Disability

Successful integration for refugees with disabilities can be achieved if barriers are identified and removed, allowing equal access to services and participation in the receiving society.  Failure to identify and address these barriers during the integration process could lead to situations of discrimination, and result in isolation. Given the opportunity, resettled refugees with disabilities play an active role as workers, students and community members, acting as contributors to their own wellbeing and as a socioeconomic and cultural resource for the resettlement country.

Factors to consider in key program areas

At all stages of the integration process, resettled refugees with disabilities will come into contact with social service providers, such as teachers and health care professionals. There are a number of ways to enhance capacity to extend support to resettled refugees with disabilities, including:

providing professional development programs to people working in key social support positions (e.g. teachers, health care professionals) on how to work with persons with disabilities.

workforce development initiatives aimed at understanding the basic skills involved in communicating through an interpreter.

The challenge in placement is to ensure that there is an appropriate match between the specific needs of resettled refugees, and the resources and needs of the receiving community. Careful planning of placement and the involvement of resettled refugees and receiving communities in placement decisions can help to ensure that refugees start out with the best prospects. Refugees with disabilities should have an opportunity to express their wishes, concerns and talk about any requirements to support their integration.

Factors that impact placement decisions are similar for all refugees. Placement and site selection are complex processes which need to take into account a variety of factors including the attributes and aspirations of resettled refugees as well as context of the receiving community.

Among the potential factors to consider during reception of resettled refugees with disabilities include:

• Airport reception and transit arrangements.
• Accessible transportation.
• Interpretation. Particular attention should be paid to planning for Sign Language Interpretation in the preferred language used by the refugee.
• Reception accommodation. The accessibility of both temporary and permanent accommodation is crucial to ensure the safety and independence of refugees with disabilities.
• Engaging volunteers and members of refugee communities with and without disabilities to establish peer support and enhance a sense of safety and security.

In the early integration period, resettled refugees will have to access large amounts of information and engage in multiple and, sometimes, complex processes to allow them to access housing, employment, income support, health care, and many other basic services. Refugees with disabilities would benefit from the following additional information:

• Establishing processes and services for individualized assessment of the needs of resettled refugees with disabilities. In some countries, specialized services have been established to respond to the additional needs that newly arrived refugees may require, and plan for longer term integration support.
• Building the capacity of services to work with refugees with disabilities. Service providers should build their understanding of the experiences of refugees, barriers they face in accessing services, mapping referral pathways, and building trust.
• Promoting policies and program that provide access to assistive devices and technology for refugees with disabilities. Newly resettled refugees with disabilities may not have assistive devices and/or records of their impairment. Therefore, during the initial stages of integration, resettlement countries should consider prioritising access to assessments and issuing of assistive devices to refugees with disabilities.
• Provision of practical orientation information, such as registering with relevant government programs (e.g. social protection schemes for persons with disabilities), school enrolment for children with disabilities, among others.

Income support are payments made to resettled refugees to meet basic living costs prior to becoming self-reliant. The level and duration of income support payments will vary from country to country. Payments should be made available for long enough to allow resettled refugees to adjust to their new country, attend to post arrival tasks, prepare for and search for employment or other income-generating activities. Some resettled refugees may be unable to work for an extended period of time and may need to be assessed for alternative forms of income support due to their physical or mental health (such as disability or sickness allowances).  Therefore, arrangements will have to be made to ensure that appropriate income support is available for resettled refugees with disabilities and that they receive social protection allowances.

Harmonization of policies and programs that assist people with disabilities with those that assist refugees is vital to avoid refugees with disabilities falling through the safety net. Carefully mapping the admission criteria and compatibility of these programs will be relevant to ensure refugees with disabilities receive necessary support. In some countries, social protection allowances may not be compatible with income support offered to resettled refugees. In other countries, disability and/or refugee income support program may not be compatible with employment, while an allowance to access transportation or assistive devices may be key and sufficient for a person with a disability to engage in employment (see for example).

In the early integration period, many resettled refugees will have a limited grasp of the language of the resettlement country. While they will begin to acquire this through their participation in language training programmes and their day-to-day interactions in the receiving community, it will be some time before they achieve basic competency and longer still before they are technically proficient. Even if functional in the target language, resettled refugees may require assistance through interpreters and translators when communicating about matters requiring higher proficiency or in circumstances that require technical language (e.g. health care or legal matters).When identifying interpreters and translators, consider identifying sign language interpreters and other professionals with training on facilitating communication with persons with disabilities. Some individuals with disabilities will require ongoing interpretation support.Interpreters and translators should have knowledge of the specific terminology used by disability service systems. A glossary may be useful, see for example. Care must also be taken to avoid stigmatising language during interpreting. This may involve working with interpreters to address some of their own values and beliefs about disability.

