Refugee Relief Research Articles

Refugees as Resources: A Post-War Experiment in European Refugee Relief

Refugees as Resources: A Post-War Experiment in European Refugee Relief

Effects of blast exposure on anxiety and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among displaced Ukrainian populations.

Generalized anxiety and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common among individuals forcibly displaced during war and conflict. Blast exposure may be one important contributor of such symptoms. The aims of this study were to provide data on blast-related experiences of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and to assess the influence of blast exposure on generalized anxiety, and PTSD flashbacks and nightmares. An online health needs survey was distributed to Ukrainian IDPs and refugees between April and July 2022 using Facebook Ads Manager. Participants reported whether they experienced blast exposure since the beginning of the invasion, and whether they took medication for a mental health condition before the war started. Finally, they completed measures of generalized anxiety (GAD-2), and PTSD flashbacks and nightmares. Analyses included 3253 IDPs and 5073 refugees (N = 8326). Results revealed that 67.6% of total participants- 79.9% of IDPs and 61.7% of refugees-reported blast exposure since Russia's invasion. Further, 69.1% (95% CI: 68.05, 70.15) of total participants met the cut-off for generalized anxiety in which further diagnostic evaluation was warranted. Compared to refugees, IDPs reported higher generalized anxiety and greater frequency of PTSD symptoms, specifically flashbacks and nightmares. Further analyses revealed that the impact of blast exposure on flashback frequency was stronger among IDPs compared to refugees (β = 0.51; t(8322) = 11.88, p < .0001, 95% CI: 0.43, 0.60) and among participants with pre-existing mental health conditions compared to those without (β = 0.18; t(8157) = 2.50, p = .013, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.33). Mental health and psychosocial support must be prioritised within humanitarian relief for both IDPs and refugees and especially among people with underlying mental health conditions.

Strengths and Constraints of International NGO Involvement in Social Assistance

In recent years, as a result of frequent political unrest and catastrophic events caused by natural disasters, there has been a growing international demand for objects capable of participating in social relief. In addition to most sovereign states and intergovernmental international organizations, international non-governmental organizations are also active in social relief, and they have made outstanding contributions to the defense of human rights, refugee relief, the prevention of infectious diseases, and other related relief work. Therefore, this paper analyzes the advantages and limitations of the participation of international non-governmental organizations in social relief by means of literature review and theoretical analysis. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can provide targeted help to countries in trouble in different aspects. However, due to their own problems, including becoming a political tool for some countries, and a lack of funds, they have also caused some negative impacts on the relief activities of international NGOs. NGOs need to recognize these concerns and find a balanced solution.

Vernacular Humanitarianism in the Land of Associations: Negotiating Voluntary Organisation, Municipal Influence, and the Reception of Refugees among Venligboerne in Denmark

ABSTRACT During the so-called refugee crisis in 2015, movements to welcome refugees became widespread in Northern Europe. While numerous studies have documented the activities and motivations of these civic initiatives, few have investigated what became of them once the immediate situation was over. Based on fieldwork conducted between 2017 and 2020, this article explores the process of institutionalisation within Venligboerne (Friendly Neighbours) in Denmark. It focuses on debates about organisation and the challenges of maintaining a non-formalised structure in a society strongly marked by associational culture and close ties between the state and civil society. While responding to a transnational movement of people, Venligboerne represents a form of vernacular humanitarianism that is also deeply shaped by the social-cultural context in which it takes place. An ethnographic approach situating refugee relief initiatives within the local context is able to shed light on their political dimensions and potential for social change beyond the refugee context.

The Southern Irish Loyalists Relief Association and Irish Ex-Servicemen of the First World War, 1922–1932

In 1925, the Southern Irish Loyalists Relief Association (SILRA), originally founded for the relief of southern Irish loyalist refugees in Britain, created a fund for ex-servicemen resident in the Irish Free State (IFS). Populated primarily from among the ‘diehard’ right of the British Conservative Party, SILRA’s charitable work was inevitably influenced by the world view of its membership and their audience. But it also had a Dublin sub-committee that operated in very different circumstances in the IFS. This study of SILRA’s efforts to provide welfare to southern Irish veterans of the First World War highlights the extent to which conditions in Ireland – real or perceived – continued to animate British Conservatives long after the Irish Revolution (1916–23). It also adds to the growing literature on ex-servicemen in post-revolutionary Ireland through the lens of SILRA’s lobbying and fundraising.

