Displaced Persons Research Articles

Examining Barriers to Rehabilitation and Addressing Rehabilitation Needs among Persons with Forced Migration Experiences: Interdisciplinary Perspectives.

Globally, human displacement is at a record high. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 110 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide due to persecution, mass conflict, or human rights violations. Conflicts continue to rage in different part of the world such as Ukraine, Palestine, Sudan, and Tigray. Large-scale political upheaval is also on the rise in many countries including Haiti, Venezuela, and Iran among others. Natural disasters fueled by climate change will further contribute to large-scale forced migration. Persons with forced migration experiences (PFME) tend to have significant rehabilitation needs due to high risk of physical injuries, mental trauma, and exacerbation of pre-existing health problems during displacement. Rehabilitation practitioners in host countries must be well equipped to address the complex needs of this population. However, there is currently limited literature to guide best practice. In this paper, a group of interdisciplinary professionals examine rehabilitation needs among PFME, provide examples of established and emerging rehabilitation interventions with PFME in the context of asylum and resettlement, identify barriers to accessing rehabilitation services in host countries, and propose avenues for professional advocacy in this area.

Being in-between “to return or to stay”: exploring the experiences of urban displaced people in Mozambique’s Pemba

The province of Cabo Delgado, located in the north of Mozambique, has been inflicted by the conflict and terrorist actions since 2017. The threats they pose, and the unfolding fragility of the security situation have forced over 1.4 million people to flee their homes and communities. While thousands of displaced people are reluctant to risk their lives and return, over five hundred thousand displaced people made their spontaneous way back “home,” and the country continues to struggle with such a reality. In the face of violent disruption and displacement, this paper offers an exploratory review of return from the perspective of encountering and giving meaning to places. Leaving culture (reflexivity again) a bit out, the paper closely looks at the (social and economic) experiences people have developed and carried with them through their displacement (and return) narratives as the main factors influencing the decision to or not to return. This article would then have a twofold purpose. On the one hand, it contributes to the existing debate on conflict, displacement, place and place-making. On the other hand, it would be beneficial to enrich the ongoing research further.

코리안 디아스포라, 고려인 주제의 실천적 다문화 역사학습의 실제

Objectives This study has an autobiographical character as it is a study that looks back and reflects on ‘my’ class based on my experience at K Elementary School. In the process of research and practice, I continuously tried to reflect the contextual characteristics of the school and region. I recognized the characteristics of the village's mul-ticultural situation, the current status of K Elementary School, the situation faced by Koryoin students, the diffi-culties in communication between Korean and Koryoin students, and the difficulties that fellow teachers face in teaching Koryoin students. Based on this awareness, we designed and implemented a practical multicultural his-tory class for solidarity and togetherness beyond discrimination. Methods First, the topic of forced migration of Koryo people, a minority history, was reviewed from the per-spective of memory and forgetting, and the direction of practical multicultural history education was set through analysis of multicultural education theory and curriculum. Next, I designed and implemented a practical multi-cultural history class on the topic of forced migration of Koryo people and analyzed the process and results. Results The analysis and implications are that, first, the memory of the forced migration of Goryeo people, a for-gotten minority history, was discovered and recalled. Second, it is the acquisition of multicultural com-petency(cultivation of multicultural cultural literacy) based on empathy and interculturalism beyond the assim-ilationist perspective. Third, they had participation and practical experience for solidarity and companionship. Fourth, I looked back on what kind of multicultural teacher I am as a teacher who practices multicultural education. Conclusions The implications of the study are that, in terms of research methods, history classes were autobio-graphically reflected and analyzed based on personal memory data and accumulated cultural artifacts (research notes, student output, photos, videos, etc.). Through this, teachers in the field will be able to understand the de-sign and execution aspects of history classes in detail and use it as a reference for their own class practice research. Next, in terms of research content, history education was practiced with the theme of multiculturalism. Because I recognized the limitations of traditional history education and designed and implemented practical mul-ticultural classes by reflecting the contextual uniqueness of local communities and school, it can be a meaningful reference for schools in multicultural situations. Lastly, the focus on the history of minorities, the Koryo people and forced migration of Koryo people, can be a good example of migration history education.

