Refugees In Australia Research Articles

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: a Human Rights Assessment of the Fate of Excluded Asylum-seekers and Criminal Refugees in Australia

Abstract Migrants fearing harm in their own country may benefit from the protection of refugee law. This protection, however, is not extended to those considered undeserving of it, for example, because they committed atrocities in the past, and may be removed from those who become a threat to the host State’s national security. In practice, States need to find solutions for such migrants, who are often failed asylum-seekers or criminal refugees who lost their protection status. In this regard, Australia is infamous for its extensive use of immigration detention, which is frequently applied to such migrants. The country’s practices have stirred much academic debate and gave rise to a multitude of legal cases and legislation changes. This contribution provides a human rights assessment of Australia’s practices towards failed asylum-seekers and criminal refugees, showing that when faced with such migrants, States may adopt measures that violate their international human rights obligations, such as returning them to harm or placing them in indefinite detention. As States are increasingly adopting similar practices, especially regarding the use of immigration detention, this analysis of the Australian context can inform the assessment of these practices anywhere they may be applied.

The Right(s) to Remain: Art, Asylum and Political Representation in Australia

Abstract Thinking about artistic representation as a form of political representation enables a better understanding of what can be seen and said, who has the ability to see it and say it, and how it is possible to know and do politics in different ways. In the case of Australia’s immigration system, this understanding is critical. Australia’s treatment of people seeking asylum and refugees is widely criticised by the international community as violating international human rights and humanitarian laws and norms. The legal and bureaucratic frameworks surrounding refugees in Australia not only render their stories largely invisible but continue to perpetrate harm and suffering which goes unaddressed. In the absence of state protection, artistic representation becomes an important intervention into the practices and narratives surrounding Australia’s treatment of people seeking asylum and refugees. In this article, I explore Hoda Afshar’s video and photographic artwork Remain (2018) which documents the experiences and struggles of a group of stateless men who were left to languish on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, in the aftermath of the Australian government closing its Manus Regional Processing Centre. Remain is one of the only available avenues open to the men to share their stories and to communicate the harm caused by national policy and practices. I argue that the artistic representation of Remain becomes a crucial form of political representation in this aftermath; political representation which would not otherwise be possible.

COVID-19 and “ageing well” for the older migrants and refugees in rural Australia: the case of Bhutanese elders in Albury, New South Wales

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to highlight the challenges and opportunities for the well-being of older migrants and refugees in rural Australia by learning from the example of the Bhutanese community in Albury, New South Wales.Design/methodology/approachThis viewpoint focusses on health and aged care barriers that affect the well-being of older migrants and refugees in Australia. It also demonstrates how these can be intensified due to the COVID-19 pandemic.FindingsEngagement though agriculture, and a sense of “belonging” strengthen the cultural well-being of the Bhutanese older adults in Albury. However, major issues remain as health-related resources and information are lacking in rural Australia. How this group’s meaningful activities in Albury enabled collaborations to be built is shown in this working example and can provide lessons for other communities that experience similar problems of disconnection as they get older.Research limitations/implicationsThe information regarding the Bhutanese older adults in Albury is primarily based on the authors’ personal communication with the General Secretary of the Bhutanese Australian Community Support Group in Albury Wodonga Inc.Originality/valueAustralia’s older population is growing rapidly, and older adults from culturally and linguistically diverse migrant and refugee backgrounds face numerous barriers such as limited linguistic, health and digital literacy. The authors describe common health and aged care issues that affect the well-being of older adults in rural Australia. They particularly emphasize those that occurred or intensified due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This novel information is now especially relevant to the health and aged care sectors in changing and diverse communities not only in Australia but also overseas.

