Forced migration: Health and human rights issues among refugee populations

Abstract

Undocumented migration is a global phenomenon that manifests in various contexts. This article describes the impact of the movement of large numbers of people in several African countries, producing a unique type of migrant—the refugee. We describe issues that refugee movements create on fragile health care systems, situations that precipitate refugee movements, certain human rights violations that are of particular concern such as gender based violence (GBV) and child soldiers, and lastly, implications for nursing practice and policy. We use examples from several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Mozambique. Drawing on key documents from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, current literature, as well as the international experience of the authors, this article presents an overview of forced migration and discusses opportunities for nurses to impact research, practice and policy related to refugee health.

Depression, Perceived Health, and Right‐of‐Return Hopefulness of Palestinian Refugees

“…Forced displacement is traumatic and often an unwanted social change that can lead to a loss of identity and physical, psychological, and socioeconomic livelihood (Lori & Boyle, ; Marie, Hannigan, & Jones, ; UNHCR, ). For many refugee women, intimate partner and gender‐based violence and associated mental health conditions have been identified as additional issues (Al‐Modallal, , ).…”

Displaced and forgotten child refugees: A humanitarian crisis

“…Child refugees have an increased potential for morbidity and a decreased life expectancy. In order for child refugees to successfully settle and integrate into a new society, it is critical that they have access to timely, high‐quality physical and mental health care (Joshi et al., ; Lori & Boyle, ). Pediatric nurses are oftentimes frontline workers in child refugee situations.…”

“…Displaced adolescents, in particular, are at heightened risk for abduction, human trafficking, sexual abuse, and forced military recruitment (Measham et al, 2014;UNHCR, 2015aUNHCR, , 2015bUNHCR, , 2015c. The main cause of disability is mental illness; mortality is the result of infectious diseases, intestinal parasites, and malnutrition (Lori & Boyle, 2015).…”

Infectious Diseases among Refugee Children

“…Newly arriving refugees and asylum seekers often arrive from low-income countries plagued by war and social conflicts, natural disasters, and economic challenges, and experience long journeys [14]. Poor health systems in the setting of conflicts can result in low vaccination coverage for children; in addition, history of vaccination and documentation of prior vaccine receipt is often incomplete [15,16].…”