Christian Humanitarianism, Refugee Stories, and the Making of the Cold War West

AbstractThis article argues that refugees and the Christian humanitarian organizations supporting them, particularly Catholic ones, helped to construct the Cold War West. Christian NGOs valued these refugees, not only for their needs or their suffering, but for the power of their stories. Refugees’ stories served to encapsulate and dramatize the horrors of communism, transforming it from an abstract ideological threat to a vivid personal danger. Their suffering and sacrifice, and the efforts to relieve this suffering, helped to forge ties of solidarity across Western Europe and North America. Christian groups fuelled this solidarity through the dissemination of information about communist persecution and the courage of refugees seeking to escape it, mobilizing the faithful to contribute through donations, prayers, and relief campaigns. The vision of the West which emerged from these campaigns emphasized religious freedom as the cornerstone of Western societies. It promoted solidarity across national borders by emphasizing Christian unity, although there were tensions between different denominations and Catholics were often the most active supporters of anti-communist humanitarianism. It also, strikingly, had little to say about democracy, something that becomes particularly evident when we examine the participation of Franco's Spain in Christian refugee relief.

Modeling the predictors of mobile health adoption by Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh: An extension of UTAUT2 using combined SEM-Neural network approach

While the healthcare facilities for the people is questionable in Bangladesh, Rohingya refugees is a burning issue for both Bangladesh and global community. Integrating Rohingya refugees into the framework of mHealth could be beneficial for both Bangladesh and Rohingya refugees in general, and in specific situation like COVID-19 outbreak. However, no research has been found on what motivates Rohingya refugees to accept mHealth in Bangladesh. Drawing on the UTAUT2 model, this study investigates the predictors of acceptance of mHealth services technologies among Rohingya refugees. The study also seeks to clarify the roles of mHealth developers, the Bangladesh government, and non-governmental organizations working with the 1.1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Quantitative data were collected from refugee camps with the permission of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC). The data were analyzed in two stages using a mixed approach that combines PLS-SEM and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). This study revealed that Effort expectancy (EE, with t = 5.629, β = 0.313) and facilitating conditions (FC with t = 4.442, β = 0.269) in PLS-SEM, and FC (with 100 percent importance) and Health consciousness (HC, with 94.88 percent importance) in ANN analysis were found to be the most substantial predictors of mHealth adoption. The study also revealed that EE and FC are more important for low education group, while PE and Situational Constraint (SC) are more important for the high education group of refugees. In addition to providing insights for mHealth developers, this study particularly focuses on the role of government institutions and non-governmental social workers in working with the subjects to increase FC and HC among Rohingya refugees and bring them under mHealth services.

대학교육에서 글로벌 서비스-러닝 사례연구: 국내외 난민을 중심으로

This is a case study of Global Service-Learning(GS-L) in university with the theme aimed towards refugees. Due to COIVD-19 pandemic restrictions on oversea travel, an alternative GS-L educational program was developed to prepare, implement, and evaluate volunteer activities on the theme of refugees during the 2021 winter vacation. Special lectures by experts and thematic exploration workshops were designed and operated as education for understanding and empathy on refugee, and special lectures and program development workshops for each activity were designed and operated to prepare for volunteer activities. As the refugee relief organization requested Korean and English classes, art therapy, and learning mentoring, students who have taken the related courses were given priority in the selection process. University students conducted foreign language classes and art therapy using non-face-to-face Zoom meetings with overseas refugees, and for domestic refugees, face-to-face learning mentoring service, social media refugee advocacy activities, design production and volunteer activities were conducted. The participant students developed a sense of global citizenship and showed great growth in exploring their own career paths. This study is meaningful in expanding the field of learning experience to the world and presenting new educational possibilities based on the case of face-to-face and non-face-to-face GS-L focusing on the theme of refugees.