Muslim refugees and language learning: language courses in Australia often fail to provide help needed to secure employment

PurposeThis paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.Design/methodology/approachThis briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.FindingsThe researcher interviewed eight Muslim refugees in Australia about the effectiveness of English language training programmes in helping to find work. The conclusion was there were lots of problems with the existing approaches and courses.Originality/valueThe briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Refugee awareness of a transformative intervention to increase blood donations

PurposeThis study aims to test the efficacy of the awareness of a transformative health service communication intervention targeted to African refugees in Australia, designed to increase their intentions to participate in blood donation and reduce any identified barriers.Design/methodology/approachFollowing the intervention launch, a survey was administered to African refugees. The data were analysed with structural equation modelling.FindingsIntervention awareness increases refugees’ blood donation knowledge and intentions. Although it has no direct effect on refugees’ medical mistrust or perceived discrimination, intervention awareness indirectly reduces medical mistrust. The findings, thus, suggest that the intervention was transformative: it directly and indirectly reduced barriers to refugee participation in blood donation services.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations include a relatively small sample size, single-country context and measures that address blood donation intentions versus behaviours.Social implicationsAddressing health service inequities through intervention awareness, via the mere exposure effect, can facilitate refugees’ health service participation and inclusion.Originality/valueThis study contributes to transformative service research and responds to calls to improve individual and community well-being by testing a transformative intervention targeted towards vulnerable consumers. Not all targeted refugees donated blood, but being encouraged to participate in this health service within the host society can foster their greater inclusion.

The multiple resources of refugee students: a language portrait inquiry

ABSTRACT Children and youth from refugee backgrounds have complex language experiences owing to their journeys away from their homelands often taking them through multiple contexts. This study was motivated by a desire to better understand the language resources of students newly arrived as refugees in Australia and their embodied and contextualised experiences of their languages. Language portraits are a tool used to generate insights into language experiences. For this study, the language portrait tool was extended beyond the body to include contexts within which languages are experienced (school, home, the digital domain, other). Participants were 41 secondary students, who arrived as refugees from South Asia and the Middle East and were either enrolled in, or recent graduates of, an intensive English language programme. Findings were derived from (1) coding of languages according to embodied experience and context and (2) thematic analysis of students’ transcribed discussion. Patterns across the cohort indicated that these students primarily experience their thinking as monolingual in their L1. However, the coding of sensory zones indicates that multilingualism is experienced as a multisensory flow of viewing, listening, speaking, eating and otherwise experiencing. Challenging assumptions of the home language environments of refugee students, homes appeared as multilingual domains.

Negotiating Language in Providing Sexual and Reproductive Health Care to Refugees From Burma: Experiences of Service Providers From Australia

We explore the complexities of language used in providing sexual and reproductive health care to Burma-born refugees in Australia. Twenty-nine providers of refugee services were interviewed to examine these conversational challenges. In the broader study, we found six major themes in relation to effective communication; here we focus on the “Negotiating language and vocabulary” theme, which has four subthemes: (a) different system of reproductive health vocabulary, (b) use of euphemism and metaphors, (c) unfamiliarity with Western concepts of health, and (d) recommendations to improve conversations. Incorporating linguistic nuances (analogies, metaphors, similes) in reproductive literacy interventions could facilitate more purposeful sexual health discussions.

Resettlement Factors Associated with Subjective Well-Being among Refugees in Australia: Findings from a Service Evaluation

This study examines levels and predictors of seven subjective well-being (SWB) domains among 236 former clients of a refugee resettlement service in Sydney, Australia. Study design was guided by a conceptual model of refugee integration. Participants reported healthy levels of SWB, except in the Standard of Living domain. They were highly satisfied with the SWB domains of Personal Safety, Future Security, and Feeling Part of the Community. Perceived competence in daily living and strong social connections predicted SWB. Findings reinforce the value of considering multiple intersecting resettlement factors which equip refugees to build satisfying lives in their new country. Supplemental data for this article is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2021.1996671

Integration Experiences of Former Afghan Refugees in Australia: What Challenges Still Remain after Becoming Citizens?

This paper explores, analyses, and documents the experiences of Afghan-Australians who arrived in Australia as refugees and were granted citizenship after living in Australia for several years. This research adopted a mixed method of qualitative and quantitative approaches and surveyed 102 people, interviewed 13 participants, and conducted two focus-groups within its research design. Analysis of data indicates that former Afghan refugees gradually settled down and integrated within Australian society. They value safety and security, open democracy and orderly society of Australia, as well as accessing to education and healthcare services and opportunity for social mobility. However, since the integration is a long process, they are also facing some challenges in this area. Findings of this study show that Afghan-Australians require more support from Australian governments to overcome some of these challenges particularly securing employment within their area of interests and professional occupations that they have qualifications and experiences from Afghanistan. They are also experiencing broader challenges in the area of socio-cultural issues within Australian society. Since the Afghan community is an emerging community in Western Australia, they require more support from local government to enhance their ethnic cohesion and solidarity.

