Resettlement Experiences of Syrian Refugees in the United States: Policy Challenges and Directions

Factors Shaping Occupational Injustice among Resettled Syrian Refugees in the United States

“…The experiences of occupational injustice become exacerbated by the language barrier, limitations in social support, and financial insufficiency [ 9 ]. Darawsheh et al [ 47 ] conducted a follow-up study to the current investigation that focused on exploring the level and sources of support provided for fourteen resettled Syrian refugees in the United States. Darawsheh et al [ 47 ] showed that the lack of support offered for resettled Syrian refugees to be a main shaper of their resettlement experiences and a main source of their experienced living difficulties.…”

“…Darawsheh et al [ 47 ] conducted a follow-up study to the current investigation that focused on exploring the level and sources of support provided for fourteen resettled Syrian refugees in the United States. Darawsheh et al [ 47 ] showed that the lack of support offered for resettled Syrian refugees to be a main shaper of their resettlement experiences and a main source of their experienced living difficulties. The lack of support was evident by the deficiency of the cultural orientation and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs and other means of provision of psychological support/treatment.…”

“…The United States refugee allocation of Syrian refugees together in specific pocket neighborhoods prevented the integration of Syrian refugees within the American community [ 13 , 14 , 47 ]. The American refugee resettlement policy is derived from the Refugee Act of 1980 (United States Public Law 96-212, 1980) [ 61 ].…”

“…The American refugee resettlement policy is derived from the Refugee Act of 1980 (United States Public Law 96-212, 1980) [ 61 ]. Though the Act stipulates measures to reunite a refugee with a “spouse or a child” as section 207(c)(2) shows, it overlooks sociocultural and familial needs of refugees to be reunited with extended family members [ 7 , 47 ]. This in turn exacerbated Syrian refugees' experiences of separation from their extended family members and deprivation from meaningful sociocultural activities [ 47 ].…”

“…The American policy for refugees focuses on refugees' early economic self-sufficiency, i.e., expeditious employment upon arrival [ 5 , 7 , 47 ]. This policy has been implemented with a lack of sociocultural and psychosocial support, which in turn maximized the dependency of refugees on public benefits, limited their social inclusion in the society, and adversely affected their psychological status [ 7 , 15 , 47 ]. Thus, refugees end up experiencing occupational alienation as they become obliged to assume meaningless jobs with minimal requirements of English, low wages, and prolonged hours [ 6 , 12 , 23 , 51 ].…”