Asylum Seekers Research Articles

How Do People Perceive Immigrants? Relating Perceptions to Numbers

Abstract How does the general public perceive immigrants, whom do they think of when thinking about “immigrants,” and to what extent are these perceptions related to the actual composition of immigrant populations? We use three representative online surveys in the United States, South Africa, and Switzerland (total N = 2,778) to extend existing work on the perception of immigrants in terms of geographic coverage and individual characteristics. We also relate these responses to official statistics on immigration and integration patterns. In all three countries, there are significant discrepancies between perceptions of immigrants and their real proportion in the population and characteristics. Although we observe clear country differences, there is a striking pattern of people associating “immigrants” with “asylum seekers” in all three countries. We consider two possible explanations for the differences between perceptions and facts: the representativeness heuristic and the affect heuristic. In contrast to previous research, we find only partial support for the representativeness heuristic, whereas the results are consistent with the affect heuristic. We conclude that images of “immigrants” are largely shaped by pre-existing attitudes.

Clinical and Legal Considerations When Optimizing Trauma Narratives in Immigration Law Evaluations.

Asylum seekers in the United States face complex legal processes that require the construction of coherent and credible narratives to establish eligibility for legal status or immigration relief. In this article, we review clinical and legal considerations involved in optimizing trauma narratives in forensic psychiatric evaluations for immigration courts. We highlight significant challenges faced by asylum seekers, including the emotional impact of trauma and cultural factors affecting their ability to disclose their experiences, including the roles of symptoms and cultural and situational elements in disclosure and narrative development. We emphasize the importance of creating a therapeutic and empathetic environment to facilitate disclosure and partnering with interpreters across multiple culturally sensitive evaluations. We address the roles of common traumatic stressors in narrative development, including cultural challenges related to histories of torture, abduction, sexual violence, and human trafficking prevalent among asylum seekers, providing insights and guidance on each. Further, we address specific potential challenges to the forensic psychiatric evaluator during the narrative development process, such as transference, countertransference, malingering, and vicarious traumatization. We aim to provide guidance on the development of trauma narratives of asylees developed for both therapeutic and medico-legal effectiveness.

Attachment, emotion regulation, and their roles in refugee post-traumatic stress and post-migration living difficulties

ABSTRACT Background: Upon arrival in the host country, refugees and asylum seekers (RAS) experience a range of post-migration living difficulties (PMLD), which are often linked to psychological symptoms such as post-traumatic stress (PTS). Initial research suggests that attachment insecurity partly explains the association between PMLD and psychological symptoms in RAS. However, the mechanisms through which attachment insecurity may act as a mediator are not well understood, though emotion dysregulation is one of the potential candidates. Objectives: This study investigated (1) whether attachment insecurity (i.e. anxiety and avoidance) mediate the association between PMLD and PTS, and (2) whether this mediation model can be extended to emotion dysregulation. Methods: 134 treatment-seeking RAS living in Switzerland completed questionnaires assessing PMLD, attachment insecurity, emotion dysregulation, and PTS. Two models were tested: (1) a parallel mediation analysis with attachment anxiety and avoidance as mediators, and (2) a serial mediation analysis with attachment anxiety as the first and emotion dysregulation as the second mediator. Results: First, PMLD was indirectly associated with PTS through attachment anxiety but not avoidance. Second, the association between PMLD and PTS was further explained by a pathway through attachment anxiety and emotion dysregulation. Conclusions: Although this study is limited by its cross-sectional design, we identified attachment anxiety and emotion dysregulation as potential mechanisms explaining how PMLD affects symptoms of PTS in RAS. Systematically assessing attachment style and addressing emotion regulation may therefore help improve treatment of refugee and asylum-seeking patients.

A Phenomenological Inquiry of Asylum Seekers’ Migration Trauma and Adjustment in the United States

A Phenomenological Inquiry of Asylum Seekers’ Migration Trauma and Adjustment in the United States

Translating restrictive law into practice: An ethnographic exploration of the systemic processing of legally restricted health care access for asylum seekers in Germany