Community Displacement and Language Shift (In Reference to the Khamyang Community of Assam)

Language extinction has become a global crisis at the present time. Linguists and sociologists across the world have shown concern about this matter. A report says that every fourteen days, a language vanishes. However, language extinction does not always mean that native speakers of the languages are dead. Language Shifting is another cause of language extinction. The root cause of language shift is mainly discussed from a social perspective. Language endangerment may result from external forces, such as military, economic, religious, cultural, or educational subjugation. Thus, negative attitudes towards one’s own language may be an internal cause of a community. Sociolinguists have found that various factors seem to correlate with language shifting and diminishing in size. Voluntary or forced migration to a location outside their traditional territory has been a major cause for a community to change their language. Generally, minority people who migrate to other places sooner or later shift to the new dominant language. The present paper is a study on a small minority group, named Khamyang, living in Upper Assam, to discuss how the displacement compelled them to shift their language.

Correlation between Climate Change, Syrian Civil War, & Gender Based Violence

Correlation between Climate Change, Syrian Civil War, & Gender Based Violence

Walking with: understandings and negotiations of the mundane in research

Abstract Disruptions, and indeed spectacular disruptions, are understood and experienced by people in many different ways. They serve to both highlight and embed deep-rooted inequalities, changing experiences of the everyday and even challenging the very right to have an everyday. In this joint article we critically engage with conceptualisations of the mundane, exploring how people negotiate everyday life in contexts of unprecedented change. We take up Georges Perec’s call to take account of the everyday, focusing on examples from two ethnographically informed projects, both of which engage with creative practice. The first is long-term research in forced migration settings in North-Western Finland, which explores how people negotiate and re-negotiate linguistic citizenship and everyday life, in a policy context which restricts and limits. The second is a community arts and wellbeing project in the North of England, which investigated creative approaches to re-emergence from the Covid19 pandemic among people who had been particularly affected by isolation, including new mothers. In both projects, our data are drawn from fieldnotes from observations, reflections from our own participation, interviews and creative artefacts made by participants. In our analysis and discussion, we foreground ephemeral everyday moments and how individuals aim to hold up the mundane in the middle of major, internal and international crises. We consider how the ‘right to an everyday’ is central to understandings of being human, and draw on these experiences to show how ethnographic research, with particular emphasis on language(s) and creative practice, can shed light on lived experiences of the mundane and unequal experiences of and rights to the everyday.

FEATURES OF SELF-DETERMINATION OF FORCED UKRAINIAN MIGRANTS IN THE NEW SOCIAL CONTEXT

Relevance. In the scientific project, carried out with the financial support of the Latvian government in August-September 2022 explicit and implicit competencies of forced migrants were investigated, and their markers were described. Methodology. The research is based on the concept of self-determination, which is one of the methodological principles of informal socialization. The project aims to study the role of implicit competence in the self-determination of the life path of internally displaced persons. The research was based on qualitative methods. In particular, the principles and procedures of the so-called "grounded theory" were used. Data collected during free interviews with eight forced migrant women from Ukraine, who ended up in Latvia as a result of Russian aggression, were analyzed. Results. It was found that forced migrants in their choice of the place of forced displacement are guided by both clearly expressed competence, in the formation of which social ties play a significant role and their own experience of experiencing the difficulties associated with forced relocation. The study showed that the indicators of implicit competence in the informants' narratives were significantly greater than indicators of explicit competence, and they were more diverse. In addition, the growing role of national identity in the informal socialization of forced migrants was revealed.

Improving access to psychological intervention in low-middle income settings: Results from a waitlist-controlled, proof-of-concept trial of the MemFlex intervention for trauma-exposed Afghan youth.

Low-intensity interventions targeting a range of mental health issues offer a scalable approach for young trauma survivors in low-middle income countries. Here, we present results from a proof-of-concept, randomized, waitlist-controlled trial evaluating MemFlex, an autobiographical memory-based intervention, for trauma-exposed Afghan youth residing in Iran. MemFlex seeks to reduce the negative and overgeneral memory biases which maintain and predict poor mental health. Young people aged 12-18 years (N = 40) with parents who had experienced forced migration from Afghanistan were recruited from high schools in Karaj City in Iran. All had experienced a traumatic event in the last year. Participants were randomized to receive four weeks of a group-based delivery of MemFlex or Waitlist. Our primary cognitive outcome was autobiographical memory flexibility, that is, the ability to deliberately retrieve any memory type on demand. Primary clinical outcome was emotional distress, measured on the Farsi version of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Results indicated that MemFlex participants demonstrated large effect sizes for pre-to-post improvement in memory flexibility (d = 2.04) and emotional distress (d = 1.23). These improvements were significantly larger than Waitlist (ds < .49), and were maintained at three-month follow-up. Positive benefits were observed for completion of MemFlex, and future comparison against an active intervention appears warranted. Further evaluation of MemFlex in this context may offer a low-cost, and low-resource intervention to improve access to psychological intervention for young migrants in low-middle income countries.