“I want to become part of the Australian community”: Challenging the marginalisation of women resettled as refugees in Australia – Findings from a photovoice project

AbstractThis article discusses a community‐based participatory research (CPBR) project, which used photovoice to explore 43 refugee women's perspectives of settlement in Perth, Western Australia. The research was conducted between a university and a multicultural women's health service from 2016 to 17. The women were given cameras and chose topics to photograph, which represented their settlement experiences and, using reflective group dialogue, reflected on their settlement successes and challenges and provided policy recommendations for improving the settlement process. Eleven women were interviewed for further in‐depth reflections, and 22 women selected photographs and wrote accompanying narratives for a travelling photography exhibition. Key themes of the importance of English language learning and family support during the settlement process are explored. Drawing on intersectionality and postcolonial feminist theories, this article discusses how government provisions for English education are incongruent with the settlement needs of women and access to family reunion is largely unattainable, which has negative implications for women's health and well‐being. This article demonstrates how government policy marginalises women and reinforces an existing gendered, racial hierarchy. An intersectional approach to settlement policymaking and programmes is recommended for women's successful settlement.

OPTIMISE: a pragmatic stepped wedge cluster randomised trial of an intervention to improve primary care for refugees in Australia.

ObjectivesTo examine whether primary care outreach facilitation improves the quality of care for general practice patients from refugee backgrounds.DesignPragmatic, cluster randomised controlled trial, with stepped wedge allocation to early or late intervention groups.Setting, participants31 general practices in three metropolitan areas of Sydney and Melbourne with high levels of refugee resettlement, November 2017 ‒ August 2019.InterventionTrained facilitators made three visits to practices over six months, using structured action plans to help practice teams optimise routines of refugee care.Major outcome measureChange in proportion of patients from refugee backgrounds with documented health assessments (Medicare billing). Secondary outcomes were refugee status recording, interpreter use, and clinician‐perceived difficulty in referring patients to appropriate dental, social, settlement, and mental health services.ResultsOur sample comprised 14 633 patients. The intervention was associated with an increase in the proportion of patients with Medicare‐billed health assessments during the preceding six months, from 19.1% (95% CI, 18.6–19.5%) to 27.3% (95% CI, 26.7–27.9%; odds ratio, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.42–2.50). The impact of the intervention was greater in smaller practices, practices with larger proportions of patients from refugee backgrounds, recent training in refugee health care, or higher baseline provision of health assessments for such patients. There was no impact on refugee status recording, interpreter use increased modestly, and reported difficulties in refugee‐specific referrals to social, settlement and dental services were reduced.ConclusionsLow intensity practice facilitation may improve some aspects of primary care for people from refugee backgrounds. Facilitators employed by local health services could support integrated approaches to enhancing the quality of primary care for this vulnerable population.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12618001970235 (retrospective).

A trauma informed response to COVID 19 and the deteriorating mental health of refugees and asylum seekers with insecure status in Australia.

COVID‐19 brings increased risk to the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees in Australia on temporary visas. Rapid government changes due to the COVID‐19 pandemic are resulting in significant and sustained hardship on this already vulnerable group. This discursive paper is both an explainer and a resource for mental health nurses and health professionals with scope of practice in primary care and emergency departments responding to this population. The aim of this paper is to alert clinicians to the drivers of mental and suicide related distress and to provide recommendations as to how to therapeutically engage and support this group. Drivers include complex intersections between legal uncertainty, economic, social and mental health stress as drivers of entrapment, acute mental distress and suicidal ideation. Information about the COVID‐19 related factors as drivers contributing to worsening states of distress may help guide clinicians to consider protective factors designed to mitigate the onset or worsening of mental distress, plus aid in the development of health policy and service‐delivery arrangements of support and therapeutic engagement.

