Examining the Impact of Living in an Asylum on the Mental Health of Middle Eastern Refugees

Abstract

Refugee aid is seldom a topic of American political conversations despite rising global refugee populations (American Immigration Council, 2020). Refugees who have fled or been forced out of their native country seek asylum, or protection from persecution, in a host country (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2015). Thus, an asylum country is one in which refugees can live without fear of persecution or deportation to their native country, while they apply for permanent residence or resettlement (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2015). Many Middle Eastern nations including Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Palestine are currently experiencing war and subsequently, hundreds of thousands of individuals from these nations have been forced to seek asylum elsewhere (International Institute for Strategic Studies, 2022). Adjusting to asylum countries may affect mental health, which is an individual’s state of psychological wellness (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2022). Thus, this paper will examine how relocation to an asylum country impacts the mental health of Middle Eastern refugees.