The Experience of Being a Refugee: Insights from the Research Literature

The refugee problem is worldwide: today no region or continent lacks refugees—people caught between danger at home and loss of identity in a strange land. Fear of persecution has led millions to flee their homes and seek safety in strange societies where they may be isolated, different, and often impoverished. Although the refugee problem has existed for a long time and has created great suffering for refugees and major difficulties for those who have tried to assist refugees, there has been little refugee research—research that might relieve the suffering of the refugees and assist those who try to aid the refugees. Despite tens of millions of refugees in this century, refugee research is sporadic, unsystematic, isolated, and cursory.