There may be many issues affecting your refugee family in their homes, schools and amongst their peers.  It is important that when you meet the family that you assume nothing.  Refugees have often survived the disruption in their homelands because they are incredibly resilient people, and they may exhibit none of the emotions and trauma that we describe below.  In other situations, a person may appear to have been significantly traumatised by their experiences.  It is very important that you do not apply or reinforce stereotype – everyone has had different experiences and everyone will have different ways of coping with these experiences, even people in the same family.  

Some issues you may encounter are loneliness, poverty, abuse or neglect, lack of parental support, dysfunctional family environments, single parent families, and trouble associated with lack of cultural identity.  But it is important not to assume that you will encounter these issues.   Please contact your VoRTCS team if you would like any more information about how best to address these or other issues.

Issues for young refugees

Extracts below are taken from “Keeping up – A Workers Guide”, a book developed for Queensland youth workers and service providers who are working with young refugees and published by the Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma (QPASTT).   The aim is to help provide context to the issues faced by young people from refugee backgrounds and to help youth workers and communities gain a better understanding of issues faced by young survivors of torture and trauma settling in Australia.

Life as a refugee can expose young people to severe hardship and trauma during important periods of emotional, intellectual and physical development. The long-term impact of these experiences can increase young people’s vulnerability to mental, physical and social problems.

Past traumas your student may have faced include:

• Torture or violence – own or witnessing others        

• Sudden flight from home
• Years of instability in refugee camps
• Parents or relatives killed or missing

• Nightmares
• Repeatedly thinking about experiences of violence
• Feeling angry, afraid, sad and / or restless
• Lack of concentration and interest, and difficulty in sleeping
• Lack of self confidence, lack of trust
• Physical symptoms including lack of energy, lack of appetite, heart palpitations, headaches and stomach aches

• Re-enacting the trauma
• Moodiness as they deal with feelings of inadequacy
• Expressions of aggression in order to establish control
• Exhibition of perfectionist behaviours
• Obsessively discussing their feelings
• Exhibition of a single mood – withdrawal, or compliance
• Use of illicit drugs
• Engage in risk-taking behaviour or inappropriate sexual activity

On top of trauma issues, your student may also be facing various migration and settlement issues, including:

• Command of English
• Enough money
• Support networks
• Caught between two cultures
• Good accommodation
• Transport problems
• Fear of new culture
• Racism

Despite the immense personal strength young refugee people develop surviving torture, trauma, loss and resettlement, their life in Australia can be quite difficult.  The experiences of young refugees are often poorly understood and their use of support services piecemeal. They may be simultaneously coping with a family struggling to resettle, fulfilling adult roles within their families, racism in their social worlds, and fluctuating emotional, social and psychological reactions to trauma and uprooting.  Suffering gaps in their education, many young people struggle academically. Not being able to communicate confidently and effectively in English impacts on all aspects of young people’s lives.

Your student may also be dealing with present life issues, such as:

• Family in new country
• Success/failure at school
• Adjustment to classroom environment
• Renewed violence in home country
• Employment & training
• Friends
• Acceptance    
• Identity