Using forced migration to foster emergence? International aid and development policies in Cameroon

Abstract This paper examines the alignment of refugee aid interventions with Cameroon’s national policy of emergence, shedding light on an authoritarian government's utilization of international assistance. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, it investigates how international policies aiming at turning refugees into a development opportunity for their host states are managed by an aid-receiving country and strategically leveraged by Cameroonian authorities to strengthen their political apparatus. It explores how the government integrates humanitarian responses with large-scale development policies, while retaining control over strategic sectors. Implementing the emergence policy enables Cameroon to reappropriate international standards, navigating complex donor relations to establish new legitimacy. The analysis highlights the power dynamics and implications of aid interventions within an authoritarian context, demonstrating the state's capacity to transform internal crises into productive forces. This research contributes to a better understanding of the links between refugee aid, host states’ domestic and international politics, and migration diplomacy.

University Architectures Re-Invented: Re-Conceptualizing Forced Migration, Historical Consciousness, and Coalition Building in Ukraine After the Full-Scale Russian Invasion

The purpose of this article is to describe the creation of displaced universities (DUs) as spaces for coalition building, resistance, and decolonial practice that have re-invented the university architecture. This article offers a multi-perspectival and historical exploration of higher education in Ukraine before and after the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, with particular focus on the coalitions around Ukrainian DUs. DUs can be seen as one form of decolonial creations, as a unique organic coalition and intellectual community. This organic coalition includes a process of social resistance, resilience, and policy, which are being shaped by people whose lives were and still are uncertain. These people affiliated with higher education created invisible connections that re-shaped the vision and relationality of DUs. The interwoven life trajectories of forced migrants, Ukrainian academics, administrators, and students who made the decision to move to mainland Ukraine and establish (in)visible DUs while continuing their work and education in Ukrainian territories under the control of the Ukrainian government.

‘I don’t want sad stories’

Foregrounding the agency and voices of families who sought refuge in the United States, we investigated their storytelling by asking: What kinds of stories do parents/guardians choose to share? And what are the purposes of their storytelling? Assisted by interpreters, we worked with nine families with children aged from five to eight years, who had come from Nepal, Somalia and South Sudan, observing their storytelling and conducting interviews. The storytelling and interview sessions were video-recorded and translated/transcribed. Adapting Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) framework, we employed emergent coding and constant comparative analysis to identify themes of stories and purposes for storytelling. Our findings revealed two important patterns. First, the families focused on traditional stories with explicit moral lessons and these stories illustrated six forms of CCW: familial, navigational, social, aspirational, resistant and linguistic capital. Conspicuously, stories of forced displacement over-represented in literature were missing. Second, the storytelling was intended for their children to learn moral lessons, maintain home cultural heritage and language, and have fun. They also expressed the desire to share their stories in schools. Our study highlights the efforts of families who experienced forced displacement to counter dominant narratives of trauma and deficit. Based on the findings, we discuss how schools and society can leverage the CCW of communities to support their children’s learning and development.

Encounters with kindness: everyday and extraordinary kind interventions in the lives of forced migrant survivors of SGBV

ABSTRACT While much attention is given to understanding the nature of the sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) encountered by forced migrants, far less focus is placed on the actions and experiences that enable them to cope with violence. In this paper, we adopt a novel perspective examining forced migrants’ accounts of kind encounters with strangers who are not obligated to offer assistance. We draw on 166 semi-structured interviews with forced migrant SGBV survivors to examine the nature of kind encounters, the contexts in which they occur, and their reported outcomes. Our analysis reveals that kind encounters manifest across forced migration journeys and range from the extraordinary to the everyday. Kind encounters offer vital help and support and can connect people across cleavages while fostering resistance against degrading heteropatriarchal and bordering practices. The significance that respondents attach to such encounters underscores gaps in humanitarian protection and the normalization of cruelty towards forced migrants. We argue that kind encounters are inherently micropolitical, influencing social relations, and confronting gendered and racialized hierarchies. By uncovering the importance of kind encounters, we present a fresh perspective on the experiences of SGBV in forced migration with much potential in the study of migration.

