Refugees Mental Health and Complicated Cases in Exile

Introduction

UNHCR estimated the number of forcibly displaced people from their countries as being 65.3 million throughout the globe. It is quite unfortunate that half the given number of the refugees were children. The interpretation of the given data shows that more than 33, 972 people are displaced per day.  It also illustrates that more than 24 people flee their homes in an hour. Such a number is saddening as it results in the global instability as far as peace and terrorism are concerned. The leading factors contributing to the menace are conflicts arising from racism, religion, nationality, tribalism, political opinions, and the civil war (Elliot & Segal, 2012). The only way to stop the forceful displacement of people is to handle these causative agents.

Moving from one country to the other is not a big deal, but its effects need the global attention. It is a common occurrence to violate the human rights of the refugees and the asylum seekers. The conditions the refugees undergo is quite disheartening and require compassion. They experience physical, social, and emotional torture. The latter is more imminent in any diaspora society as it depends on the other factors. It is rare to find any refugee who is mentally healthy. The situation in their parent countries stresses them, becomes more stressful as they travel, and even triple when they finally arrive at their new destinations. Every human in the world must stand and show support to the efforts already made to safeguard the interest of the refugees. They are human like any other and as a result, their mental health should not be left to deteriorate.

Refugees Mental Health Experience

The brain is a crucial aspect of human life and is significantly affected by the immediate occurrence. The emotional element comes into play for individuals to flee their homes and look for refuge elsewhere. In most cases, people undergo stressing moments in their countries and only escape if it becomes extreme (Silove et al., 2017). Persecution characterizes the backgrounds of many members of the diaspora. The refugees mainly from the Arab nations and the African continents cite civil war and terrorism as their push factor. In such situations, they lose their loved ones as well as property. This act has significant mental implications for the affected individuals. Some of the individuals even narrowly escaped death or imprisonment. When war dominates in society, other evil activities take place. Sexual harassment, particularly in women and children, is frequent, and this suggests that the refugees must be undergoing trauma due to the occurrence back in their countries. The prevailing conditions in the parent nations of the refugees are the leading contributor to mental discomfort.

Most refugees despair and even perish when looking for refuge as only a few countries are will to accommodate them. The act of many nations that ignore the stipulated regulations of accepting refugees leaves individuals feeling unwanted. It degrades them, and it results in low self-esteem among the people fleeing their motherlands.  For instance, many African strive to access the European nations through the Mediterranean Sea, but on reaching the countries, they are turned away (Groenwold & Porter, 2016). Such an act is not just inhuman, and it is a murder. The affected individuals become mentally ill, and some even prefer dying to continuous depression. The events will always stick in their minds even after securing places to call home later. The act of refusing to accommodate the refugees make them lose their self-worth and become mentally ill.

The primary cause of the refugees’ mental health is the alienation from their loved ones and property. The children take the largest portion of the world’s refugees’ population (Muijen, 2016). Based on these data, it is clear that many of them have been separated from their parents and other close people. Memories of the parent country will always occupy the minds of the people living apart from their relatives. The situation is even worse when the refugees have no whereabouts of their associates. Besides undergoing depression when thinking of the others, the refugees face immediate stress in their new homes. Everything is new to the name, and they have to adjust accordingly. More importantly, they have nobody to associate with, and some of the people around them might be hostile.  Socialization is a necessity, and when it is not there, depression and stress prevail.

Economic hardship accelerates the mental discomfort of the refugees. People who have flown their home countries own nothing. They only rely on humanitarian organizations to have the requirements of food, shelter, and clothing. These requirements are scanty and only provided in a while. Tents characterize the refugee camps, and the beddings are limited. For example, many people ran away from Somali during the civil war and sought refuge in the neighboring country of Kenya (Elliot & Segal, 2012). Due to the vast number of the migrants, the UNHCR could not meet their demands and only provided tents that hardly houses all the families. Hunger, poverty, and criminal acts characterize such camps. Without the necessary human requirements, individuals’ become mentally unstable.

Harassment and exploitation are frequent in most refugees’ center, and it affects one’s psychology. Hardly are refugees received well by their hosts, but when accepted the newcomers become the workers of the community (Kupferschmidt, 2016). Having the migrants work is not evil, but overworking while underpaying them is an immoral act. It dehumanizes the refugees and makes them valueless. The newcomers are treated with suspicion and even alienated from the natives. A good example is that of the Jews in the United States in the early years. They were overworked and openly discriminated regarding professional employment and education. Search an act makes the refugees feel as if they are second-class human beings. Other harassment and discrimination of the refugees are even more disturbing.  Sexual exploitation of the minors and women is common in the migrants’ camps. The newcomers are also victimized in case of any occurrence in the society. These factors altogether lead to stress which affects individuals’ mental health.

Early Prevention and Intervention Strategies

The first approach entails handling the factors causing people to migrate to other countries. Individuals flee their motherlands to other foreign nations with a reason. It could be due to political opinion, race, religion, nationality, and so forth. Luckily, all these factors are, and so the same people can stop them.  The essential aspect is to promote peace globally. The number of displaced people due to war surpasses the other factors. For instance, people running from the Middle East and most of the African countries are avoiding civil war and terrorism. Peace promotion is an easy task as it involves everybody in the society. If all humans decide to be peace ambassadors, then the number of refugees will drop significantly. Governments, on the other hand, have a primary role in making sure that no citizen jets out forcibly. It should provide an ideal environment for the survival of its people. Addressing the force migration push factors will help in reducing the number of refugees and consequently the associated stress.

