Posttraumatic experiences of refugee women

Abstract

[Abstract] Migration and the movements of people are complex processes that uproot people and transplant them in a new environment, a transition that is not easy to make in the best of times. People create meaning out of the context in which events occur. Consequently, an experience of migration always involves a strong subjective component of people's lived experiences and their reaction to the new environment. Refugees are people who move involuntarily from their country of residence. A refugee has been defined by the U.N. Convention and Protocol for the Status of Refugee Status as a person "owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or owing to such fear is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country." The state is required to give refuge to those who seek asylum on a durable basis, and if it is unable to do so then it is required to at least give them refuge on a temporary basis. States are not allowed to expel or return any refugee to the territory where he or she is likely to face persecution.