Forced Migration Research Archive
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The Forced Migration Research Archive (FMRA) is an initiative of the Refugee Research Network and supported by the Centre for Refugee Studies and York University Libraries. It was established to promote the Green Open Access option to researchers working in the field of refugee and forced migration studies. Steady increases in the article processing charges (APCs) associated with Gold and Hybrid OA have presented significant challenges to prospective authors who wish to provide open access to their research articles, particularly those who are new to the field and/or who are based in the Global South. The ideal alternative? Depositing postprint versions of journal articles in repositories (the “green route”). Doing so means that authors can continue to publish in their journals of choice without incurring any publication fees. However, not all authors in this subject area have access to repositories at their own institutions, either because the universities with which they are affiliated have not established one or because they are non-academics working with NGOs, IGOs, or independently. FMRA offers a solution: A space where forced migration authors can quickly deposit their journal articles, and subsequently be assured that their scholarship will be easily located by the wider research community as well as preserved over the long-term.
If you are interested in learning more about this project and the process of submission, please visit the FMRA page.
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Item Open Access A mile in their shoes: understanding healthcare journeys of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK(International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 2024-04-01) Talks, Isobel; Al Mobarak, Buthena; Katona, Cornelius; Hunt, Jane; Winters, Niall; Geniets, AnnePurpose Refugees and asylum seekers worldwide face numerous barriers in accessing health systems. The evidence base regarding who and what helps refugees and asylum seekers facilitate access to and the navigation of the health system in the UK is small. This study aims to address this gap by analysing 14 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with refugees and asylum seekers of different countries of origin in the UK to identify where, when and how they came into contact with the health-care system and what the outcome of these interactions was. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were chosen as the key method for this study. In total, 14 individual interviews were conducted. A trauma-informed research approach was applied to reduce the risk of re-traumatising participants. Findings The paper identifies key obstacles as well as “facilitators” of refugees’ and asylum seekers’ health-care experience in the UK and suggests that host families, friends and third-party organisations all play an important role in ensuring refugees and asylum seekers receive the healthcare they need. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first qualitative study in the UK that looks at comprehensive health journeys of refugees from their first encounter with health services through to secondary care, highlighting the important role along the way of facilitators such as host families, friends and third-party organisations.Item Open Access A review of drivers of environmental non‑migration decisions in Africa(Regional Environmental Change, 2022-10-17) Balgah, Roland; Kimengsi, Jude NdzifonIn spite of growing scholarship on environmentally induced non-migration research in Africa, comprehensive empirical evidence of non-migration drivers is extremely difficult to find. We review 77 rigorously selected empirical articles on the drivers of environmental non-migration. A variety of relevant keywords was applied to search, identify, and select key publications from ScienceDirect, Web of Knowledge, Google Scholar, and the Climig databases. Content analysis and inter-rater reliability (IRR) analysis were used to summarize the literature and identify key drivers of environmental non-migration decisions across all retained articles. The study structure was informed by the Foresight (2011a) conceptual framework. A growth in the non-migration literature across the time period was observed. Social factors, particularly place-based attachment and family/cultural obligations, was identified as the most important driver of non-migration (IRR score = 0.67). Environmental factors were ranked second, particularly the ability of the affected to develop coping capacity through experiential learning even in contexts marred by resource scarcity and widespread poverty. Given the limited literature on environmental nonmigration decisions, we recommend increased non-migration research across Africa to better inform policy decisions. This is particularly important as climate-related disasters surge. Frequent reviews on diverse aspects of non-migration studies are recommended to redefine future research and non-migration policy considerations in Africa.Item Open Access Attention deficit–hyperactivity symptoms among Palestinian children(Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal (EMHJ), 2010) Thabet, Abdelaziz; Al Ghamdi, H.; Abdulla, T.; Elhelou, Mohamed-Wafaie; Vostanis, Panosعبد العزيز موسى ثابت، حنان الغامدي، تيسير عبد الله، محمد وفائي الحلو، بانوس فوستانيس الخلاصة: يهدف هذا المقال لتوطيد معدلات انتشار وتوزع أعراض اضطراب نقص الانتباه وفرط الفعالية، وما يصاحبه من مشكلات مرضية في الصحة النفسية لدى أطفال المدارس في فلسطين. وقد