The Causes and Consequences of Refugee Flows: A Contemporary Reanalysis

The world faces a forced displacement crisis. Tens of millions of individuals have been forced across international boundaries worldwide. Therefore, the causes and consequences of refugee flows are the subjects of significant social science inquiry. Unfortunately, the historical lack of reliable data on actual refugee flows, country-specific data reporting timelines, and more general pre-2000 data quality issues have significantly limited empirical inferences on these topics. We replicate 28 articles on these topics using data newly released after a multiyear collaboration with the United Nations on annual dyadic flows. We observe major inconsistencies between the newly released flow numbers and the stock-based flow estimates upon which decades of research are based; we also find widespread inappropriate treatment of missing historical values. When we replicate the existing literature using the newly introduced flow data, correcting the treatment of missing historical values, and temporally extending/restricting the study periods, we produce significantly different results.

Genocide in Ukraine: problems of proof

The article emphasizes that genocide was first criminalized immediately after the Second World War, precisely in 1948 when the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide. In terms of severity, it is undoubtedly the most serious crime for both peacetime and wartime, and it is also the most difficult to prove. First of all, it is argued that in order to establish the very fact of genocide, it is necessary to have the intention to destroy, in whole or in part, any national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as well as for this destruction to be carried out by killing, inflicting grievous injuries, creating intolerable conditions life, prevention of childbirth or forced transfer of children to another group. The main focus of the article is on the fact that crimes against humanity most often occur during war. In order for the underlying crimes—such as murder, torture, extermination, sexual violence, and other acts—to qualify as crimes against humanity, they must be part of a widespread or systematic attack on civilians. Unfortunately, trials for genocide and crimes against humanity take forever. An example is the events in Srebrenica, proceedings in several genocide cases are still ongoing. Genocide, as well as crimes against humanity, are most clearly defined in legal terms in the Rome Statute of 1998, which became the foundational document of the International Criminal Court. Both crimes were also included in the criminal codes of many countries, the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Articles 442, 437) was not an exception. However, until now, there is no responsibility for crimes against humanity in national legislation. Therefore, currently the criminal actions of the combatants can only be qualified as war crimes. Many states have integrated the crime of genocide into national legislation, but not all have used the UN definition. Many states have also included crimes against humanity in their criminal codes. It is quite clear that both genocide and crimes against humanity are systematic crimes, to prove which it is not enough to confirm with evidence the commission of individual acts. Both crimes are committed within a system, often wide-ranging, and both contain elements that require proof of relevant intent or awareness on the part of the perpetrators, for example, in the case of genocide, by proving that the perpetrators knew of an express or implied plan.

Association between forced displacement and cigarette smoking among Colombian adolescents

ABSTRACT Objective To establish the relationship between forced displacement and cigarette consumption among high-school students in Colombia. Methods A cross-sectional study was designed with the participation of high-school students (10th and 11th grade in Colombia) under 18 years of age. The crude and adjusted relationship (odds ratios) between internal forced displacement and cigarette consumption during the last month was established. It was adjusted for covariates (age, gender, educational level, and income) and confounding variables (depression and family dysfunction). Results 1,462 students between the ages of 13 and 17 participated (M = 15.98; SD = 0.83); 60.33% were women, 55.34% were in tenth grade, and 49.59% lived in low-income neighborhoods. A total of 113 (7.73%) students reported forced displacement, 103 (7.05%) reported depression, 1,112 (76.06%) scored for family dysfunction, and 149 (10.19%) students reported last-month cigarette consumption. After adjusting for covariates and confounding variables, forced internal displacement and cigarette smoking showed a statistically significant association (OR = 2.48, 95%CI 1.47–4.21). Conclusions A statistically significant relationship between forced displacement and last-month cigarette smoking among Colombian adolescents is observed. It is necessary to investigate other social determinants related to adolescent cigarette smoking.

Who Feels Safe? Uncertain Futures and Enduring Aspirations in Italy

ABSTRACT In an attempt of going beyond a simple opposition between those conceived as agents and those seen as subjects of disciplinary power, this article engages with a reflection on differential states of precariousness and (un)safety, which involve both ‘forced migrants’ and ‘citizens’. Drawing on ethnographic research in Milan (Italy), I outline some recent institutional changes in the Italian asylum system, which led to the political abandonment of refugees in situations of increasing marginalisation, but also to the layoff of several frontline asylum workers, who were often young people hit by the consequences of economic recession. Through the words and biographical trajectories of three young women (two asylum workers and one refugee), I trace the emergence of contested temporal and work experiences, marked by widespread feelings of uncertainty and devaluation. I approach empirically the idea of (un)safety as a material and bodily condition and as an emotional state, directly linked to the perceived possibility of being able to orient oneself towards the future. By zooming in on differential experiences of (un)safety and precariousness – but also on enduring aspirations – I aim at documenting the material and affective entanglements of acts of government, as well as their inherent potential for empowerment and transformation.