BackgroundAccess to health services for asylum seekers is legally restricted in Germany. The law is subject to interpretation, therefore the chance of receiving care is not equally distributed among asylum seekers. What services are provided to whom is ultimately decided by health professionals and government employees. The respective prioritization processes and criteria are not transparent. We sought to understand how legal restrictions are translated into daily practices and how this affects the health system. We aimed to outline the complex process of cost coverage for health services for asylum seekers and provide insights into common decision-making criteria.MethodsWe conducted an ethnographic exploration of routines in two outpatient clinics in two federal states over the course of three months, doing participant and non-participant observation. Additionally, we interviewed 21 professionals of health care and government organizations, and documented 110 applications for cost coverage of medical services and their outcome. In addition to qualitative data analysis and documentation, we apply a system-theoretical perspective to our findings.ResultsTo perform legal restrictions a cross-sectoral prioritization process of medical services has been implemented, involving health care and government institutions. This changes professional practices, responsibilities and (power) relations. Involved actors find themselves at the intersection of several, oftentimes conflicting priorities, since “doing it right” might be seen differently from a legal, medical, economic, or political perspective. The system-theoretical analysis reveals that while actors have to bring different rationales into workable arrangements this part of the medical system transforms, giving rise to a sub-system that incorporates migration political rationales.ConclusionsHealth care restrictions for asylum seekers are implemented through an organizational linking of care provision and government administration, resulting in a bureaucratization of practice. Power structures at this intersection of health and migration policy, that are uncommon in other parts of the health system are thereby normalized. Outpatient clinics provide low-threshold access to health services, but paradoxically they may unintentionally stabilize health inequities, if prioritization criteria and power dynamics are not made transparent. Health professionals should openly reflect on conflicting rationales. Training, research and professional associations need to empower them to stay true to professional ethical principles and international conventions.

Anxieties about a Porous Border: Australian Government Responses to Melanesian ‘Boat People’

Starting in 1969, small groups of West Papuans have occasionally crossed the Torres Strait to Australia and sought its protection. In public discourse, these arrivals have figured as part of a narrative about Australia’s relationship with Indonesia. By contrast, in the public discourse about border control, which focuses on attempted travel across the Indian Ocean and distinct ‘waves’, they have been treated as a footnote, at most. In this article, we closely examine the Australian government’s response to West Papuan ‘boat people’ over time to demonstrate that, unlike in public discourse, border control considerations have loomed large in the government’s response. We argue that, in order to understand Australia’s approach to border control, we should see West Papuan asylum seekers in the context of border control policy and not only as a problem in Australia’s relationship with Indonesia.

Women’s challenges and gender inequality implications in the UK Home Office’s streamlined asylum process

This conceptual article scrutinises the challenges faced by women seeking asylum in the UK, focusing on the impact of the Home Office’s streamlined asylum process. Despite mention of gender-based issues in official guidelines, the system exhibits hostility and inadequacy in addressing the unique obstacles women encounter. Through a posthuman, practice-based theoretical framework, the article examines recent gender-based concerns raised about the Home Office’s use of questionnaires, machine translation, and informal linguistic assistance in lieu of interpreted asylum interviews for selected nationalities. It also highlights the implications of technologisation and bureaucratisation on linguistic access, arguing that the revised asylum-seeking process not only reinforces women’s marginalised position but also diminishes crucial resources like interpreting, in turn contributing to gendered power asymmetries between asylum seekers and the justice system. The article contends that this approach transfers the burden of language understanding to women, contributing to a climate of sociomaterial exclusion that curtails the rights of female asylum seekers to be adequately heard.

Assessing the Intersectional Impact of Domestic Migration Law: Reacting to State-Created Categories and Vulnerabilities of Asylum Seekers in Israel

Assessing the Intersectional Impact of Domestic Migration Law: Reacting to State-Created Categories and Vulnerabilities of Asylum Seekers in Israel

Truth and democracy in an era of misinformation.

Concern about misinformation and its toxic effects on democracy is widespread. A survey of nearly 1500 experts by the World Economic Forum ranked misinformation and disinformation (the latter being intentionally spread, whereas the former may arise accidentally) as the top global risk during the next 2 years. Examples of misinformation-fueled events abound. In the United States, baseless claims about election fraud in 2020 by the losing presidential candidate, Donald Trump, culminated in a violent insurrection against the US Capitol on 6 January 2021. At the time of this writing, Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are fearful of the future after Trump baselessly alleged on national TV that immigrants there were eating their white neighbors' pets-a racist trope dating back centuries. In the UK, right-wing mobs recently attacked mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers on the basis of the false claim that a Muslim refugee had fatally stabbed children at a dance class. The suspect was actually born in Britain, and his family regularly attended a Christian church. The list goes on.

Implementing an Adverse Childhood Experiences Screening Tool With Migrant Children: A Quality Improvement Project Using the PEARLS Screening Tool

BackgroundImmigrants, asylum seekers, and refugees live with extreme stress, consistent vulnerability, and life-long health consequences. Children in these populations face increased risk of poor mental health due to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and related healthcare barriers, such as lack of screening, that limit their ability to receive appropriate mental health care. AimTo implement an ACEs screening questionnaire for all migrant children 19 and under in a community shelter. MethodsThe Model for Improvement. InterventionThe Pediatric ACES and Related Life Events Screener (PEARLS) was implemented over a 10-week period in a community shelter. ResultsAll children screened had at least 1 ACE. Initiation of PEARLS screening led to recognition of adverse experiences thus allowing for mental health support and referrals to mental health specialists. ConclusionsThis QI project supports implementation of screening for adverse childhood experiences within populations of migrant children in order to uncover potential mental health concerns and provide targeted support, recognizing the long-term effects of trauma on their wellbeing.

