Factors Shaping the Lived Experience of Resettlement for Former Refugees in Regional Australia

Abstract

Refugees experience traumatic life events with impacts amplified in regional and rural areas due to barriers accessing services. This study examined the factors influencing the lived experience of resettlement for former refugees in regional Launceston, Australia, including environmental, social, and health-related factors. Qualitative interviews and focus groups were conducted with adult and youth community members from Burma, Bhutan, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Iran, and Sudan, and essential service providers (n = 31). Thematic analysis revealed four factors as primarily influencing resettlement: English language proficiency; employment, education and housing environments and opportunities; health status and service access; and broader social factors and experiences. Participants suggested strategies to overcome barriers associated with these factors and improve overall quality of life throughout resettlement. These included flexible English language program delivery and employment support, including industry-specific language courses; the provision of interpreters; community events fostering cultural sharing, inclusivity and promoting well-being; and routine inclusion of nondiscriminatory, culturally sensitive, trauma-informed practices throughout a former refugee's environment, including within education, employment, housing and service settings.

Integration and social determinants of health and wellbeing for people from refugee backgrounds resettled in a rural town in South Australia: a qualitative study

“…Racism impacted on people's lives, particularly those from Africa, undermining a sense of belonging, safety, and in turn effective integration [76,77]. There is a substantial literature highlighting the detrimental impact of racism on health in general [78][79][80][81][82] as well as for refugees specifically [57,[83][84][85][86], including in rural resettlement [41,76,77,87]. Community development initiatives such as community arts projects and anti-racism curriculum in schools are important in these contexts.…”

“…Unemployment and underemployment are key issues more broadly in rural towns in Australia and internationally and have also been identified as particular issues for regional refugee resettlement nationally [9,41,58,[87][88][89][90] and internationally [11]. Difficulties in accessing secure long-term employment affected resettlement and integration experiences of the participants in this study.…”

Resettlement Stressors for Women of Refugee Background Resettled in Regional Australia

“…It was also identified that WoRB have additional barriers to overcome in an attempt to develop their English proficiency skills, including being at a disadvantage within a learning context. The need for language programs for refugee populations in regional areas to be flexible has been highlighted by Smith, Hoang, Reynish, McLeod, Hannah, Auckland, Slewa-Younan and Mond [ 3 ], with the current study further emphasising that flexibility, in regard to the how the language program is delivered and the amount of hours available, is paramount when supporting WoRB in an educational context. Building on the need identified by Smith, Hoang, Reynish, McLeod, Hannah, Auckland, Slewa-Younan and Mond [ 3 ], the current study emphasised the particular vulnerability of WoRB in the educational context, and that the current English program in regional areas is insufficient.…”

“…In 2019, the United Nations estimated that 79.5 million individuals had been forcibly displaced globally, with approximately 1.4 million individuals of refugee background in urgent need of resettlement [ 1 , 2 ]. Resettlement is the process whereby individuals of refugee background move from the country where they have sought protection to a different country where they have been granted long-term or permanent residence status [ 2 , 3 ]. Although resettlement holds the potential for safety, researchers have demonstrated that the process of resettlement also comes with a multitude of challenges, as individuals of refugee background are exposed to cultural contexts and social and economic environments vastly different to their country of origin [ 4 ].…”

“…The regional resettlement of refugee populations has been argued by the government as being an opportunity to address employment shortages, create economic opportunities and promote population growth, therefore ensuring the sustainability of rural and regional towns [ 12 ]. However, there is a growing concern surrounding the lack of current knowledge regarding the resettlement experiences of individuals of refugee background in rural and regional locations of Australia [ 3 , 11 , 14 , 15 ], bringing into question whether rural and regional locations can provide adequate resettlement support. Urgency in the need to understand the nature/significance of this issue is magnified by government pressure to achieve its regional resettlement goal of 50% of new humanitarian resettlements allocated to a regional location within a 12–18 month period.…”