“More Important than COVID-19”: Temporary Visas and Compounding Vulnerabilities for Health and Well-Being from the COVID-19 Pandemic for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Australia

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40840

Keywords:

temporary visas, mental health, refugee, asylum seeker, COVID-19

Abstract

Refugees and asylum seekers on temporary visas typically experience interacting issues related to employment, financial precarity, and poor health and well-being. This research aimed to explore whether these issues were exacerbated by the social impacts of COVID-19. Interviews were conducted both prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic with 15 refugees and asylum seekers living in South Australia on temporary visas. While this research found that COVID-19 did lead to a range of negative health and other outcomes such as employment challenges, a key finding was the reiteration of temporary visas as a primary pathway through which refugees and asylum seekers experience heightened precarity and the associated pervasive negative health and well-being outcomes. The findings emphasize the importance of immigration and welfare policy.

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Author Biographies

Moira Walsh, Flinders University

Moira Walsh is an Early Career Researcher in the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University. She can be reached at moira.walsh@flinders.edu.au

Clemence Due, University of Adelaide

Clemence Due is an Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Adelaide. She can be reached at clemence.due@adelaide.edu.au

Anna Ziersch, Flinders University

Anna Ziersch is an Associate Professor in the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, Flinders University. She can be reached at anna.ziersch@flinders.edu.au

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Published

2022-04-29

How to Cite

Walsh, M., Due, C., & Ziersch, A. (2022). “More Important than COVID-19”: Temporary Visas and Compounding Vulnerabilities for Health and Well-Being from the COVID-19 Pandemic for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Australia. Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 38(1), 11–26. https://doi.org/10.25071/1920-7336.40840