The direct and indirect effects of parental trauma on child adjustment for resettled refugees in Australia

Purpose Understanding the effects trauma has on refugee parents and consequently, their children, is the first step in interrupting the intergenerational transmission of trauma. This study aims to investigate the impacts of parental exposure to trauma pre-settlement on parent and child reports of developmental difficulties as mediated by parental post-traumatic stress symptomology and harsh parenting. Design/methodology/approach The study included 414 refugee children (age M = 14.04, SD = 2.00; 48.3% female) and their caregivers (age M = 41.78, SD = 5.24, 77% female). The sample was drawn from the Building a New Life in Australia study, a large, representative cohort study of resettled refugees in Australia. Only data collected where both parents and their children could be matched were used in this study. Findings Results indicated that trauma was significantly associated with increased parental post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in all models and was negatively, albeit weakly, associated with lower levels of harsh parenting in the overall model which combined parent and child reports. Trauma also had a weak, positive indirect effect on developmental difficulties via parental PTSD in both the overall model and the model assessing parent-rated developmental difficulties. In all models, harsh parenting was associated with increased developmental difficulties, although harsh parenting did not act as a significant mediator of the effects of trauma or parental PTSD. Originality/value Results suggest that prior traumas had less of an adverse effect on parenting and child adjustment as was expected. Parenting, however, was strongly associated with poor child adjustment, indicating that this may be a key factor to encourage positive adjustment for refugee children.

Expanding Strategic Human Resource Management by Learning from Refugee Recruitment

The recruitment of refugees is an increasing challenge around the world and one that is unlikely to be ameliorated by any effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finding employment is one of the most critical steps for refugees towards integration into their new society. Yet, many organizations do not consider or see the benefits to refugee recruitment. Our empirical evidence is collected from semi-structured interviews with multiple stakeholders partaking in refugee recruitment including, employers, governmental organizations, refugee support-service providers and refugees in Australia, a country with a long history of receiving humanitarian migrants. We demonstrate how employers leverage a collaborative model of recruitment while attempting to hire refugees. Our analysis uncovers a stakeholder-responsive and multi-level view of strategic human resource management where recruitment is seen as an embedded process involving the expertise, know-how and interests of numerous actors, many external to the employing organizations. To attend to both the organizational and societal goals, we suggest a potential role for strategic human resource management in addressing the grand challenges linked to employment in areas beyond refugee workforce integration.

Mental Illness Stigma and Associated Factors among Arabic-Speaking Religious and Community Leaders

Evidence suggests that Arabic-speaking refugees in Australia seek help from informal sources, including religious and community leaders, when experiencing mental health issues. Despite their significant influence, there is scarce research exploring attitudes of Arabic-speaking leaders toward mental illness. The current exploratory study explored mental illness stigma and various factors among Arabic-speaking religious and community leaders. This study uses a subset of data from an evaluation trial of mental health literacy training for Arabic-speaking religious and community leaders. Our dataset contains the pre-intervention survey responses for 52 Arabic-speaking leaders (69.2% female; mean age = 47.1, SD = 15.3) on the ability to recognise a mental disorder, beliefs about causes for developing mental illness, and two stigma measures, personal stigma, and social distance. Being female was associated with a decrease in personal stigma. An increase in age was associated with an increase in personal stigma. Correct recognition of a mental disorder was associated with decreased personal stigma, and after adjusting for age and gender, significance was retained for the I-would-not-tell-anyone subscale. Endorsing the cause “being a person of weak character” was associated with an increase in personal stigma. There is an urgent need for future research to elucidate stigma to develop effective educational initiatives for stigma reduction among Arabic-speaking leaders.

Talking to water: Memory, gender and environment for Hazara refugees in Australia

Talking to water: Memory, gender and environment for Hazara refugees in Australia

An Evaluation of Suicide Prevention Education for People Working With Refugees and Asylum Seekers.

