The Immigration and Nationality Act legally defines a refugee as any person who is outside any country of such person’s nationality or, in the case of a person having no nationality, is outside any country in which such person last habitually resided, and who is unable or unwilling to return to, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of, that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. (Immigration and Nationality Act, 2012). The refugee status is a form of protection that may be granted to people who meet the definition of refugee and who are a special humanitarian concern to the United States. The internal displacement monitoring centre defines an Internally displaced persons (IDP’s) or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border (idmc “Definition,” 2013). There are 2 elements of internal displacement- 1) involuntary character of movement and 2) Movement only takes place within the national borders. Involuntary movement is such as, like a refugee, armed conflict, violence, human rights violations and disasters. These causes have in common that they give no choice to people but to leave their homes and deprive them of the most essential protection mechanisms, such as community networks, access to services, and livelihoods. Unlike Refugees, who have been ...
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...health resource for Chittenden County parents, guardians, schools, and other child-serving professionals. Retrieved December 2, 2013, from http://studentsfirstproject.org/childadolescent-mental-health/at-risk-populations/refugees/somalia-somali-bantu/
8) StudentsFIRSTProject.org (n.d.). Somali Bantu Refugee Cultural Considerations. StudentsFIRSTProject.org- An online mental health resource for Chittenden County parents, guardians, schools, and other child-serving professionals. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://studentsfirstproject.org/childadolescent-mental-health/at-risk-populations/refugees/somalia-somali-bantu/somali-bantu-cultural-considerations/
9) U.S. Department of State (n.d.). Reception and Placement Program. U.S. Department of State - Diplomacy in Action. Retrieved December 1, 2013, from http://www.state.gov/j/prm/ra/receptionplacement/index.htm
One of the more disconcerting aspects of Bill C-31 is the newly adopted Designated Country of Origin (DCO) legislation which has permanently labeled particular nations as “safe”. Consequently, individuals claiming refugee status who originate from these countries no longer have the same rights and privileges afforded to their refugee counterparts from other nations (“Overview of C-31,” 2013). In turn, this has led to a dichotomy between those who view this change as necessary in order to diminish the influx of embellished and falsified refugee claims and those who view this policy as discriminatory and prejudiced towards people originating from certain nations.
Currently “first and second generation immigrant children are the fastest growing segment of the U.S population, and there are currently 40 million immigrants living in the United States.” (Stephenson, 2008) According to Sirin, Ryce, Gupta authors of The Role of Acculturative Stress of Mental Health Symptoms for Immigrant Adolescents: A longitudinal Study; a first generation immigrant is someone who was born in another country and then moved to a host country, while a second generation immigrant is someone who was born in the host country but has at least one parent who was born abroad (2013). The goal of this paper is to look at the mental health of second generation immigrants, and how (or if) cultural identity, acculturation, undocumented vs documented status of parents, education and language barriers protect or negatively affect the mental health of this growing popul...
The three topics I picked are gender, race, and religion. However, my views on these subjects have not changed because I considered myself to be a very open-minded person. After reading "The Berdache Tradition" I learned that the several Native American tribes had a different kind of cultural construction of gender within their group. I was very fond of their origin myth that was about several worlds and crossing over them to find equal ground for everyone. I found this reading to be very interesting because it seems that no one takes the chance to mention the subject of having more than one gender. Usually people are focused on physical differences of sex and the expectations that are associated with gender. The same goes for the group in
A Refugee is a person who has been forced to leave their country because of the war or the
U.S. Department of State. (n.d.). Bureau of Counterterrorism. Retrieved 05 01, 2014, from U.S. Department of State: Diplomacy in Action: http://www.state.gov/j/ct/
Refugee is someone who fled his/her country because of conflict or for fear of been prosecuted for reason of race, nationality, religion, sexuality, and political opinion (UNHCR, 1 February, 2002). An asylum seeker is someone who fled his/her country of origin and applies for recognition as a refugee in another country, and
