clarity on whether it is a description of policy processes already taking place, or a call to action."

Abstract: "The role of organizations in migration has received less attention than warranted; individual choice has typically been emphasized. As an in-depth illustration, we consider refugee resettlement in the United States, post-World War II, wherein intermediary organizations play(ed) a major role. Central to this system are voluntary agencies (VOLAGs) and community organizations, but secondary migration also is critical. Attention is given to all refugees between 2000 and 2010, and in greater detail to Somalis. The latter provides deeper understanding through state refugee coordinators and case studies of Columbus, Ohio, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Lewiston, Maine. Aside from process, it is evident that the geography of the foreign-born settlement has been altered. While refugee resettlement and subsequent migration is the example, we broaden that to argue that migration studies have neglected the derived nature of movement via intermediary organizations; directed migrations and/or similar interventions have played a significant, if not dominant, role in population redistribution; and organization-led migration should be considered in terms of general aspects, not simply as discrete case studies."

"Protection of Refugee Children in the Middle East and North Africa"
United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, October 2014.

Conclusions: "Children, families and other community members have a crucial role to play in preventing violence, both by reinforcing community-based protection mechanisms and in challenging harmful norms and practices that condone violence, abuse and the exploitation of children. Communities are also central in responding to the needs of child survivors of violence. The importance of promoting children's participation in their own protection cannot be overstated. Supporting advocates, including youth and adolescents, who work for positive change within refugee and local communities is, therefore, a key strategy of UNHCR's child-protection response."
Keywords: research roundup, refugees, conflict, war, children, youth

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Refugees: Research on living conditions, health, assistance efforts - Journalist's Resource

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October 10, 2015 According to a 2015 report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as of the end of 2014, 19.5 million people around the world had been driven from their homes by armed conflict, persecution, natural disasters or other causes.

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(for more information, please contact Dr. Susan McGrath (link is external) at smcgrath@yorku.ca (link sends e-mail))

This list of research themes and questions has been developed by the Refugee Research Network (RRN) at the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS) at York University to encourage the generation and mobilization of research on refugees in Canada. While the questions came out of Canadian experience, we hope there will be enough material that can be adapted in other contexts.

These priority areas of research are drawn from two reports generated by the practitioner community. The first, entitled: A Sector-Based Research Agenda: Issues Affecting Government-Assisted Refugees in Canada, was published on November 15, 2010, and compiled by Chris Friesen (ISS of BC) and Jennifer Hyndman (CRS). This research agenda focuses on government-assisted refugees and emerged in consultation with representatives from service providers across Canada. The second, entitled: Refugee Integration: Key concerns and areas for further research, was published on December 23, 2011, by the Canadian Council for Refugees (link is external). The report emerged through a consultation with settlement practitioners, private sponsors, academics, and other stakeholders to identify priority concerns regarding refugee integration.

We invite faculty and students to work with us in responding to this community-generated research agenda. The field of refugee studies is interdisciplinary and all interested scholars are encouraged to engage with this project - whether from the professional programs, the arts, or the social sciences. While some of the research questions listed below may already have been addressed by researchers, the issues raised by the practitioner community would seem to indicate that the knowledge produced may not have been sufficiently disseminated. A useful response in these cases would be to develop comprehensive literature reviews and make them widely available online. Alternatively, there are questions that have not been extensively researched and could be studied in term papers or major research papers.

Students who participate in the project will have their peer-reviewed literature reviews and research papers posted on the RRN website ( www.refugeeresearch.net (link is external)) as a resource and have an opportunity to submit their work for presentation at community-based and academic consultations and conferences. Travel support will be provided by the RRN to a number of students who have their research accepted for presentation at these events. In addition, students will receive training in developing research summaries from the Knowledge Mobilization Unit at York, where they will learn how to write about their work for non-academic audiences.

