Promoting male refugees’ mental health after they have been granted leave to remain (refugee status)

Abstract

There is existing evidence that suggests that refugees’ mental health is often impaired by pre-migratory stress, by their experience of being asylum seekers and also by their resettlement adversities; however, little is known about the specific mental health issues of male refugees. The current research is set in this context and it aims to explore multiple levels of stress that male refugees experience after they have been granted Leave to Remain (refugee status) in the U.K. A total of nine male refugees took part in the study; they were interviewed individually and the interview transcripts were analysed by the use of Thematic Analysis. The overall findings indicated that being granted Leave to Remain worsened participants’ mental health, as they had to face new challenges such as seeking employment and accommodation, as well as their general struggle to settle in the U.K. Participants indicated that the type of support available to them was quite poor. These findings are relevant in order to support specific intervention strategies to promote male refugees’ mental health.

Keywords:

• Male refugees
• leave to remain
• empowerment
• mental health

Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to the participants of the study.