درس الباحثون، عشوائياً، 349 طفلاً، تتراوح أعمارهم بين 6 و 15 عاماً، ينتمون إلى 23 مدرسة في غزة وفي الصفة الغربية، وأعطيت لهم درجات وصفها آباؤهم ومعلموهم باستخدام قائمة تفقدية لمتلازمة نقص الانتباه وفرط الفعالية لدى الأطفال، والفصل الرابع من الدليل الإحصائي التشخيصي، واستبيان التعرف على نقاط القوة ونقاط الصعوبة، وهو استبيان يقيس أيضاً المشكلات التي تعتري التصرفات والانفعالات. وكان هناك اتفاق يُعتد به إحصائياً بين الآباء والمعلمين، فقد صنِّف 4.3 % من الأطفال فوق مستوى الحرز الفاصل من قِبَل كلٍ من الآباء والمعلمين الذين استخدموا القائمة التفقدية والفصل الرابع من الدليل الإحصائي التشخيصي، وقد لاحظ الباحثون أن الجنس الذكري، وحجم الأسرة، والمعيشة في منطقة تعاني من الحرمان الاقتصادي والاجتماعي، هي عوامل تصاحب بشكل مستقل مع أعراض نقص الانتباه وفرط الفعالية.Item Open Access Effect of Trauma Due to War on Dissociative Symptoms and Resilience among Palestinian Adolescents in the Gaza Strip(Arab Journal of Psychiatry, 2014-11) Ghannam, Reem Taisir; Thabet, AbdelazizAim: The present study examined the effect of war trauma on occurrence of dissociative symptoms and the role of resilience among Palestinian adolescents in the Gaza Strip. Method: N=400 adolescents (179 boys, 221 girls) were randomly selected from 10 schools in five areas in the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Traumatic Checklist, Dissociative Symptoms Scale for Adolescents, and Resilience Scale for Adolescents were used for assessment and socio-demographic data collected. Result: Regardless of gender, all participants reported an average of nine traumatic events regardless of family income, number of siblings, parent education and work status. The mean score for dissociative symptoms in girls was 75.67 vs. 73.65 in boys. No statistically significant differences in dissociative symptoms according to gender, age, place of residence, parent education and work status. Mean resilience was 112.18, individual resources, e.g. personal skills, social skills, and peer support was 44.06; physical and psychological caregiving by primary caregivers was 27.42, and contextual resources including spiritual, cultural and educational resources mean was 37.42. No statistically significant differences in the total resilience and subscales according to socio-demographic factors of gender, age, type of residence and parents work, whereas, resilience was higher in those with fewer siblings. There was a statistically significant negative relationship between dissociative symptoms and total resilience, individual resources, physical and psychological caregiving, and contextual resources. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between traumatic events and total trauma and total resilience, individual resources, and contextual resources. Clinical implications: Palestinian adolescents have been victims of continuous trauma with increased risk of psychopathology such as dissociative symptoms. Such symptoms negatively impacted upon adolescent resilience when handling adversity. Findings suggest the need for psychosocial interventions that reflect public health and child developmental requirements. Engaging children in interventions that are community-based recreational and cultural activities in war-affected populations have been found useful to heal.Item Open Access Effect of Trauma on the Mental Health of Palestinian Children and Mothers in the Gaza Strip(Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 2001) Thabet, Abdelaziz; Abed, Yehia; Vostanis, PanosA cross-sectional study was conducted among 285 Palestinian children 9-18 years of age and their mothers in the Gaza Strip. Traumatic events recollected by children living in areas of conflict, the prevalence of post-traumatic stress reactions and the relationship between children's and mothers' mental health were investigated. The Gaza Traumatic Events Checklist, Impact of Event Scale (IES) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) were used to measure outcome. Children experienced on average four traumatic events; one-third reported significant post-traumatic stress reactions. IES scores were higher among girls and mothers' GHQ scores significantly predicted children's IES scores.Item Open Access Many Rivers to Cross: The Recognition of LGBTQI Asylum in the UK(2018-06-27) Dustin, MoiraThe Refugee Convention was not written with the persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI) people in mind. This article shows the dilemmas this creates for LGBTQI asylum seekers and their advocates when establishing the case for protection. It uses the United Kingdom (UK) experience as an example and brings the literature on this topic up to date with reference to recent cases with implications for LGBTQI applicants. While there has been a welcome shift to recognize that LGBTQI persecution is a legitimate basis for asylum, contradictions and tensions between United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, European, and UK guidelines and instruments, as well as between UK policy and practice, have resulted in a lack of consistency and fairness in the treatment of LGBTQI asylum seekers. The article identifies three specific areas of concern and goes on to show what happens when they converge, using a case that exemplifies some of the problems – AR (AP), against a decision of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) [2017] CSIH 52. It concludes by suggesting a shift in the focus of questioning, from the identity of the asylum seeker to the persecution in the country of origin, as a possible basis for fairer treatment of LGBTQI asylum claims.Item Open Access Mobilizing Global