The Spaces In Between: Understanding Children’s Creative Expression in Temporary Shelters for Asylum Seekers

The Spaces In Between: Understanding Children’s Creative Expression in Temporary Shelters for Asylum Seekers

Toward effective protection of victims of human trafficking in mixed migration flows: referral mechanisms shaped on individual need. The Italian experience and the European perspective

An overview of emerging trends on trafficking of human beings in Italy shows not only an extremely heterogeneous phenomenon but also a complex overlapping of experiences and need of protection of every single victim. In the context of mixed migration flows, persons reaching Italy through the Central Mediterranean and the Balkan routes have often experienced or are at risk of trafficking, and they also apply for international protection upon arrival. Legal categories such as “victims,” “asylum seekers,” and “refugees” are increasingly interconnected and not exhaustive in describing individual experiences and multifaceted vulnerabilities. Against this background, ensuring early identification and assistance for victims of trafficking among asylum seekers is extremely relevant. In Italy, this has led to the development of good practices aimed at implementing the coordination between the asylum and the anti-trafficking systems. In particular, specific Guidelines for Asylum authorities have been adopted to preliminarily identify potential victims of trafficking within the asylum procedure and enable their effective access to protection measures. To comply with specific provisions of the European Trafficking Directive and its transposition into the Italian legal framework, the Guidelines have created a referral mechanism among the asylum authorities and the anti-trafficking system that is unique in the European context. For this reason, the present contribution aims at describing this good practice, its implementation and effects—also at the juridical level—and its limits. Indeed, after the adoption of the instrument, a higher recognition rate of international protection for victims of trafficking has been registered in Italy, both at the administrative and judicial levels; asylum seekers and refugees have also increased their access to the specific protection program for trafficking survivors. In general, the system has strengthened its capacity to fulfill the legal obligation of identifying victims through a multi-agency approach. On the other hand, the ability to conduct screening and preliminary identification of victims of trafficking among asylum seekers is still limited to the “victim model” in terms of gender (women) and form of exploitation (sexual), and to certain stages of the asylum procedure (the first instance before the asylum authorities). With reference to this latter, a comprehensive protection response at the borders is missing despite the political debate on sea and land arrivals to Italy and the recent introduction of border procedures for the assessment of asylum applications. Given the geographical and political centrality of the south-Mediterranean situation in the current migration agenda, the goal of this paper is to analyze the Italian experience on referral mechanisms among trafficking and asylum as an experience that would help to shape future European prospects. The ongoing evolution of mixed migration flows—with particular reference to secondary movement across European countries—and the revised European Directive on trafficking in persons impose the promotion of a reflection on referral mechanisms with a transnational perspective enabling effective protection and the meeting of specific human rights.

Participation and contested forms of citizenship in the City of Sanctuary

ABSTRACT The UK-based City of Sanctuary movement claims to create welcoming conditions for those who had to flee their homes. Despite the well-documented efforts to integrate migrants, refugees and asylum seekers at a local level, the movement’s practices have been criticised by scholars as reproducing government-prescribed passivity and exclusion of these groups. Through document analysis and participant observation in a Borough of Sanctuary group in London, we examined the City of Sanctuary’s self-representation and mobilisation practices and how participation of sanctuary seekers is discussed and enacted by those involved. We found that the movement’s institutional collaborations have led to an increased professionalisation of the movement which on the one hand offers greater impact and on the other hand risk excluding the very groups the movement is advocating for. Yet by providing material and institutional spaces to enable participation and citizenship, the movement ensures migrants can assert their rightful presence, achieving greater participation as well as amplifying migrants’ voices within and beyond the movement.

Predictors of symptom change in the mental health of refugees and asylum seekers (MEHIRA) study examining the effects of a stepped and collaborative care model – A multicentered rater-blinded randomized controlled trial

BackgroundPredictors of symptom improvement are an essential starting point for tailoring psychological treatments to each individual and, in turn, increasing treatment efficacy overall. However, such research regarding refugees/asylum seekers from Arabic-/Farsi-speaking countries is lacking. The current study aimed to characterize predictors for symptom improvement in the Mental Health in Refugees and Asylum Seekers (MEHIRA) study, one of the most extensive multicentered controlled trials on a nationwide stepped and collaborative care model compared to routine German mental health care. MethodsVariables characterizing symptom change were chosen using backward elimination and inserted into logistic regression models for two depression endpoints, namely the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). ResultsSix variables were found to be at least marginally significantly associated with symptom decrease in both outcomes: baseline depressive symptom load, comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder, identifying as a refugee, years of schooling, physical health, and post-migration social status difference. Additionally, psychological health and resilience were marginally significant for one of the models. LimitationsSome predictor constructs - such as social support - were not adequately measured to replicate previous findings. Additionally, the study was underpowered for symptom change prediction of individual treatments beyond the group intervention. ConclusionsThese outcomes indicate that trauma-related elements as well as content on refugee identity and post-migration social status changes should be included in depression interventions for refugees. Further, recommendations for future outcome prediction studies are made.