Report on the competition for the best thesis (bachelor's/engineering/ master's) and doctoral thesis in the field of forced displacement and refugees organised by the Field Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Lublin, the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin and the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University

Report on the competition for the best thesis (bachelor's/engineering/ master's) and doctoral thesis in the field of forced displacement and refugees organised by the Field Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Lublin, the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin and the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University

Internally Displaced Persons and Socio-territorial Integration in the Commune of Kaya in Burkina Faso: A Sustainable Solution Study

Burkina Faso, previously spared from destabilization of all kinds, suffered its first terrorist acts in April 2015 in Samorogouan. These first terrorist acts were followed by several others that led to the forced internal displacement of nearly 2,000,000 people. These IDPs have chosen 301 municipalities spread across the 13 regions of the country as destinations for refuge. The main objective of this study is to analyse the living conditions and socio-territorial integration of IDPs and durable solutions to address the crisis of forced internal displacement in the commune of Kaya. The research methodology consisted of conducting a literature review on the study topic, collecting primary data through field surveys, interviews and direct observations in the study area. The results of this study show that IDPs in Kaya commune face precarious living conditions. On the other hand, their conditions for socio-territorial integration are good in view of the cordial relations that the IDPs maintain with the host populations of the commune. In addition, durable solutions to address the forced internal displacement crisis include the resettlement of IDPs in other parts of the country, return to areas of origin and integration in IDP-hosting areas. These solutions could address forced internal displacement and address those affected. This would facilitate the reintegration or socio-territorial integration of IDPs either in their areas of origin or in their reception areas.

Pediatric Support for Children Eligible for Legal Humanitarian Relief.

Many children in immigrant families may qualify for legal protection-for themselves if unaccompanied, or as a derivative on parents' claims-on humanitarian grounds related to persecution or forced migration. Pediatric providers can offer a spectrum of multidirectional medical-legal supports to increase access to medical-legal services and support children who are undocumented or in mixed-status families. These activities can include providing trusted information, incorporating screening for health-related social needs, establishing networks for multidirectional referrals, and providing letters of support for legal protection. To expand workforce capacity for medical-legal services related to immigration, pediatric providers can also receive training to conduct specialized, trauma-informed forensic evaluations and can advocate at individual, local, state, federal, and global levels to address factors leading to persecution and forced migration while supporting individuals who may be eligible for legal protection. [Pediatr Ann. 2024;53(5):e183-e188.].

“CLIMBING IS MY WEAPON” – A PSYCHOSOCIAL BOULDERING INTERVENTION FOR ADOLESCENTS AND ITS IMPACT ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF ADOLESCENTS IN LEBANON

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS Previous research highlights the positive effects of physical activity, also climbing therapy, on mental health, including benefits on depression and self-esteem. Recognising the mental health challenges faced by young people in Lebanon, particularly in the context of multiple crises and forced displacement, this interventional study explores the benefits of a psychosocial climbing programme in eastern Lebanon. METHODS In collaboration with the non-profit organisation ClimbAID, this waitlist-controlled, partially randomised, mixed-methods study examines the effects of an eight-week psychosocial bouldering group intervention on overall mental well-being, levels of psychological distress, self-efficacy and social cohesion among a group of host and refugee youth in the Bekaa Valley. Qualitative interviews with 40 participants provide insights into their experiences, lessons learned and subjective outcomes. The intervention, delivered by 2 trained facilitators and up to 2 volunteers, took place weekly for 2 hours with groups of up to 12 young people. RESULTS With 233 participants, the trial had a dropout rate of approximately 33%. The intervention group showed significant improvements in overall mental well-being and psychological distress compared with the waitlist groups. Group allocation was the only significant predictor of improved mental well-being, in addition to baseline scores. While no significant differences in self-efficacy and social cohesion were observed, qualitative analysis revealed that participants highly valued the non-judgmental approach, highlighting significant benefits in interpersonal relationships and mental well-being. CONCLUSION In the challenging humanitarian context of forced displacement, the psychosocial bouldering intervention effectively enhanced well-being and reduced psychological distress among host and refugee youth in Bekaa, Lebanon. As a group intervention, bouldering emerges as a valuable option for supporting host and refugee populations in low-income countries.