International laws should be strengthened to make sure that refugees are well received in other countries. Significant measures have been put in place to make sure that the refugees live a comfortable life. The UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations should be applauded for its efforts in making sure that the human rights are not violated. The bodies, however, should now advocate for harsh measures against hosts nations that discriminate the reception of refugees. Some governments are not taking care of the newcomers but are holding them in their countries. Legislations should be put in place and even sanctions imposed against countries that do not respect the human rights.

The ease of refugees accessing their host nations reduces the trauma that would have been encountered by the parent nation and the new destination. Stress characterizes the refugees’ lives from the point of oppression to the time of departure, and during the relocation process. At times, it goes on even at the new homes. Eliminating the relocation stress plays a significant role in reducing the chances of mental illness. Forcible displacement is impromptu, and so the migrants have no means of reaching their aid nations. They lack food, security, love, and become tired while moving. Therefore, if they are helped in their movement, they do not increase the already established mental discomfort. There are many occurrences between the refugees’ motherland and host nation, and in most cases, it is occupied with hardship and demoralization.

Community-Based Support

The host nation’s community has a role to play in restoring the mental health of the refugees. The essential aspect is not costly and entails society being there for the refugees. Loneliness and loss of the loved one is the main psychological problem that newcomers possess. They might have witnessed terrifying incidents before arriving at their final destination.  All these events stress and depress the individual. The community has an opportunity to help the refugees restore their mental status. They can directly visit their camps on a regular basis and show them compassion as they socialize. In so doing, the individuals will feel loved and quickly adapt to their new environment. Sporting is an essential aspect when dealing with the emotional matters. The community should engage the refugees in sporting events as most of them are children.

The community should corporate with the humanitarian bodies by economically supporting the refugees. Lack of the basic needs is a source of depression. Due to this fact, every community member should contribute either money, food, clothing or house equipment to the aid bodies or directly to the newcomers. Such an act will normalize the lives of the locals, and they will start enjoying their new friends as well as the environment. The community has a role in supporting the refugees with their little means. When each member contributes towards the well-being of the refugees, the current situation of starving and inadequate housing in the camps will be a thing of the past.

Role of Advocacy

The primary purpose of all advocacies dealing with the refugees is to develop policies that will safeguard the interests of the refugees. The UNHCR and other UN’S bodies have been in the forefront in making sure that the plight of refugees is addressed. It is internationally agreed no single nation can return refugees to their home countries if the factors that led to their displacement have not been solved. The most recent example illustrating this policy is the Israel decision to return the Somali and Eritrean refugees to their home country (Zamani & Zarghamani, 2016). This move was globally opposed because the situation that let them flee away are still prevailing. Israel can only move the refugees to other stable countries, and the affected individuals must be willing to relocate. Members of the UN should accept foreigners seeking refuge if their homelands are unstable. The advocacy bodies champion for the legislation that addresses the plight of the refugees.

Advocacy agents are championing for the global peace and addressing the other issues that may make individuals’ leave their countries. Humanitarian bodies are the leading advocates for universal peace. They are looking for friendly ways of handling the current disputes around the world. For instance, they are pushing for a peace talk in the Syria issue and other Middle East countries experiencing civil unrest.  In any war-torn country, the women and children are adversely affected by the associated events ((Eruyar et al., 2016). Due to this fact, most advocacy prioritizes the plight of these two classes. If it becomes difficult to broker a peace deal, the bodies necessitate the movement of both parties to secure places and make sure that they receive equal rights as their hosts.  If it were not for the role of advocacy, the number of refugees would be much high, and even their conditions more deplorable.

Recommendations for Advocacy

There should be a unified force championing for the rights of the refugees. The recent occurrence in most of the European nations and America where people are protesting the steps made so far regarding migration. Some people are opposing the human treatment of refugees and want them restricted from accessing their countries. Such an act should be condemned, and its reverse should prevail instead. Conferences and peaceful demonstrations should be used to entice the whole universe on accommodating the individuals running from their country. It would be inhuman for some nations to ignore the plight of the homeless people whom most are children. The refugees require empathy and compassion, and no sane individual would ignore the plight of needy children.

Youths should be engaged in advocacy as well as social activities. Most colleges and high schools have incorporated migration studies in their curriculum (Zamani & Zarghami, 2016). This act has empowered them with the causes and immediate need of the refugees. It places them an ideal position of advocating and fighting for the rights of the forcefully displaced people. The youths also spend most of their time on the digital media. They encounter information about the state of some nations as well as the need of the people fleeing the countries. With such information, they get interested in migration issues and even research how to end the present situation in the world. Based on the youths learning and their exposure to the internet, they should spearhead the advocacy roles.

The whole society should be taught about the plight of the refugees so that they can appreciate it. Some people have no experience of the conditions under which migrants undergo. Educating the people would inspire them to make the world a favorable place. The teachings can be advanced through different government agencies and the media. The host government should make sure that its citizens do not feel threatened by the reception of newcomers. It should also foster the unity spirit in that all humans are equal and deserve a healthy living.

Summary and Conclusion

Forceful displacement of people from their native land is still ongoing even in this generation. People are fleeing their home nations for many reasons. The affected individuals’ are in a dilemma as they are not welcomed in other countries yet they cannot go back to their hostile home. When received, the refugees live a miserable life full of oppression. More worrying is the factor that half of these people looking for new homes are children. The stress and depression associated with this menace have a mental impact. The individuals suffer at homeland, in the journey, and finally at their exile destination. Had it not been for the existing humanitarian bodies, the situation would have been even worse. Nonetheless, mental ailment bears a correlation with the forcible displacement of people. It is the role of everybody in the globe to champion for the rights of the migrants as all humans are equal and deserve a healthy life. The advocacy has played a significant role in preventing the displacement of people and even safeguarding the interest of those already in exile. Much needs to be done by individuals as well as the advocacy agent in improving the welfare of the refugees.