Search Results (86)

Refugee settlements are often positioned around natural borders, which often have a heightened danger of environmental hazards. Here, we aim to better understand why settlements are in environmentally vulnerable land and what social and physical factors contribute to this phenomenon. To do this, we present a holistic narrative that maps climate threats among displaced populations in Cox’s Bazar district, Bangladesh, while contextualizing environmental vulnerability by incorporating historical and social constraints. Using ArcGIS, an online mapping program, we illustrate the overlap between different climatic events and how these vulnerabilities compound and intensify one another. We also discuss the history of natural migration and settlement pertaining to the physical landscape and the sociopolitical reasons refugees remain in environmentally vulnerable areas. Overall, we find an emerging trend that may be broadly applicable to instances of forced displacement; physical settlement locations near international borders demarcated by landforms may be more vulnerable to the effects of climate change and extreme climate events. However, physical, social, and political reasons often cement these locations. Recommendations include enhancing the resilience of refugee camps through infrastructure improvements, sustainable land management, and reforestation efforts, which would benefit both the environment and local and refugee communities. Full article

Global data reveal ongoing inequalities faced by minorities, often reinforced by media portrayals that depict them as threats, victims, or passive individuals without agency. While media framing has been extensively studied, especially in terms of media content and representation, few studies have examined how journalists perceive and navigate the coverage of minorities. This study addresses that gap by examining how Greek journalists perceive mainstream media coverage of refugees and migrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with mental health challenges, with particular attention to their sourcing practices and sense of ethical responsibility. Fourteen journalists participated in semi-structured interviews, and thematic analysis was applied to identify key patterns. Journalists described dominant media narratives as fragmented, stereotypical, and dehumanizing, noting the frequent use of linguistic inaccuracies, misinformation, and the absence of personal stories. At the same time, they reported opportunities within their own sourcing practices to promote more inclusive and accurate coverage. Ethical concerns were expressed on three levels—union; corporate; and personal—with calls for clearer editorial guidelines and dedicated training. Many participants emphasized the role of personal ethics as a guiding compass in navigating complex newsroom pressures. Full article

Although the relationship between attachment and mental health has been widely studied, no systematic review has focused specifically on refugee populations. Objectives: This systematic review examines associations between attachment patterns and psychological distress in refugees—a population at elevated risk for mental health disorders due to forced displacement and trauma. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines. we searched PubMed, PsycINFO, and Web of Science (last search: 5 October 2024). Studies were included if they examined the relationship between attachment and psychological distress or disorders in refugees, presented empirical data, were peer-reviewed, were published from 2004 onward in English, and met quality criteria based on CASP and JBI checklists. Studies were excluded if they did not focus on refugees, lacked empirical data, did not assess both attachment and psychological distress, were not peer-reviewed, or consisted of grey literature. A narrative synthesis was conducted. Results: Of 2.951 records, 11 studies with 1.319 participants met inclusion criteria. Five studies examined adults, four children, and two adolescents. Insecure and unresolved attachment were consistently linked to higher psychological distress, particularly PTSD, especially in adults. In children, insecure attachment was associated with parental mental health problems and dysfunctional parenting, whereas secure attachment buffered the effects of parental PTSD. Discussion: Limitations include small sample sizes, cultural and linguistic complexity, inconsistent definitions of “refugee”, and varied assessment methods. Conclusions: Attachment insecurity is strongly associated with psychological distress in refugees, mirroring patterns in Western clinical populations. Findings support the integration of attachment-informed approaches into refugee mental health care. Funding: This review was funded by the Köhler Stiftung and registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024590759). Full article

This article showcases Syrian refugees’ narratives of trauma and survival, through a phenomenological approach to in-depth research, with refugees who have resettled in Australia. It explores their journey towards resettlement, highlighting the nexus between displacement in the home–transit–host countries and the biopsychosocial determinants of mental health. Since the 2011 uprising, over 12 million Syrians have been displaced, both internally and worldwide. A refugee’s journey to safety often involves multiple displacements and exposure to dangerous, life-threatening, and dehumanising experiences. We have therefore adopted a qualitative approach that counters this dehumanisation by honouring the unique humanity in the voice of each of our research participants. This article aims to portray the nuanced interdependence between the individual, social, and political contexts of seven Syrian refugees’ lived experiences through an in-depth consideration of what they have told us, how they narrate their stories, and the meanings they ascribe to what they have experienced. The findings of this small yet eloquent study reinforce the insight that the journey to resettlement is far from linear and that resettlement itself is a process marked by recurrent and persistent complexities. The article suggests that the resilience of these refugees is best understood as an ethical and altruistic commitment to collective well-being, transcending notions of individual fortitude. Full article