Resettled refugees with disabilities that access language training can become more independent, navigate national information and systems and pursue education and employment opportunities on an equal basis with others.

Learners with disabilities may face attitudinal, physical and information barriers in their learning experiences. It is important to ensure that classrooms or training facilities, including toilet and other shared areas are accessible; that learning materials cater for the needs of persons with disabilities, such as printed books without audio equivalent materials. Language teachers should be trained on working with learners with disabilities.

Upon arrival resettled refugees will need to go through intense adjustment to an unfamiliar environment, a time when they will be coming to terms with a range of changes, from a different language, weather conditions and daily routines to new foods, shopping conventions and currency. Orientation programs should be tailored for diverse groups with specific needs such as refugees with disabilities.When establishing orientation, consider:

Using multiple and accessible forms of communication. For example, having, at a minimum, information in written and audio formats can ensure a minimum level of accessibility. In addition, having key information in additional formats addressed to persons with disabilities such as Braille and “easy-to-read” formats.

Strengthening the competencies and skills of staff delivering orientation on the rights of persons with disabilities and providing basic skills training on how to ensure access to services for persons with disabilities.

Orientation materials should include information on national disability laws, policies and entitlements. The content could map and clarify how national laws and systems that support resettled refugees and persons with disabilities interact and complement each other. Suggested areas may include accessibility in housing and public transportation, access to specialized health care, access to inclusive education, access to social protection programs for persons with disabilities (including, where applicable, gaining accreditation as person with a disability), or access to employment for persons with disabilities.

Recruiting and training local volunteers to assist with orientation, including volunteers with disabilities. Peer learning can be provided by engaging former refugees with disabilities as peer instructors during orientation sessions. For example, The Independent Living-Movement in Sweden uses peer-support to exchange experiences and learn strategies from each other on how to navigate in the community.

Engaging with organizations of persons with disabilities.

Very few resettled refugees will be in a position to purchase a home in their early years in the resettlement country. Resettled refugees’ capacity to secure housing is influenced by several factors. Refugees with disabilities may experience greater difficulties in securing appropriate accommodation. Ideally, refugees with disabilities should be allocated housing close to key services or public transportation.

Self-reliance is one of the most important factors for the successful integration of resettled refugees with disabilities. Without access to employment, resettled refugees with disabilities  risk being trapped in a cycle of dependence, social and economic marginalization, missing the extended benefits of employment, including the development of friendships and social connections, and the possibility of increasing their own self-esteem as active contributors to their families and communities. It may also prevent them from applying for family reunification for example in countries where a minimum income level is a prerequisite.   Obstacles to access employment will be compounded when intersecting with other factors of inequality, such as gender and age.

Optimal physical and mental health is a vital resource for integration. Poor health may act as a significant barrier to integration. Ensuring that resettled refugees have access to health care as soon as possible after arrival optimises the opportunities for early intervention.

Many countries offering refugee resettlement recognise the importance of making formal arrangements for resettled refugees to participate in a thorough health assessment or a ‘health check’ either prior to or soon after their arrival. Formal health assessments can provide important information to direct refugees with specific needs, such as refugees with disabilities to specialised services. For example, accessing occupational therapy and assistive devices to increase quality of life, independence and employability; accessing sexual and reproductive health services; and accessing mental health services, including specialized support and counselling for survivors of torture and persons with psychosocial disabilities.

Health assessments and examinations should consider the holistic health needs of resettled refugees with disabilities, and prevent referring persons with disabilities to disability-related health services only. For example, women with disabilities should have equal access to sexual and reproductive health services, as well as children with disabilities to child health services.

Welcoming communities foster a culture and policy environment that makes it possible for resettled refugees to feel valued and to fully participate in the social, civic, and economic fabric of the resettlement country. To foster community participation consider promoting meaningful engagement of resettled refugees with disabilities with refugee-led and community based-organisations including OPDs. Joint partnerships with refugee committees and refugee-led organizations could also raise awareness on shared issues, promote participation as equal partners in the assessment, design, implementation and monitoring of integration programs.