Researchers are expected to put the welfare of refugees first in any studies they undertake and to respect the principle of 'do no harm' that Mary B. Anderson (1999) outlined in her work on humanitarianism aid some years ago, i.e. no research should be undertaken if it has potentially harmful consequences in policy or practice to refugee welfare[1] . Our goal in compiling this community-generated research agenda is to improve the experiences of refugees and the policies and practices that support them. We acknowledge and understand that research can be put to unintended uses; as a result, it is important for students working on these questions to consider the potential impacts of the knowledge they produce.
General

What are the settlement outcomes for refugees (e.g. labour market participation, use of provincial income support, impact of language requirement for citizenship, impact of religion/spirituality)?

What factors contribute to barriers/successes and how can longitudinal settlement outcomes be measured?

How should integration be measured? (E.g. alternative approaches to outcome measurement with regards to employment success and other integration factors; considering refugees' 'sense of belonging' as measure of integration.)

By immigration category & length of time in Canada

What are the differences in a) eligibility for, b) availability of, and c) uptake of settlement assistance services among GARs, PSRs, Refugees Landed in Canada, and non-refugee immigrants, across the provinces?

How do the differences between refugee categories (i.e. inland refugees, GARs, and PSRs) impact settlement and integration experiences?

Are there differences in integration experiences between different groups? (E.g. first and second generation refugee families; refugee children and children from other categories of immigration.)

What are the consequences for inland refugee claimants of waiting for their claims to be processed? (Anecdotal evidence suggests that hardships experienced in the initial years in Canada can have profound and long-lasting consequences for integration.)

What are the impacts of temporary status experienced by refugee claimants and those coming from protracted refugee situations?

Employment

How do refugees find their first job?

How does immigration status on arrival interact with other factors to influence access to employment over time? (Longitudinal study following first 5 years after arrival.)

What is the impact of access to provincial employability programs on arrival?

How do language, discrimination, education, and other factors influence access to employment upon arrival and over time?

Do refugees face particular issues with respect to credential recognition and accessing appropriate employment? (E.g. are there psychological barriers to "starting again" that may prevent some refugees from getting their credentials recognized?)

What might be some innovative ways for refugees with work experience in their home countries to use their skills? (Anecdotal evidence suggests that many refugees have transferable skills that go unrecognized.)

What are the experiences of older adult refugees in relation to access to employment and labour market integration? (E.g. issues related to limited use of English/French. fragile health.)

What are some alternative methods for measuring employment success?

Do refugees face discrimination in the labour market?

Health, mental health, and trauma-related issues

What are the mental health issues of GARs (government assisted refugees) and what treatment models and/or approaches are culturally appropriate?

What are some affordable alternative ways of maintaining mental health? (E.g. social groups, physical activity, nutrition, etc.)

Are there barriers to the uptake of mental health services by refugees? (E.g. issues around concepts of mental health; stigmatization of mental health.)

What physical health issues do refugees face? (Including HIV/AIDS.)

What are the health needs of older adult refugees and of refugees with disabilities?

What are the impacts of health issues on social and economic integration?

Language training programs

What are some of the barriers that refugees face in accessing existing language training programs?

What are some of the shortcomings of existing language training programs for refugees? (E.g. lack of adaptation of language training for people who are illiterate or have low levels of education; lack of job-specific language training.)

Housing issues

Do refugees face barriers in terms of access to housing?

Does discrimination based on refugee status play a role in the housing market?

What are the housing experiences of refugees outside of major urban centres?

What is the impact of regionalization and of specific settlement areas on individuals and families?

What is the relationship between place and housing experiences? (E.g. big city, small community; type of neighbourhood.)

Is there a role for cooperative models of housing for refugee settlement?

Other economic issues that affect settlement

Transportation loans
How does refugees' repayment of transportation loans impact their settlement and integration outcomes? (E.g. employment, language acquisition, high school completion rates. Particular attention to impacts on individual refugees versus families, as well as on youth.)

Remittance obligations
What are the impacts on integration of refugees with family members abroad to whom they have financial responsibilities?

