Refugees' Agency: On Resistance, Resilience, and Resources
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design and Setting
2.2. Study Population
2.3. Data Collection
2.3.1. Topic List
2.3.2. Procedures
2.4. Data Analyses
2.5. Ethical Considerations
3. Findings
3.1. Characteristics of the Study Population
3.2. Decision-Making
3.2.1. Decision-Making: Finding and Offering Distraction
‘I like to walk between the trees.The most important thing indeed is to leave the house,the first 10 steps change my psyche completely.’[F58_SY07]
‘Yes, walking in the woods and breathing fresh air,that helps me to release stress and feel comfortable.’[F26_SY04]
‘.. when I am too busy at work, or there are many things about my homelandor something, then I go gaming, or sports, yes I do sports. Sports really help. (..).Then, I do not think about it, then I concentrate on other things, sport helps, (…)it makes me feel calm, and yes, happy, and with gaming too.’[F87+88_SY11]
‘We talk to them about interesting subjects,let them remember the most beautiful days in Syria,not the bad things that resulted from the war,like their visits to their grandparents. So, we let them focus on the positive sides.’[F28_SY02]
3.2.2. Decision-Making: Focus
‘My daughter’s best friend was in a different group. So, I talked to her,are you sad, or how do you feel when he goes to another group?’F91_IR01
‘When I pray, it is a mix of movement and recitation,I read some syllables from Quran while I make moves, it is somehow like Yoga. I believe in what I read. In Quran are so many sermons, wisdom and lessons which relieve your heart and soul.Then, you know deep in your heart that all the difficulties will also go away, God will be with you, help you, and the future will be better.’[F27_SA5]
Some people actively seek solitude:‘I will sit in my room alone for a while, when I feel discomfort I like to sit alone. I am sitting alone, with my discomfort.I log out from whatsapp, I turn off the phone…everything becomes irritating to my nerves.I then need to be alone with myself in my room.Then, I will read the Quran or pray, or do Tasspeeh [praise God]Then, yes, I feel better.’F70_SY09
‘They never asked our opinion; they find it normaland were surprised when I refused—‘on the contrary, it would be better for my child, would be good for his morals’ [they said].We are people who think this is shameful, my child cannot go to such a centre. It is shameful, not suitable for us.They may have different insights, they may be right, but we do not accept it.We have a different culture; the Arab culture exists inside us. We cannot integrate.’[F74_SY09]
‘Because the mentality is not very similar, unless the caregiveris a foreigner too—or they think that the person, despite being Dutch,sympathizes with the situation,only then they will allow it.’F104_AR01
‘but I do not want my children to see doctors.I am afraid that if I go there, maybe they saythere’s something wrong with my child, or he’s sick.You know how it is here.’F51_SY06
3.3. Leadership and Collective Action
‘Actually, I have founded an organisation,that can take care of mental health problems in refugee childrenabout which the parents need more education.I need professionals to give courses about these issues to refugees.Through my organization I can provide the public with more educationand support for refugees parents.’F31_SY04
‘We are an organisation that can give this informationbut it needs to reach the public of refugees, there is a missing link in the circle between [refugees and professionals]. So we can offer the connectionbetween the group of refugees and the professionals.We know more about the problems of refugees, andDutch organizations know more about solutions,so, the refugee organizations must be activated.We as newcomers can do primarily a lot for refugees and this society regarding refugee issues.’F32a_SY04
3.4. Agency under Pressure/Suffering & Surviving
‘We tried several things in this country but found no solution.In this country, when a teacher writes something downin his report about a child, there’s nothing you can doThere is no solution,I felt injustice against my child (..)Finally, I gave up.’F69_SY09
4. Discussion
4.1. Main Findings
4.2. Reflection on Agency and Comparison with Other Studies
4.3. Strengths and Limitations
4.4. Implications/Lessons Learned
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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ID Code | Home Country | Male (M)/Female (F) + Age | Educational Level | Duration of Stay in NL * [in Years] | Number of Children * |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SY01 | Syria | F57 | Lower vocational education | 5 | 3 |
SY02 | Syria | F36 | University education | 5 | 2 |
YE01 | Yemen | F29 | Lower vocational education | 10 | 5 |
SY03 | Syria | M33 | University education | 6 | 0 |
SY04 | Syria | F41 | University education | 6 | 2 |
SY05 | Syria | F39 | University education | 5 | 2 |
SY06 | Syria | F32 | Lower vocational education | 6 | 3 |
SY07 | Syria | F48 | No education | 5 | 4 |
SY08 | Syria | M44 | University education | 6 | 2 |
SY09 | Syria | F44 | University education | 4 | 4 |
SY10 | Syria | F54 | Higher vocational education | 5 | 3 |
YE02 | Yemen | F37 | Higher vocational education | 2 | 3 |
SY11 | Syria | M40 | Higher vocational education | 6 | 3 |
IR01 | Iran | F29 | No education | 5 | 1 |
AF01 | Afghanistan | F42 | Secondary school | 12 | 4 |
AF02 | Afghanistan | M31 | University education | 12 | 0 |
AF03 | Afghanistan | F56 | Higher vocational education | 16 | 4 |
AR01 | Armenia | F20 | Vocational education | <1 | 0 ** |
AR02 | Armenia (mother + daughter) | F66 F33 | Vocational education University education | 6 4 | 2 0 |
ER01 | Eritrea (couple) | F33 M36 | Higher vocational education University education | 4 6 | 3 |
ER02 | Eritrea (couple) | F34 M51 | Secondary school Higher vocational education | 3 4 | 4 |
ER03 | Eritrea (couple) | F25 M29 | Secondary school Secondary school | 5 both | 2 |
IR02 | Iran | M49 | Higher vocational education | 9 | 1 |
KT01 | Turkish Kurdistan (couple) | F31 M33 | University education University education | 13 both | 1 (new-born) |
VIE01 | Vietnam | F55 | Higher vocational education | 16 | 3 |
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Renkens, J.; Rommes, E.; van den Muijsenbergh, M. Refugees' Agency: On Resistance, Resilience, and Resources. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 806. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19020806
Renkens J, Rommes E, van den Muijsenbergh M. Refugees' Agency: On Resistance, Resilience, and Resources. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(2):806. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19020806
Chicago/Turabian StyleRenkens, José, Els Rommes, and Maria van den Muijsenbergh. 2022. "Refugees' Agency: On Resistance, Resilience, and Resources" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 2: 806. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19020806