These issues also include poverty and limited or no access to education, training, mental health and health care resources. Refugees also face persecution and are unable to return to their home in their native country (Villalba, 2009). Mental health counselors need to understand the impact of trauma on their refugee clientele, as they may include physical torture and mental abuse in nature. According to Sue and Sue (2013) counselors will need to address the most salient concerns of refugees, which include safety and loss. The possibility of being, or having been, mentally abused and physically tortured has an impact on their ability to stay in the hosting country. Counselors will be dealing with post-traumatic stress from their client. Equally important is for the counselor to assist the refugee in understanding issues of confidentiality. For Muslim immigrants and refugees, counselors should consider national policies during the counseling process. For example, the two Sudanese sisters’ were able to resolve their religious practice of wearing the hijab and securing employment in a beneficial way. As an advocate for the sisters and other Muslim refugees, it would be helpful to provide them access to resources that educate them in antidiscrimination policies that can protect them against hate crimes and legal resources that can help them seek asylum. In essence, culturally competent practices for counselors working with immigrants and refugees begin with understanding their worldviews, as well the national and international legal issues that confront their
War is the main cause in the creation of child refugee. It is also known that war is the primary cause of child injuries, death and loss of family members. Being born abroad in unknown places, also play a role in depriving children of a legal home. The trauma of being a refugee child can cause detrimental changes in the mental health of a child and over all development. This article focuses on the impact of the Syrian armed conflict on the mental health and psychosocial condition of Syrian refugees’ children. Also, this article explores the struggles of several refugees’ families and their children. It was determined that mental health services can be key to restoring basic psychological functioning to support resilience and positive coping
According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugee is a term applied to anyone who is outside his/her own country and cannot return due to the fear of being persecuted on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership of a group or political opinion. Many “refugees” that the media and the general public refer to today are known as internally displaced persons, which are people forced to flee their homes to avoid things such as armed conflict, generalized violations of human rights or natural and non-natural disasters. These two groups are distinctly different but fall ...
The social problem we have chosen to address is the mental health status of refugees. Refugees are exposed to a significant amount of trauma due to fear, war, persecution, torture, and relocating. The mental health illnesses that can affect refugees due to exposure to traumas include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Research indicated that refugees relocating from war-torn countries are particularly vulnerable to mental health concerns because many have experienced early traumas and face further post-traumas after relocation (Cummings, et al., 2011). However, despite the prevalence of mental health issues concerning refugees, mental health needs often go unrecognized and untreated.
" Journal of International Affairs 52.2 (1999): 691. Academic Search Elite -. Web. The Web. The Web.
The trauma of Karen refugee can relate to my group research because this article shared solid traumatic tortures Karen refugee have experience in Burma. By the torture of human rights abuse by the Burmese government, Karen struggles to hold citizenship and continue to be the target. Karen refugee resettlement in Minnesota is considered one of the highest population in the United States of America. I believe that with the closure to the Karen community my group and I will be able to obtain more information in regards to war trauma and mental health of the Karen
About half of the total global refugees today are unaccompanied minors, ranging from the ages of 16 years to a mere 2 months old (“Global Trends”). The refugee crisis involves an influx of people fleeing to a foreign land to evade oppression, persecution, or conflict in their native country (“Refugee”). This international problem is caused by violence, war, racial discrimination, religious persecution, and the fear of not being safe (“What’s Driving”). The negative impacts consist of more education, transportation, housing, and more essential services needed to meet an inundation of refugees (“Social and Economic Impact”). Also, the spike in population “creates a sudden and massive demand for scarce natural resources such as land, fuel, water,
A major domestic problem confronting the United States is directly related to accommodating a health policy for an influx of international refugees, regardless of their legal statuses. The current political climate combined with an increasing number of migrants globally requires extra attention to this policy issue. This topic is important to me because of my own inter-mixed Desi heritage where Pakistan is the second largest country to lead the intake of international refugees at an astounding 1.5 million individuals according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Only after understanding the importance of refugee health policy in American domestic affairs did I realize exactly how problematic this situation is for America in relation to my personal
A refugee is defined as an individual who has been forced to leave their country due to political or religious reasons, or due to a threat of war or violence. There were 19.5 million refugees worldwide at the end of 2014, 14.4 million under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around 2.9 million more than in 2013. The other 5.1 million Palestinian refugees are registered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). With the displacement of so many people, it is difficult to find countries willing to accept all the refugees. There are over 125 different countries that currently host refugees, and with this commitment comes the responsibility of ensuring these refugees have access to the basic requirements of life: a place to live, food to eat, and a form of employment or access to education.