Settlement program coordination & evaluation

Does centralization of settlement services in urban centres form a barrier to integration? (E.g. differences in access to settlement services outside of urban centres or where services are centralized; comparison of experiences between smaller communities and larger cities.)

Can an evaluation framework be developed that addresses outcomes, is agreed upon by service providers and funders, and does not require the reallocation of resources from programs?

Do particular pilot programs or experiments lead to improved outcomes for refugees? (E.g. Local Immigration Partnerships as good model of coordination.)

Could alternative models of settlement program coordination be used?

Do different provincial jurisdictions have an impact on access to settlement services and mainstream social welfare services?

How well are various services coordinated within regions?

Government Assisted Refugee (GAR) youth

How well are GAR youth settling in Canada over time? How do family and integration-related factors/needs impact GAR youth's settlement and high school completion rates?

How do single/lone parents raising refugee youth who have daycare needs and are attending regular school fare?

What are GAR youth's experiences with accessing employment? (E.g. lack of access to employability programs.)

Do refugee youth have unique education needs and if so, what are they and how can they be addressed?

Need for longitudinal studies to follow youth progress over time.

Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) funding

Does the limited RAP funding structure reflect the different needs of refugees, especially the (perceived) higher medical requirements of GARs who arrived after new selection criteria were implemented under the 2002 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA)?

Is there a way to allocate settlement resources that corresponds to different levels of need for post-IRPA refugees?

How effectively does RAP income support the settlement and integration of GARs? (Does it set them up for failure?)

Cost-of-living or livelihood studies would be helpful - in large cities where costs are higher, a large study that documents food bank access would be relevant.

What is the impact of delayed family reunification on refugees? How do family dynamics change (including gender relations) and does this impact settlement?

How do delays in reunification affect single/lone parents who face the double stress of raising children alone and supporting a spouse abroad?

What are the integration experiences of refugees arriving with their families and how do those compare to those of refugees arriving alone and awaiting reunification?

What has been the impact of the moratorium on applications for sponsorship of parents and grandparents?

What challenges do refugees face due to family separation? (E.g. mental health issues; economic responsibilities, remittances.)

Pre-arrival information-sharing

How effective is pre-departure training for refugees? What is its impact on settlement outcomes?

What gaps, if any, exist in pre-arrival orientation and information-sharing, and how can they be filled?

Critical content analysis of orientation abroad materials would be valuable.

What factors should be considered in destining refugees? Which factors drive secondary migration? What factors drive retention?

How many refugees from one ethnic/national group should be destined to a specific location in order to maximize retention?

How can better matches be created between destination and refugees' needs?

Protracted refugee situations (PRS)

What are the settlement needs and outcomes of refugees from protracted situations compared to those from shorter term displacements? (Especially in terms of health and mental health needs and outcomes.)

Do refugees from protracted situations require a special program that addresses their learning needs as these relate to language and professional training? (Development of a 'Protracted Refugee Benchmark' to address this?)

Discrimination & stereotyping

How can discrimination/prejudice against and stereotypes of refugees be addressed in host communities?

What tools can be created to educate Canadian communities to dispel stereotypes and help prepare for the arrival of newcomers? (E.g. public awareness campaigns about the situations of claimants awaiting status determination.)

What approaches can be followed to educate locally elected government representatives on the needs of the refugee population in their jurisdictions?

[1] Anderson, M. B. (1999) Do No Harm: How Aid Can Support Peace or War, Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers; 3rd Printing edition.
RRN-refugee-related-research-themes-questions-2013.pdf

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Refugee -related research themes & questions for students - Refugee Research Network

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(for more information, please contact Dr. Susan McGrath (link is external) at smcgrath@yorku.ca (link sends e-mail)) This list of research themes and questions has been developed by the Refugee Research Network (RRN) at the Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS) at York University to encourage the generation and mobilization of research on refugees in Canada.