The UK government has detailed guidelines for assessing and guiding LGBTQI+ asylum seekers through the asylum process in the UK. This is an explorative paper assessing whether post the enactment of the Nationalities and Boarders Act 2022 the media narrative around queer refugees has had any influence on UK government policy. It does this by laying out the baseline UK LGBTQ+ asylum seeker legislative and UK civil service guidance and analysing UK newspapers in a media data analysis of mainstream UK media websites to see if there is any media influence on legislation or guidance post-enactment of the NBA 2022. These findings indicate there was no discernible influence on UK government policy towards LGBTQ+ asylum seekers by mainstream UK news media (Mainstream media for this research is defined as national newspapers with large website traffic, such as The Guardian, The Times, and The Daily Mail. These sources were chosen due to their digital footprint and searchability, which enabled textual analysis of the content) post-enactment of the NBA 2022 on 28 April 2022. In addition, the doctrinal analysis shows that the UK government is both opaque about LGBTQ+ asylum statistics and the outcome of Stage 1 asylum decisions, making it difficult to judge what sources influence these decisions and data. This makes it difficult for the UK media to cover these stories with clarity unless a claimant waives their right to anonymity, or a leak happens. Given the available data, it is also apparent that there has been a year-on-year decrease in LGBTQ asylum appeals, suggesting that while the media narrative may not be influencing policy, the New Plan itself may be having a chilling influence on LGBTQ asylum claims. More research over a longer period of time is required to explore this. Full article

Populist leaders have strategically exploited conspiracy theories as powerful political tools to shape national identities, delegitimise opponents, and consolidate their authority. This paper examines the historical genealogy of conspiratorial populism, tracing its evolution across distinct political and economic crises from the 1970s to the present. Using a threefold analytical framework—(1) constructing external threats, (2) demonising domestic elites, and (3) positioning populists as the defenders of the “pure people”—the study demonstrates how conspiracy theories have been central to the rise and endurance of nativist populism. By analysing key historical waves—ranging from the economic turmoil of the 1970s, the collapse of communism, the post-9/11 security environment, the 2008 financial crisis, and the 2015 refugee crisis, to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing geopolitical conflicts—this paper highlights how conspiratorial narratives have been repeatedly adapted to shifting socio-political contexts. Full article

War refugees are more likely to present psychological disorders, such as PTSD. Memory impairments often hinder their ability to recall and integrate traumatic events. This study investigated the memory capacity of 133 Syrian refugee children and adolescents in Lebanon and examined the moderating role of resilience in the relationship between exposure to negative events, post-traumatic stress reactions, and traumatic events recollection. Participants completed the Childhood War Trauma Questionnaire (CWTQ), Post-Traumatic Symptom Reactions Checklist for Children (PTSR-C), and Child and Youth Resilience Measure-28 (CYRM-28). They also performed a timeline exercise, part of Narrative Exposure Therapy, in which they organized and described their positive and negative life memories. Results showed that memories of traumatic events were lower than potentially traumatic events that participants had witnessed. This difference increased as post-traumatic stress increased. Moreover, potentially traumatic events experienced predicted post-traumatic stress reactions, and these predicted negative memories recalled. Participants’ resilience moderated the association between post-traumatic reactions and remembered traumatic memories showing that only for children and adolescents with higher resilience post-traumatic symptoms predicted trauma-related memories. The results highlight meaning making and sharing capacities of natural relational contexts (family, peers, etc.) as potential key processes to be promoted to overcome and process traumatic events. Full article

One of the United States’ two dominant political parties resembles global political parties favoring authoritarianism. Such directives are expressed through the transformed Republican party’s authoritarian messaging, policies, and many of its member’s behavior. The devastating impact of an energized U.S. authoritarian political party and the narrow narrative of who is and should be in the United States and a U.S. citizen is a necessary discussion following the U.S. 2024 Presidential election. It is foreseeable that an autocratic leader of the U.S. will be catastrophic for refugees, particularly refugees of color and especially refugees in the U.S. South, as the liberal ideals of democracy that undergird the institutions and policies that support U.S. refugee admissions and resettlement are attacked. Full article

In this article, I analyse the complexity of the status of “migrant” in relation to myths of belonging and what we call “home”. I look at status labels that Iranian border-crossers embrace after migrating to the Global North and the ways in which they practice adaptability in accordance with the systemic and structural meanings associated with their migration status and their racial complexity. Ethnic and Racial labels adopted by Iranian migrants can include “Persian”, “Iranian”, “Middle Eastern”, “White”, or “Aryan”, and migration status labels range from “migrant” to “refugees and asylum seekers”, “exiles”, “expats” etc. Using a mixed approach of digital ethnographies, autoethnography and textual analysis, together with an intersectional and decolonial lens, I investigate the ways in which migration status such as skilled categories are associated with not only “fitting” into the neoliberal and capitalist systems of border crossing but also “blending” into racial hierarchies and maintaining class status post migration within White contexts. This article takes an empathetic approach to the lived experiences of minority and racially complex migrants and emphasises the epistemic value of their narratives and the ways in which these stories can inform us about the covert systemic structural and racially loaded bias that exists within migration economies of the Global North. Full article