. Background: There are concerning rates of suicidality among asylum seekers and refugees in Australia, and tailored suicide prevention initiatives are needed. Aims: We aimed to evaluate the impact of a tailored suicide prevention education program for people working with asylum seekers and refugees. Method: Attendees of the education program completed self-report questionnaires at pretraining, posttraining, and 4–6 months follow-up. Results: Over 400 workers, volunteers, and students across Australia took part in the education program. A series of linear mixed-effects models revealed significant improvements in outcome measures from pretraining (n = 247) to posttraining (n = 231). Improvements were maintained at follow-up (n = 75). Limitations: Limitations of this research were the lack of a control group and a low follow-up response rate. Conclusion: Findings suggest that a 2 days tailored suicide prevention education program contributes to significant improvements in workers’ attitudes toward suicide prevention, and their confidence and competence in assessing and responding to suicidal distress.

Pre‐arrival temporalities of displacement in refugee migration: The case of resettled Ethiopian refugees in Australia

AbstractFor refugees, displacement involves a reconfiguration of both space and time. Yet the temporal aspect receives less emphasis in existing geographic research. Paying attention to the temporal dimension can generate conceptually innovative insights into how temporality shapes refugees' experiences of displacement. Based on empirical research conducted with Ethiopian refugees in Melbourne, the paper considers how the participants experienced time throughout their migration journeys until their arrival in Australia. The participants' accounts suggest that their pre‐arrival displacement experiences were characterised by four novel distinct temporal features: spontaneity, disorientation, transposition, and incessancy. Recounting their stories, the participants pointed out that they were excluded from time and space, while simultaneously being engaged in temporary place‐making endeavours, navigating through multiple temporalities. Being displaced has altered their connections not only to places but also to times of which they are a part. The paper expands the growing theme of time and temporalities in geographic and migration research while showing how refugee experiences are dictated and controlled by time.

‘Now I'm just like anyone else in the community’: Work, Welfare, and Community Expectations of Refugees in Australia

Abstract This article analyses policy documents and data from interviews with employment and settlement service providers, employers, and government officials to explore the increasing shift of Australian refugee settlement policies towards neoliberal imperatives of productivity and self-sufficiency. The responses of service providers shed light on prevalent constructions of refugee subjecthood and related expectations of humanitarian entrants as potential labour market participants. Our analysis highlights the policy rationales that underpin the contemporary design and delivery of refugee settlement support, and draws attention to variations in service providers’ adoption of these rationales. We argue that, while the realignment of refugee settlement support in Australia towards ‘workfare’ is consistent with emergent global narratives of ‘enhancing refugee self-reliance’, the significance of this shift lies in the ideologically driven erosion of the primary protective purpose of Australia’s long-standing humanitarian migration programme.

Barriers to the use of trained interpreters in consultations with refugees in four resettlement countries: a qualitative analysis using normalisation process theory

BackgroundIncreasing numbers of primary care practitioners in refugee resettlement countries are providing care to refugees. Access to trained interpreters is a priority for these practitioners, but there are many barriers to the implementation of interpreted consultations in routine care. There is a lack of international, theoretically informed research. The purpose of this paper is to understand barriers to interpreter use in primary care consultations in four resettlement countries using Normalisation Process Theory.MethodWe conducted a cross-sectional online survey with networks of primary care practitioners (PCPs) who care for refugees in Australia, Canada, Ireland and the US (n = 314). We analysed qualitative data from the survey about barriers to interpreter use (n = 178). We completed an inductive thematic analysis, iteratively developed a Normalisation Process Theory (NPT)-informed coding frame and then mapped the emergent findings onto the theory’s construct about enacting interpreted consultations.ResultsIn all four countries, the use of an interpreter presented communication and interaction challenges between providers and patients, which can impede the goals of primary care consultations. Primary care practitioners did not always have confidence in interpreted consultations and described poor professional practice by some interpreters. There was variation across countries, and inconsistency within countries, in the availability of trained interpreters and funding sources.ConclusionThere are shared and differential barriers to implementation of interpreted consultations in a consistent and sustained way in the four countries studied. These findings can be used to inform country-specific and international level policies and interventions focusing on improving skills and resources for interpreted consultations to improve implementation of interpreted primary care consultations.