Knowledge: refugee research in an age of displacement(2019) McGrath, Susan; Young, Julie E. E.An examination of, and guide to, the challenges and responsibilities of doing research with displaced peoples while respecting their complex needs. In 2018, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees documented a record high 71.4 million displaced people around the world. As states struggle with the costs of providing protection to so many people and popular conceptions of refugees have become increasingly politicized and sensationalized, researchers have come together to form regional and global networks dedicated to working with displaced people to learn how to respond to their needs ethically, compassionately, and for the best interests of the global community. Mobilizing Global Knowledge brings together academics and practitioners to reflect on a global collaborative refugee research network. Together, the members of this network have had a wide-ranging impact on research and policy, working to bridge silos, sectors, and regions. They have addressed power and politics in refugee research, engaged across tensions between the Global North and Global South, and worked deeply with questions of practice, methodology, and ethics in refugee research. Bridging scholarship on network building for knowledge production and scholarship on research with and about refugees, Mobilizing Global Knowledge brings together a vibrant collection of topics and perspectives. It addresses ethical methods in research practice, the possibilities of social media for data collection and information dissemination, environmental displacement, transitional justice, and more. This is essential reading for anyone interested in how to create and share knowledge to the benefit of the millions of people around the world who have been forced to flee their homes.Item Open Access Norm-busting: rightist challenges in US and Australian immigration and refugee policies(Third World Quarterly, 2021-12-07) FitzGerald, David; Hirsch, AsherInstitutionalist scholars argue that international rights norms, judicial autonomy, and discourses of immigrant nationhood constrain shifts to harsher immigration policies in liberal democracies, particularly settler societies. The Trump presidency and Liberal-National Coalition government in Australia during the same period are occasions to test whether those norms functioned as expected in two paradigmatic country cases. Both governments attempted to undermine judicial autonomy, the illegitimacy of ethnic and religious selection of immigrants, the rights of detained children and families, and the principle of non-refoulement. A new institutionalist analysis of attempted norm-busting in each country specifies which norms were effective constraints. International legal and political constraints were weak. Domestically, norms obliging the protection of children were more effective than norms related to adults. Discourses favoring immigrant nationhood and opposing discrimination resonated, but were confronted by equally powerful discourses of insular nationalism and security that promoted restriction. While the judiciary moderately constrained new policies, particularly in the U.S., in neither country did the judiciary fully act in line with dominant theoretical expectations, because of both structural and normative weaknesses.Item Open Access Parental Agency in Forced Migration(Mothers Matter Center, 2023)The Mothers Matter Centre, in partnership with ISSofBC, and with funding from Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada, developed 'Reviving Hope and Home (RHH),' a program that is designed to ensure the well-being, dignity, and social connections of high-risk , vulnerable GAR mothers. 17 RHH refugee mothers from Syria and Iraq who have lived in Canada between 8 months to 3 years participated in this participatory research prject which explored the potential loss of parental agency in forced migrant mothers. The researched focused on four phases: Before the war, during forced migration, on arrival to Canada, and after joining the HIPPY program. Participants shared their stories through art, writing, and narrative which were recorded using three tools: digial art, audio and video. The session was conducted fully in Arabic and was later transcribed, translated and analyzed by a team that included researchers, staff and Home Visitors.Item Open Access Posttraumatic Stress and Growth among War-Exposed Orphans in the Gaza Strip(Arab Journal of Psychiatry, 2018-11) Thabet, Abdelaziz; ElRabbaiy, AlaaAim: The present study explored the impact of trauma on war-exposed orphans in the Gaza Strip reporting symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG). Participants: N=83 children attending the orphanage, El-Amal Institute, in Gaza city were included. Method: Measures were The Gaza Traumatic Events Checklist, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (UCLA PTSD-RI), Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), and a demographic questionnaire. Results: Participants experienced 3 to 28 traumatic events (M=11.19). Those aged 12-14 years reported more traumatic events than younger and older children; 49.4% reported no PTSD symptoms, 32.5% reported partial PTSD, and 18.1% reported full criteria of PTSD. Children in the middle age group (12-14 years) reported higher levels of PTSD than younger and older groups. The PTGI scale found 78.31% reported they had a stronger religious faith with 70.7% stating they learned a great deal about how wonderful people are. Total posttraumatic growth among orphan children mean was 25.27. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between total traumatic events due to war and PTSD, numbness symptoms, and arousal symptoms. While, there was no correlation with PTG nor was there a correlation between PTSD and PTG. Conclusion: Orphaned children reported significant trauma and PTSD symptom levels, which suggests the need for governmental and non-governmental organizations to identify therapeutic programs to improve their daily functioning and productivity in future. Training is needed for caregivers in different institutions to ensure early detection of children with mental health problems and identify best ways to support.Item Open Access Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Resilience among Palestinian Adolescents in the Gaza Strip(Arab Journal of Psychiatry, 2019-11) Alibwaini, Issa; Thabet, AbdelazizObjective: The current study investigated posttraumatic stress disorder and resilience among adolescents in the Gaza Strip after the 52-day war in 2014. Method: N=408 adolescents, aged between 13 and 18 years, were recruited from the five governorates of the Gaza Strip with the help of local community-based organizations. Four self-report questionnaires were completed, including a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Gaza Traumatic Events Checklist, the PTSD Scale-DSM-IV, and Child and Youth Resilience Measure. Results: The most frequently reported traumatic experience was seeing mutilated bodies on television. Nearly half of the participants had experienced at least 10 traumatic events and 19.1% showed full criteria of PTSD. Getting an education was recorded as the most influential factor in the development of resilience. The total number of experienced traumatic events was positively correlated with PTSD and negatively correlated with resilience. PTSD was negatively correlated with resilience factors. Conclusion: Adolescents living in armed conflict zones are at risk of experiencing traumatic events, which can lead to PTSD. Resilience plays a significant role in reducing the negative effect of trauma and PTSD. Further investigation, particularly on resilience factors, is required.Item Open Access Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder among a school-based sample of Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip(Arab Journal of Psychiatry, 2014-11) Thabet, Abdelaziz; Elumour, IkramAim: The present study investigated prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct disorders among Palestinian children in the south Gaza Strip. Methods: Three hundred and eighty eight participants (194 boys, 194 girls), aged 12 to 15 years (M=13.5 years), were selected from eight governmental and United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) preparatory schools. A self-report questionnaire, including sociodemographic scale, was completed. Teachers and parents completed the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV diagnosis of ADHD while parents and their children completed a conduct disorder scale. Results: Parents reported 4.4% of children fulfilled the full criteria of ADHD combined type. According to teachers, 9.8% fulfilled the full criteria of ADHD combined type. ADHD combined type symptoms were higher in boys than girls. Children in governmental schools had more ADHD combined type than in UNRWA schools according to teachers who also rated children living in families with low family monthly income as having more ADHD. Parents reported 15.7% of children had conduct disorder while 17.5% of children self-reported the condition. Boys self-reported had higher levels of conduct disorder than girls, which supported parent ratings. Regarding comorbidity, 6.7% of children rated by parents had inattentive disorder and conduct; 5.2% of children had both conduct and hyperactivity-impulsivity disorder; and, 3.4% had both combined ADHD and conduct disorder. Conclusion: Findings confirmed a strong relationship between ADHD and conduct disorder and provided specific data on the prevalence in Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip. Such findings highlight the need to establish psychosocial rehabilitation programs in schools and community-based centers so children and their families can learn to overcome the adverse impact of such disorders on psychosocial development and academic achievement. Psychoeducation for parents and teachers should focus on early detection of behavioral problems and of alternatives approaches such as behavior modification to deal with such problems.Item Open Access Refugees and Guesthood in Turkey(2021-09) Abdelaaty, LamisEven as Turkey took in over three million Syrians at great expense, Turkish officials were referring to these individuals as guests rather than refugees. Despite significant legal developments in the country, and particularly the formalization of a temporary protection regime, this choice of labels reveals the influence of underlying political trends on Turkish policy-making regarding refugees. This paper compares Turkey’s reactions to the Syrian inflow with its responses to previous refugee groups, including Iraqis in 1988, Bosnians in 1992, Kosovars in 1998, and Chechens starting 1999. In so doing, it demonstrates that the refusal to designate certain populations as asylum-seekers or refugees enables Turkey to opt in or out of what might otherwise appear to be generally-applicable, national-level policies. Through these strategic semantics, policymakers retain a freedom to maneuver in response to international and domestic political incentives.Item