Impact of the asylum determination process on mental health in the UK and EU+: a systematic review and thematic synthesis

IntroductionPeople seeking asylum are at increased risk of mental health difficulties due to premigration and postmigration experiences. The objective of this review was to understand how asylum determination process in...

Access to medicines among asylum seekers, refugees and undocumented migrants across the migratory cycle in Europe: a scoping review

IntroductionAccess to essential medicines is a critical element of health systems and an important measure of their performance. Migrants may face barriers in accessing healthcare, including essential medicines, throughout the...

What factors are associated with children being taken into care by the state after initial contact with services? A survival analysis of Children’s Social Care data in Liverpool

BackgroundIncreasing numbers of children in the UK are being taken into care, with adverse consequences for children and unsustainable costs for local government. It is crucial that local authorities better...

A Pilot CBT-Based Group Mental Health Intervention for SGM Asylum Seekers

This study investigated the feasibility and acceptability of a culturally adapted group therapy intervention for SGM asylum seekers. From an initial pool of 16 eligible individuals contacted, five completed a majority of the intervention group sessions as well as exit interviews. Thematic analysis of these interview transcripts, as well as a case study of one participant, suggested that participants had a positive perception of the intervention and developed new cognitive behavioral therapy skills, including distress tolerance, cognitive flexibility, assertiveness, and self-compassion skills. Themes identified included a reduction in social isolation, enhanced solidarity, and heightened motivation for therapy engagement. Participants expressed preferences for culturally relevant discussion topics and identified the importance of privacy and personalized attention in the individual sessions that supplemented the group program. Despite logistical hurdles and variable engagement levels, the studied intervention has the potential to alleviate mental health morbidity in this underserved and vulnerable population, as well as spark interest in further engagement in therapy.

Peer‐provided problem management plus (PM+) and case management for Arabic‐speaking and Farsi‐speaking refugees and asylum seekers in Greece

AbstractAn increasingly common response to the lack of specialist mental health services for refugees and asylum seekers in European host countries is peer‐supported services. This study examined the association between a peer‐provided psychosocial intervention and psychological symptom reduction among refugees and asylum seekers in Greece. The intervention consisted of Problem Management Plus (PM+) and peer case management sessions delivered by a team of Community Psychosocial Workers (trained refugees). The sample consisted of 173 participants, comprising Arabic and Farsi speakers, male and female participants, recognized refugees and asylum seekers. Anxiety, depression, and psychological distress were measured before and after the intervention using the Patient Health Questionnaire‐9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder‐7, and Psychological Outcome Profiles scales, respectively. Repeated measures analysis of variance was adopted to evaluate the difference in the degree of change across patient characteristics over the follow‐up period. The level of statistical significance was set at p < .05, and analyses were conducted using SPSS statistical software (version 26.0). Significant decreases were found in all postintervention scores, indicating significant decreases in anxiety and depression symptoms as well as in psychological distress following the peer‐provided psychosocial intervention, which included emotional support and social care. Large effect sizes were found at all scales. The findings support the notion that there is an association between the implemented intervention and symptom reduction in refugees. For future research, a randomized controlled trial is proposed as a study protocol.

The role of the European Union’s securitisation policies in exacerbating the intersectional vulnerability of refugees and asylum seekers

ABSTRACT This article compares the European Union's (EU) reception and resettlement of European and non-European refugees and asylum seekers from an intersectional viewpoint. It does so using data collected during fieldwork in Greece focusing on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). The goal is to examine, through an empirical and theoretical study, the gendered, racialised, national and religious nature of the EU's approach to its external policies, border security approaches and its constitutive nature based on contingent, relational and non-additive vulnerabilities and inequalities that have been inherited from the EU's colonial past. The study asks how the influx of refugees fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine exemplifies the gendered, racialised, national and religious dimension of the EU's approach to border security. It examines how the EU's approach showcases the paternalistic approach to refugees' vulnerability through essentialisation, which leads to their vulnerabilisation. It looks at the intersectional impact of the gendered, racialised, national and religious constitutive nature of non-European refugees, as well as the gendered, racialised, national and religious notion of ‘others'. Based on the comparison, the article contends that, theoretically, State or EU security and human security policies should not be mutually exclusive. However, as the empirical data illustrate, there are multiple competing ‘insecurities’ which are prioritised over others.