scholarly journals The expected well-being of urban refugees and asylum-seekers in Johannesburg

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talita Greyling
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Urban Refugees ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Forced Migrants ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

The influx of asylum-seekers and refugees from across Africa into democratic South Africa has increased significantly. The aim of this paper is to determine the factors that influences the expect well-being of this unique group. Expected well-being is an important determinant of both the decision to migrate and the choice of a country of destination. Knowledge about this determinant therefore informs refugee policies. The results show that only a few of the factors found in the literature explaining the expected well-being of voluntary migrants also explain the expected well-being of forced migrants. However, a number of factors found in the literature that explain the subjective well-being and well-being in general of refugees and asylum-seekers also went towards explaining the expected well-being of this group. These factors include: government assistance, culture, the time spent in South Africa, economic factors, crime, refugee status, reasons for leaving the home countries and the number of people staying in a house in the receiving country. The findings of this study emphasise the differences between forced and voluntary migrants and highlight the factors that influence the expected well-being of forced migrants. These in turn shed light on migration decisions and the choice of destination countries.

scholarly journals Insiders but Outsiders: The Struggle for the Inclusion of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in South Africa

Refuge ◽  
2007 ◽  
pp. 57-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Florencia Belvedere
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Urban Refugees ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

This article examines the politics of urban refugees in South Africa. It shows that despite South Africa’s adoption of an encompassing rights-regarding legal framework that has the potential to be inclusive towards asylum seekers and refugees in the country and afford them basic human rights and protection, asylum seekers and refugees nonetheless remain “internally excluded,” predominantly as a result of practices adopted by a nationalist Department of Home Affairs to implement refugee legislation and by the UNHCR in its quest to prioritize the safeguarding of the institution of asylum. The article also shows how the adoption of these practices has been facilitated by a construction of asylum seekers and refugees as “bogus” claimants who have no place in post-apartheid South Africa.

Enhancing food-related agency in refugees and asylum seekers: A driver to resilience and regenerative empowerment

2021 ◽  
pp. 89-104
Author(s):  
Maria Giovanna Onorati
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Participatory Approach ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Forced Migrants ◽  
Research Action ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers

The paper argues the importance of food in the contexts of "forced migration" and the promising impact of enhancing food-related capabilities on refugees' em-powerment and social inclusion. To support the argument, the Author presents a pilot project based on research-action and providing food training for 39 refugees hosted in Piedmont. The research findings show that a participatory approach to training that values prior culinary learning, and the use of narrative interviews elic-iting food stories, may favour empowerment and social inclusion. Recovering food-related agency within refugees' unfinished journeys contributes to an em-powerment going beyond a sedentarist model of integration, namely a one-way and singularly place-bound demand of adaptation. Food agency is a basic enti-tlement that proves to be a major source of well-being for forced migrants, as well as a regenerative occasion for both healing ‘refugee gaps', and providing a more sustainable approach to resources.

scholarly journals Analysis of Policies to Protect the Health of Urban Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Thailand: A Qualitative Study and Delphi Survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (20) ◽  
pp. 10566
Author(s):  
Sataporn Julchoo ◽  
Mathudara Phaiyarom ◽  
Pigunkaew Sinam ◽  
Watinee Kunpeuk ◽  
Nareerut Pudpong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Delphi Survey ◽  
Work Permit ◽  
Urban Refugees ◽  
Inclusive Policy ◽  
The Government ◽  
Policy Direction ◽  
The Right ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers

The health of urban refugees and asylum seekers (URAS) in Bangkok has been neglected and health policies for USAR have not materialized. This study aimed to explore the views of stakeholders on policies to protect URAS well-being in Thailand. This study conducted a mixed-methods approach comprising both in-depth interviews and Delphi survey. The interview findings revealed six main themes: (1) the government position on URAS; (2) opinions on Thailand becoming a party of the 1951 Refugee Convention; (3) NGOs on health promotion for URAS; (4) options on health insurance management for URAS; (5) working potential of URAS; and (6) uncertainty of future life plans for URAS. The Delphi survey showed that URAS should have the right to acquire a work permit and be enrolled in the public insurance scheme managed by the Ministry of Public Health. Moreover, the ideology of national security was more influential than the concept of human rights. The ambiguity of the central authorities’ policy direction to take care of URAS creates haphazard legal interpretations. The Delphi survey findings suggested the need for a more inclusive policy for URAS, however actual policy implementation requires further research on policy feasibility and acceptance by the wider public.