Reaction to the Russian aggression against Ukraine: cities as international standards’ supporters

ABSTRACT Cities are taking part in enforcing international standards/law by humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and relief for Ukrainian refugees, severing sister cities’ ties with Russian cities and breaking other forms of cooperation with them. This enforcement consists of implementing sanctions against Russia and supporting the victim of illegal Russian aggression in the exercise of collective self-defense. The research goal of this article is to examine the reaction of 12 cities (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Geneva, London, Madrid, Munich, Paris, Stockholm, Strasbourg and the Hague, chosen as part of a broader research project that the authors are implementing) to Russian aggression against Ukraine and on that basis to catalogue or classify their actions as well as answer the question whether they are enforcing international standards only by following their states’ actions or by acting ahead of them. The cities had been chosen as part of a broader research project that the authors are implementing. The research methods include desk analysis and multiple case studies. The information has mostly been obtained from the websites of the respective city councils as well as via e-mails from the International Affairs offices/officers of examined cities.

Disease, DPs, and DDT: A Global Health Perspective on the History of Refugee Relief

AbstractAt the end of the Second World War, millions of men, women, and children shared a similar experience: delousing, at the hands of Allied armies and relief agencies, to prevent the spread of infectious disease. The procedure lasted seconds. In studies of displaced populations in this period, its effects upon them are commonly presented as invasive, humiliating, and, for some, reminiscent of Nazi abuse. Adopting a wider lens, this article explores how events and developments in a global range of settings shaped demands for effective delousing as well as the character of measures devised to achieve it. Harnessing fresh perspectives on how delousing was managed, delivered, and experienced, the article also advances understanding of how refugees responded to it.

China's Participation in Refugee Protection and Relief from the Perspective of International Law

As the international society is paying more and more attention to refugee protection, there are still several controversies. The first one is whether granting asylum to refugees should be defined as an obligation of a state. The second one is whether the expansionary interpretation of the border of the non-refoulement principle should be applied. The third one is whether all states need legislation focusing on refugee protection. In this context, China has always adhered to a governance model that addresses both the symptoms and the root causes, and has gradually increased its participation in international refugee affairs, taking into account its national conditions. However, China still lacks an integrated system for refugee protection to further fully fulfill the relief obligation of great powers in the international community. Based on adhering to a multidimensional and co-governance model of governance and active extraterritorial material assistance, China should in the future expand its interpretation of the boundaries in the principle of non-refoulement of refugees from a humanitarian perspective and use this as a policy guide for legislation on the resettlement of refugees within its territory. China should use its action to call for a wider interpretation of the obligation to assist from a humanitarian perspective so that the international community can improve the overall level of refugee assistance.

