Exploring Congolese refugees and asylum seekers’ survival strategies in South Africa: Implication for social work practice

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to explore Congolese refugees and asylum seekers’ survival strategies in South Africa, the focus of this paper will be on the role of the social worker. The paper is part of the study that was conducted on Congolese refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa post-war or conflicts. The study employed a qualitative research method and a descriptive case study of 10 female Congolese refugees living in Yeoville, Johannesburg South Africa. The participants have lived in South African for less than five years and there were 30–40 years of age. Data were collected by means of one-on-one in-depth interviews in the form of semi-structured interviews. Purposive sampling and snowball sampling techniques were used in the selection of participants. Thematic content analysis was used in analyzing the data collected. The paper provides recommendations on what role can social workers play can in mental wellbeing interventions. This study also contributes to a better understanding of mental wellbeing issues of Congolese refugees and asylum seekers. Ethical approval for this research study was obtained from the Department of Social Work Human Research Ethics Committee (Non-medical) of the University of Witwatersrand.

KEYWORDS:

• Refugees
• asylum seekers
• mental wellbeing
• mental wellbeing interventions