Open Access The Relationship between Human Rights and Refugee Protection: An Empirical Analysis(2021-02-01) Abdelaaty, LamisWhat is the relationship between a government’s respect for the rights of its own citizens and that government’s regard for refugee rights? On one hand, we may expect that a country with high human rights standards will also offer a higher quality of asylum. Domestic laws that protect citizens’ rights may be extended to refugees, for example. On the other hand, there are reasons to theorize that a country with high human rights standards may offer a lower quality of asylum. For instance, governments may claim that protecting citizens’ wellbeing necessitates the rejection of refugees. To explore these questions, I analyse a global dataset drawn from reports by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. I find that the relationship between citizens’ rights and refugee rights is modified by economic conditions and the size of the refugee population. Moreover, some domestic rights (like freedom of movement and labor rights) may increase protections for refugees, while others (like rule of law) may decrease them. Refugees have been largely absent from the literature on the politics of human rights. By systematically examining the relationship between human and refugee rights worldwide, this paper fills an important gap in the scholarly and policy literature.Item Open Access Relationship between Stressors Due to Siege of Gaza Strip on Anxiety, Depression and Coping Strategies among University Students(Arab Journal of Psychiatry, 2015-05) Thabet, Abdelaziz; Joma’a, AbeerAim: The present study assessed siege related stressors and their impact on the depression, anxiety and coping strategies among university students in the Gaza Strip. Method: It is descriptive analytic study comprised of 399 randomly selected university students from the four main universities in Gaza Strip (Al-Aqsa, Al-Azhar, Al-Quds Open and Islamic University). Five questionnaires were used: sociodemographic questionnaire, the Gaza Stressful Situations Checklist, the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Carver Brief Coping Scale. Results: The most frequently reported stressors were: sharply increased prices due to closure (92% of students), studies being affected so much due to cut-off of electricity (83.5%), and shortage of gas. Results showed that mean stressors in men were 12.38 and 10.33 in women. The study showed 9.5% of men and 12% of women had severe depression although no gender differences were found. In addition, 10.3% of men and 13.8% of women had anxiety. There was a statistically significant positive relationship between total stress due to siege and depression symptoms and anxiety. The most frequent coping strategies were finding comfort in religious beliefs (78.2%), thinking about what steps to take (71.4%), and learning to live with the situation (67.7%). A significant negative relationship was found between total score of stress due to siege and total coping strategies. Conclusion: The Gaza siege has had lasting negative effects on Palestinians, which has led to increased mental health problems among and to them using fewer positive coping strategies. Humanitarian organizations should play a more positive role to protect the Palestinian community from the negative consequences of siege. Further research is recommended to evaluate the impact of siege on Palestinian people in all aspects of life and to provide therapeutic interventions for university students with moderate and severe depression.Item Open Access Remote Control of Migration: Theorizing Territoriality, Shared Coercion, and Deterrence(Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2020) FitzGerald, David‘Remote control’ has been a radical innovation that projects many aspects of migration and border enforcement beyond a state’s territory. Scholars across multiple disciplines make distinctive and sometimes contradictory claims about the extent to which state control over space and geographic borders is of declining significance. Drawing on a study of remote control policies in the United States, Canada, the EU, and Australia since the 1930s, this paper argues that states push much of their migration control out from their territorial boundaries though a process of extraterritorialisation. However, these liberal states simultaneously ratchet up controls at a finely calibrated border line in a process of hyper-territorialisation. The goal of restricting migrants’ access to territorialised human and civil rights drives both of these manipulations of territoriality. A taxonomy of controls based on the metaphor of an ‘architecture of repulsion’ describes their logic and practice. Many of these practices involve states sharing the legitimate means of coercion over movement in a way that challenges a core assumption about modern states. The degree to which remote control deters unauthorised migration remains a critical research question, but there is more deterrence than found in standard measures of border enforcement efficacy.Item Open Access Resilience and Psychological Problems among Palestinians Victims of Community Violence(Arab Journal of Psychiatry, 2013-11) Anwar, Abadsa; Thabet, AbdelazizAim: The present study examined the relationship between psychological problems in families' of victims of community violence and resilience in the Gaza Strip. Method: 255 participants were selected; 120 were males (47.1%) and 135 were females (52.9%). Participants were interviewed using a socio-demographic scale and Arabic versions