Compliance of dental health care providers with the infection prevention and control protocol in Gaza Strip: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundThe Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH) developed the infection prevention and control (IPC) protocol in 2004 to control infection among dental health care providers in their interactions with clients, the community, and the environment. Adherence to the protocol has not previously been reported. We compared compliance of dental health-care providers with the IPC protocol and in MOH and United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) clinics and assessed factors affecting adherence. MethodsWe did a cross-sectional observational study in all Gaza Strip governorates. A self-administered questionnaire was sent to 137 dental health-care providers in the region to collect data about compliance with the IPC protocol. In parallel, we completed two observational checklists for each dental health-care provider during visits to clinics: one assessing compliance (completed three times with 3-day intervals) and one assessing the presence and availability of IPC systems and supplies (completed once). Data were analysed by χ2 and t test, with p<0·05 indicating significance. Ethics approval was obtained rom the Palestinian Helsinki Committee, and dental health-care providers gave written informed consent for inclusion in the study. Findings137 (100%) dental health-care providers completed questionnaires. 82 (60%) respondents were men and 55 (40%) were women. 90 (66%) worked in MOH clinics (67 dentists and 30 practical nurses) and 40 (34%) in UNRWA clinics (24 dentists, 14 practical nurses, one dental nurse, and one oral hygienist). 134 (98%) of 137 dental health-care providers had received a hepatitis B vaccination. 97 (80%) dental health-care providers in MOH clinics and 38 (95%) of those in UNRWA clinics showed compliance in applying the IPC protocol during practice (p<0·001). Only 40 (29%) of respondents in MOH clinics and only four (3%) in UNRWA clinics had a hard copy of the IPC protocol. 29 (21%) of 137 respondents had systems for monitoring infection rates in their clinics. 65 (47%) attributed the shortage of IPC materials in clinics, such as bleaching agents, suction tubes, face shield or masks, and aprons, to lack of availability in central medical stores. 104 (76%) of respondents showed good knowledge of the importance of IPC standards for society, 115 (84%) had suggestions for modification of the protocol, and 137 (100%) reported that there was no protocol for prevention of medical injuries (eg, needlestick injury) as only a post-exposure programme was included in the IPC protocol. Adherence of dental health care providers to the IPC protocol was significantly higher in UNRWA clinics than in MOH clinics (p<0·001). InterpretationThere is an urgent need to develop the IPC protocol for dentistry. Future interventions and training, securing essential IPC materials, and increased monitoring of IPC coverage in MOH and UNRWA clinics will be needed to achieve this goal. FundingNone.

A neglected aspect of refugee relief works: Secondary and vicarious traumatic stress.

The literature demonstrates evidence that secondary traumatic stress (STS) and vicarious traumatic stress (VTS) may adversely affect the well-being of refugee relief workers and, thus, the quality of their services. The present review offers an exploration of (a) the theoretical background of STS and VTS, (b) their appearance among refugee relief workers, (c) intervention studies available, (d) common points among intervention studies and guidelines on STS and VTS released by local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and (e) the potential problems that can be associated with the insufficiency of standardized intervention programs as assessed in effectiveness studies. This review may help mental health professionals in countries that host large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers, such as Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, to design more effective intervention programs targeting STS and VTS.

Nuo bajorių iki valstiečių: karo pabėgėlės Tvano laikotarpiu Lietuvos Didžioje Kunigaikštystėje | From Nobles to Peasants: Women Refugees in the Deluge Period in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Although war refugees are mostly a subject of research involving war and military conflict in the 20th and 21st centuries, forced migration also accompanied many earlier military conflicts. This article focuses on war refugees during the Deluge period in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, when the Commonwealth was simultaneously at war with Muscovy (1654–1667) and Sweden (1665–1660). At that time, the idea of offering temporary shelter for refugees was increasingly recognised, and relief for refugees gradually became a concern of the nascent modern state. In the Commonwealth, the Cossack uprising and the aforementioned wars of the mid-17th century made the issue of war refugees particularly relevant. The article first clarifies the terms that were used to refer to migration and war refugees (zbieg, advenus, profugus, exul and wygnaniec). Later, it examines whether state institutions in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL), a constituent part of the Commonwealth, attempted to deal with refugees’ problems. Finally, on the basis of scarce and fragmentary sources, the author makes an attempt to trace the fate of women refugees from different parts of the GDL in Žemaitija (Samogitia) in 1654–1667, and their behavioural strategies, and to answer the question to what extent the decisions of the women refugees were independent, or dependent on the will of their spouse or their family.

Opinion Survey of Paediatricians on Vaccination Status of Refugee Children - Challenges of a Medical Connection to the Regular Outpatient Care System