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield: Narratives on the road to asylum

2020 ◽  
pp. 136346152090163
Author(s):  
Debbie C Hocking
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Framework Analysis ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Determination Process ◽  
The Impact

This study aimed to explore the ecological influences on subjective well-being identified by current and former community-dwelling asylum seekers engaged in the process of Refugee Status Determination in Australia. This article presents the qualitative component of a prospective mixed-methods study of 131 asylum seekers and refugees (T1, N = 131; T2, N = 56). The Framework Analysis method was employed to qualitatively analyse the narrative data derived from 187 semi-structured interviews documenting pre-, peri-, and post-migration experiences, and the impact of Australia’s asylum policies and procedures. Four overarching themes comprising 15 sub-themes emerged: The Refugee Status Determination process (Waiting; Uncertainty; Worry) ; Psychosocial factors (Un/employment & gainful activity; Medicare; Accommodation; Family separation & loneliness; Loss) ; Health and well-being (Mental health; Physical health & somatic issues; Hopelessness; Helplessness) ; and Protective factors (Hope; Support & social connectivity; Religion). The complex interface between the Refugee Status Determination process, un/employment, and mental health concerns was the most salient finding. Policy implications are discussed in relation to the application of the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and the Guidelines on the Judicial Approach to Expert Medical Evidence.

scholarly journals ‘BRIDGING THE GAP’: APPRAISAL OF THE FACTORS WHICH LIMIT AND IMPEDE THE REALISATION OF THE RIGHT TO WORK OF REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Baidoo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Right To Work ◽  
Actual Recognition ◽  
The Right ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

In South Africa, asylum seekers and refugees are expected to integrate themselves into the society. In order to integrate themselves into society, refugees and asylum seekers seek employment. The employment of refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa is challenging. The right to work of refugees is guaranteed by section 27(f) of the Refugees Act, whilst section 22 provides for the right to work of asylum seekers. However, there is a noticeable gap between the provision of this right to work in terms of the Refugee Act and the actual recognition of this right by employers and professional councils. In practice, asylum seekers and refugees are frequently barred from exercising their right to work and thus do not enjoy these protected rights.9 This article, in analysing the difficulty of attaining employment, will firstly set a foundational basis in chapter 2. Chapter 3 will deal with the international framework governing the right to work of asylum seekers and refugees. Chapter 4 of this essay will then deal with the constitutional framework governing the right to work. In chapter 5, the implications of a limitation on the right to choose employment on the right to work will be dealt with. In chapter 6, the specific challenges faced by asylum seekers and refugees concerning their right to work will be discussed, along with recommendations for overcoming these challenges. Lastly, in chapter 7, there will be a summation of the main impediments and suggested palliatives for the realisation of the right to work of refugees and asylum seekers.

scholarly journals Tragic and Heroic Moments in the Lives of Forced Migrants: Memories of Political Asylum-Seekers in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Refuge ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 63-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest A. Pineteh ◽  
Thecla N. Mulu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Political Asylum ◽  
Discursive Space ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Forced Migrants ◽  
Personal Accounts ◽  
At Home

This article examines the memories of a group of Cameroonian asylum-seekers in South Africa, analyzing personal accounts of memories of fear, suffering, and pain as well as resilience and heroism during their forced migration. The article argues that the legitimacy of applications for asylum often depends on accurate and consistent memories of specific life-threatening episodes at home and during migration. Drawing on theoretical conceptions such as construction of memory, autobiographical memory, and politics of storytelling, this article teases out how personal memories of asylum-seekers provide a discursive space to access and understand the asymmetries of seeking political asylum in post-apartheid South Africa.

scholarly journals The Psycho-Social Conditions of Asylum-Seekers from Darfur in Israel

Refuge ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vered Slonim-Nevo ◽  
Shirley Regev ◽  
Yiftach Millo
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Functioning ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Standardized Measures ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Migration Trauma ◽  
Dsm Iv ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
State Of Israel

ObjectiveThe study appraises the prevalence of pre-migration trauma exposure, the ability to secure basic living needs, and psychological functioning among Darfuri asylumseekers and refugees living in Israel. MethodThe sample included 340 adults from Darfur. Standardized measures assessing socio-psychological functioning were utilized. Results The participants demonstrated high rates of pre-migration exposure to traumatic experiences. Thirty per cent of the participants met DSM–IV criteria PTSD, with a higher proportion for women than for men. Post-migration stressors were mentioned by the majority of the participants. ConclusionsThe State of Israel should recognize past atrocities and traumas of Darfuris who arrived in Israel. Such recognition should be offered as acceptance of their rightful access to refugee status determination. Moreover, the State of Israel needs to modify government policies and legalization facilities so that Darfuri refugees and asylum-seekers will have access to basic human needs and support services.

Refugee and asylum seekers’ experiences

2021 ◽  
pp. 281-290
Author(s):  
Rachel Tribe ◽  
Angelina Jalonen
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Service Users ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

This chapter reviews the socio-political environment and legal factors that provide the context and influence the lived experience of many refugees and asylum seekers. These factors are considered in relation to flight, arrival, and settlement in a new country. How these contextual factors may impact upon refugees and asylum seekers, their sense of identity, and mental health will be reviewed. The chapter reflects upon the possible challenges faced by many refugees and asylum seekers, as well as arguing that the strengths, resilience, and coping strategies that many asylum seekers and refugees exhibit need to be adequately considered by clinicians, if a meaningful service is to be provided. The importance of clinicians being culturally curious and listening to service users’ meaning-making is vital. An overview of some other issues that clinicians may need to consider is provided. The chapter contains a number of case studies to illustrate the related issues.

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