of the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised and the Resilience Attitude Scale. Results: Participants’ mean psychological symptoms were 121.48. Females reported more somatization, obsessive compulsive, anxiety and phobic anxiety symptoms than males. Hostility was greater in low income families, paranoia was greater in people from moderate income families, psychosis was greater in those from low income families. While mean resilience was 60.84, males had more resilience than females, were more committed, more able to control, and more challenging than females. People living in north Gaza were less resilient and less challenging than people living in Gaza or Khan Younis. Psychological problems, obsessive compulsive, depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, paranoia, and psychosis were correlated negatively with resilience. Also, total psychological problems, sensitivity, and phobic anxiety were correlated negatively with commitment. Sensitivity, anxiety and phobic anxiety were negatively correlated with control. With total psychological problems, obsessive compulsive, sensitivity, depression, anxiety, paranoia and psychosis were correlated negatively with challenge. Conclusion: Palestinians in the Gaza Strip reported more psychological problems due to long-standing stress and trauma arising from community violence. Resilience was an outcome of experiences of stress and trauma and coping strategies; social support was affected by the presence of psychological problems among Palestinians whereby people with more psychological problems showed less resilience. This study highlights the need for community reconciliation between the factions and increased effort in social reconciliation. More psychoeducational programs may help increase coping and resilience. Also, families affected directly by such community violence should be targeted with their children by programs including psychological intervention, social and community support group, stress management, and parenting training.Item Open Access Reviving Hope and Home (RHH) for High-risk Refugee Mothers Program - Final Report(2021-09-30) Ohta, Akiko; Minami, MasahiroThis is the final evaluation report of the pilot project the Mothers Matter Centre (MMC) initiated in January 2018 in partnership with Immigrant Services Society of BC (ISSofBC), termed the Reviving Hope and Home for High-risk Refugee Mothers Program (referred to as RHH hereafter). The formative evaluation was conducted for the period between April 2019 and March 2021, and the findings are here presented by an external evaluation team made up of a principal investigator and an evaluation lead from Simon Fraser University (SFU).Item Open Access Rivalry, Ethnicity, and Asylum Admissions Worldwide(International Interactions, 2020-11-08) Abdelaaty, LamisWhy do countries welcome some refugees and treat others poorly? Existing explanations suggest that the assistance refugees receive is a reflection of countries’ wealth or compassion. However, statistical analysis of a global dataset on asylum admissions shows that states’ approaches to refugees are shaped by foreign policy and ethnic politics. States admit refugees from adversaries in order to weaken those regimes, but they are reluctant to accept refugees from friendly states. At the same time, policymakers favor refugee groups who share their ethnic identity. Aside from addressing a puzzling real-world phenomenon, this article adds insights to the literature on the politics of migration and asylum.Item Open Access Social Support of Palestinian Adults with Disabilities in the Gaza Strip(Arab Journal of Psychiatry, 2018-11) Thabet, Abdelaziz; Vostanis, Panos; Qama, Kamal AbuAim: The present study aimed to determine the social support levels perceived by Palestinian adults with disabilities and to compare the data with socio-demographic variables. Method: N=416 participants (n=263 men, n=53 women); ages ranged from 19-70 years (M= 33.56 years) were selected randomly from the databases of two NGOs for people with disabilities. Instruments: Demographic data were collected via questionnaire for gender, age, class, and place of residence and attitudes and perceptions about social adaptation, life status, social role, self-esteem and self-concept were via the Social Support Scale. Results: The most commonly reported items in the Social Support Scale included feeling the need for security (69.6%), not feeling satisfied about quality of life (39%), understanding the demands of a new life (53.3%), feeling the need for love and social recognition (69.4%), and being aware of personal potential and ability (69.4%). Men with disabilities reported higher self-esteem than women with disabilities. Those who had no income had less social adaptation, less life status, less social role, and less self-concept. Conclusion and clinical implications: The importance of focus for improving the social support, self-esteem, and well-being of disabled Palestinian adults and families. Self-esteem enhancement interventions offered in this context might well have an increased effect when combined with the other services available through independent living. Culturally sensitive interventions need to be developed to further enable people in all strata of the social hierarchy to understand their own worth and bring about changes in their lives and communities. Psychosocial interventions can play a useful role in supporting awareness and the development of accurate and positive appraisals of the self, alongside the process of adjusting to life of disabled people.