In addition to the primary health care of refugees, their integration into the regular outpatient care system should be ensured. Initial data suggest that a gap of vaccination among (school) children of refugee families might have emerged in the period between the first general inspection on arrival (the first central health measure) and the transition to the local health care system. The aim of this study was to obtain the opinion of practicing paediatricians regarding the vaccination status of refugee children to examine whether a variance in the measles, mumps, rubella (varicella) vaccination schedule might have emerged between the periods of initial admission and school enrolment examination. Evaluations of both inhibiting and promoting conditions should generate fields of action regarding the systematic integration into the regular health care system. Qualitative interviews with experts as well as a quantitative questionnaire survey to measure the opinion of registered paediatricians in Münster were analyzed. The assessments showed that there was no clear vaccination gap among (school) children of refugee families. One challenge was the systematic integration into the local outpatient care system. Critical issues were inadequate vaccination education, language barriers, and frequent changes in location. The vaccination engagement and vaccination behaviour of refugees were assessed as most positive. International standards, in particular the sphere standards, attracted insufficient attention in practical implementation within the refugee relief programs. Based on the results, it is possible to identify fields of action for the prevention of vaccination gaps among refugees as well as for their systematic integration into the regular outpatient care system. The sphere standards as international standards should be incorporated more consciously.

How to Hatch the Wings of a Mockingbird: A Comment on the EU’s New Migration and Asylum Pact and the Risk of Destroying Civil Society Engagement in Refugee Relief Work Internally to the EU Memberstates

ABSTRACT It is now more than 5 years since Europe experienced a so-called “refugee crisis” challenging the European Union's asylum system to such an extent that the system is still transforming. This commentary identifies a dangerous trend in these transformations. It does so with reference to the manifestation in Europe in 2015 of grassroot engagement and cross-border initiatives to welcome and support refugee arrivals, known as “welcome cultures”. Bearing this willingness to support refugees in mind, the EU Migration and Asylum Pact appear to communicate an even more exclusive notion of Europe than hitherto seen. Even though “solidarity” is a core notion in The Pact, it is a very different understanding of solidarity than the ones expressed in the welcome cultures: In The Pact “solidarity” refers to the collective responsibility of EU member states to follow refugees back to where they came from. This consensus, neglecting how civil society was an invaluable resource during the summer and autumn of 2015, endanger the activities and maybe even the very existence in Europe of civil society engagement in refugee relief work. We write this commentary because we think these developments should be recognized as a dilemma located at the heart of European democracy.

Corporate social responsibility in emerging social issues: (non)institutionalized practices in response to the global refugee crisis

PurposeCSR reporting is an institutionalized practice. However, institutionalization has been primarily examined in the context of limited social issues and largely restricted to the presence of CSR communication. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a framework to explore how institutional and organizational factors shape CSR programming in response to an emerging social issue: the global refugee crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports from Global 500 Fortune corporations between 2012 and 2017. This study uses content coding and inferential analysis to examine how industry type, headquarters location, and partnership resources are related to programming in the refugee relief efforts.FindingsThe results reveal distinctive patterns from the technology sector and European corporations, with no clear patterns identified among other corporations. The findings indicate that although CSR is an institutionalized practice, CSR program reporting offers fewer insights as to how institutionalization occurs.Research limitations/implicationsResults suggest a preliminary framework for understanding how CSR programming becomes institutionalized and provide implications for how corporations may address emerging social issues.Originality/valueThis study applies an institutional, communicative approach to the context of the recent global refugee crisis, which contributes to theory development through the examination of an emerging social issue. It also extends prior research on the institutionalization of CSR by focusing on programming in response to an emerging social issue over time and suggests the limits of prior claims of institutionalized practices.

Towards a decolonial curriculum of human rights education in Palestine

AbstractThe politics of knowledge economy have long governed the process of spreading the United Nation's universal culture of human rights into diverse contexts. This article examines the strategies utilized in introducing and operationalizing the UN's normative discourse of human rights through integrating an ideological model of Human Rights Education in the Gaza Strip. This is through the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and its education provision services in Gaza. In particular, I apply an abridged version of Foucauldian Discourse Analysis, from a discursive psychological viewpoint, to generate an understanding of identity construction within the wider context of the continuing Israeli settler‐colonial project in Palestine. The aim is to challenge the particular subject position of Palestinian learners as advocates for human rights, which they cannot claim through the UN's highly bureaucratic and standardized tools. In this context, a decolonial response is indispensable for addressing the role of the politics of knowledge production of human rights in regulating the learners’ subjectivities while ignoring the intricate geopolitical and historical factors that shape the learners’ identities. Therefore, the article contributes to decolonial research by examining the UNRWA as a modern and hegemonic institution that guards and delivers a decontextualized HRE curriculum in Gaza.