The issue of suicide has garnered considerable attention in refugee scholarship, where research examines how unique forced migration and resettlement challenges exacerbate risks and vulnerabilities to suicide. However, there are gaps in understanding the social and cultural factors shaping the lived experience of suicide in refugee communities. Using the example of young people of African backgrounds in Australia, this paper presents a collaboration among two academics and two South Sudanese youth advocates to explore the sociocultural factors impacting suicidality through reflexive discussions and collaborative poetry. This combined approach offered a unique and nuanced conceptual and methodological framework to contribute culturally specific narratives to critical suicide studies and challenge western-centric and biomedical perspectives on suicide. The process highlighted (i) the lack of dialogue about suicide in the South Sudanese community and (ii) the absence of community-based support structures to address suicide. This paper provides useful insights into the culturally specific context of suicide, adding refugee perspectives to the discipline of critical suicide studies. Full article

Our study aimed to explore the lived experiences of Venezuelan refugee/migrant women and girls with disabilities to guide humanitarian assistance. The data analysed was part of a larger cross-sectional study whereby refugees and migrants in Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil were asked to share the migration experiences of a Venezuelan woman or girl. The sample for this analysis was drawn from one of the survey questions that asked participants whether the woman/girl in the narrative identified as a person with a disability. Thematic analysis using inductive coding was performed. A total of 126 narratives were included in the final analysis, of which four major themes were identified. Venezuelan refugees and migrants with disabilities described experiences of discrimination, violence, and physical challenges, such as exacerbation of symptoms while in transit. In host countries, refugees and migrants experienced a lack of disability-related accommodations in the workplace and long wait times when trying to obtain healthcare. Since discrimination is a cross-cutting issue, human rights awareness highlighting the dignity of persons with disabilities is imperative. Resources and support for Venezuelan refugee and migrant women and girls with disabilities should aim to create accessible employment opportunities, safe and timely access to medical care, and prioritise violence prevention. Full article

Ample scholarship thoroughly documents how modern humanitarian aid enacts legacies of colonialism and processes of Westernization through the imposition of foreign values and promotion of ‘universal’ norms. Extensive research has also explored processes of socio-cultural-moral transformation due to crisis and displacement. This paper extends this work by demonstrating an explicit connection between the two. Drawing on 10 months of ethnographic research that examined how Burundian refugees in Tanzania experience humanitarian social emotional learning (SEL), findings reveal various intersecting lines of crisis in the Nduta refugee camp. This research illuminates how SEL interacts with these lines of crisis to exacerbate intergenerational tensions. The self-centric values promoted through SEL and the pedagogies it employs conflict with the collectivist ethos of the Nduta community, thus breaking the Burundian generational contract of reciprocity, solidarity, and moral responsibility. In this context, SEL operates on conflicting narratives of crisis that clash with generational hopes for the prevention of future crisis in Burundi. These generational fractures are resulting in fears across the Nduta community that the decline of traditional Burundian values and communitarian ethos will not only perpetuate intergenerational experiences of crisis but has also initiated the perceived erasure of their culture and the essence of their humanity. Full article

The media plays a crucial role in framing and representing humanitarian crises, significantly influencing public opinion. The representation of these crises in the media directly impacts the dissemination of information to the global public. One prominent international crisis is the plight of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, which dates back to the 1970s. News about the Rohingya refugees has been a major humanitarian topic on the global stage. The findings of this study reveal that Rohingya refugees are predominantly represented negatively in popular media platforms in India. Negative framing, including dehumanization and misrepresentation, is often employed in political discourse and developments. The portrayal of Rohingya refugees in Indian media frequently resorts to one-dimensional and stereotypical depictions. The frequent occurrence of dehumanization and misrepresentation, identifiable through the use of language and selective reporting practices, indicates a strong alignment of most Indian mainstream media with the government’s position. However, it is noteworthy that some platforms maintain a critical perspective. The portrayal of Rohingya refugees in India’s mainstream news outlet’s online platforms, such as Hindustan Times Online, NDTV Online, The Times of India Online, and India Today Online, reveals a complex landscape with varying narratives and governmental alignments. Full article

This article is based on a months-long investigation and aims to contribute to the scientific understanding of the process of racialisation of the sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia. The starting point of our research was the speech given by the Tunisian president, Kais Saied, in February 2023. In the light of new negotiations with the EU for technical, administrative, and financial support in the management of migration in the Mediterranean, the president emphasised the importance of Tunisia being and remaining Arab and Muslim. The sub-Saharan migrants who have penetrated the Mediterranean area in large numbers, mostly via Libya or Algeria, are black. Many of them are also Christians. The Tunisian case regarding the racialisation of migrants is similar to the dynamics of political discourses and actions of systemic racialisation in European countries. Our thesis is that racialisation based on religion and/or skin colour is part of a more complex dynamic, defined by the capitalist mode of production, which, due to its inner contradictions, simultaneously requires and expels human labour force. We claim that the permanently expelled constitute surplus populations that are, due to not being disciplined by the capitalist markets, considered dangerous, which is why they fall under police jurisdiction. This process of policing surplus populations is what constitutes contemporary systemic racism as a special mode of state politics, whereby “race” is the result of said process and not determined by its biological, religious, ethnic, or cultural characteristics. We support our thesis by a fieldwork study consisting of qualitative interviews with Tunisian experts, conducted based on purposive sampling and subsequent qualitative coding, as well as of three personal narrative interviews, which were conducted with sub-Saharan migrants from Cameroon, who had been living in a refugee “village” in the north of Tunisia for more than a year. Full article