Hope on the move: Israeli humanitarians between resilience and utopianism

ABSTRACT The proliferation of voluntary and grassroots relief initiatives during the recent ‘refugee crisis’ in Europe brought renewed attention to the feelings, desires, and motivations that prompt aid workers and volunteers to engage in humanitarian actions. The article expands on this interest in ‘the need to help’ and in the care of the self that humanitarian engagements involve by looking at another layer of humanitarian affectivity – the need to hope – that bears on the helpers and on their aid activities in an intimate and yet impersonal way. I demonstrate how the helpers’ experience of living in an impasse and their tentative coping with political stuckness and paralysis find expression in their humanitarian subjectivities and relief programs, and how their humanitarian encounters and the affects they trigger are entangled with the crisis of the future that their own political communities face. The analysis focuses on two refugee relief projects that were carried out by civil society organizations from Israel in Europe since 2015, in which the resonance between the refugees’ predicament and the crisis of hope that the Jewish helpers from Israel confronted was mobilized as an affective and an operational resource. I show that the normalization of the Israeli occupation and its view as an intractable condition had contrasting effects upon the helpers’ political and humanitarian expectations, fostering both a minor humanitarianism that reaffirmed resilience as a prime political virtue, and a visionary humanitarianism that sought to leverage the humanitarian exception as a platform for practical utopianism.

Emergency response of the UNRWA health programme to Great March of Return injuries: a descriptive analytic study in Gaza

BackgroundThe United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is one of the main health-care providers in the Gaza Strip. It provides primary health services to approximately 1·3 million Palestine refugees, comprising approximately 76% of the population of the Gaza Strip. UNRWA has well-prepared emergency health plans that are based on previous conflict experiences. However, the Great March of Return (GMR) injuries that UNRWA has faced since Mar 31, 2018, are considered a new experience of emergency. GMR is a protest activity launched by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to express their right to return to their homes, from which they were expelled in 1948. This study aimed to describe the GMR-related injury patterns in patients and the health services provided as a part of the UNRWA emergency response in Gaza. MethodsThis was a descriptive analysis of medical and data reports of patients who sought care at 22 UNRWA health centres in Gaza for GMR-related injuries between Mar 31 and Sept 30, 2018. Data were collected from each individual on first contact with their health-care provider. We analysed the data using SPSS version 21. The study protocol was approved by the Gaza Field Office, and each participant provided oral informed consent to disclose their medical data for analysis. Findings2020 patients attended the 22 UNRWA health centres for GMR-related injuries during the study period. 18·9% (381) were below 18 years of age, and 94·9% (1916) were male. 10·0% (202 of 2020) of injuries were classified as severe, 54·2% (1095) as moderate, and 35·8% (723) as mild. The majority of injuries (86%; 1737 of 2020) were due to gunshots, and 14% (283) were due to other causes (such as gas inhalation, rubber bullets, burns, and falling down). 54% (1090 of 2020) received wound care and dressing, 20% (404), received medical treatment only, and 26% (526) received both medical treatment and wound care. 9% (169 of 2020) developed motor dysfunction or disability as a complication, and received rehabilitation physiotherapy at UNRWA health centres. In addition to injury treatment, all patients received psychological first aid according to UNRWA Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services guidelines. Individual and group psychosocial support sessions and home visits were provided for injured individuals and their families as needed. The UNRWA Health Programme collaborated with partners (eg, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières) for hospital referral for patients with severe injuries who needed advanced treatment. InterpretationGiven the unprecedented situation, UNRWA health centres responded positively and comprehensively to the GMR-related injuries, providing care and essential medical and psychosocial support. However, many patients will require long-term care owing to their injuries. Further consideration should be given to developing a more systemised response to such emergencies, and to the human resources that are needed to support health, physiotherapy, and rehabilitation in Gaza. FundingNone.