Threat to Success Integration and Resettlement for Female Refugee: Exercising Poor Rights to Health
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.blj.2025.012.01.02Keywords:
Female refugee; Integration and resettlement; Poor health policy; Right to health.Abstract
In the last decade, refugee catastrophe has reached an unprecedented level, with women and children comprising a significant portion of displaced population worldwide. In particular for female refugees, they face unique health challenges, including reproductive health problems, mental health issues, and gender-based violence, despite international law’s recognition of the rights to health as fundamental rights under many international conventions. Female refugee often struggles to access healthcare servicesdue to linguistic and cultural barriers, financial constraints, and discriminatory policy. Limited access to health care affects their ability to secure employment, develop social networks, and actively participate in host communities entail as a threat to theircapability forintegration and resettlement in the new country. The study aimsto examinehow current health policies create barriers to successful integration and resettlementfor female refugees. Then, itproposespolicy recommendations for governments, international organizations, and healthcare providers to address these challenges and promote equitable access to healthcare.This research is a doctrinallegalstudy which investigate the impact of the poor health policy on integration and resettlement prospects for female refugees. This research will start by analysesinternational refugee lawand relevant case law pertaining to healthcare access for refugees. Then, it critically examines the gaps and inconsistencies in these legal frameworks and their impact on the lived experiences of female refugees. Good physical and mental health conditions are key to the refugees' successful integration and resettlement into new societies and labourmarkets; otherwise, securing employment, developing social networks, or becoming active members of their host communities will be challenging. Therefore strategy to address the issue are by improving language services, providing social assistance programs, promoting gender-sensitive approach, and establishing responsive and inclusive health care system.
Downloads
References
Abba-Aji, Mohammed, et. al.. “Ethnic/racial minorities' and migrants' access to COVID-19 vaccines: A systematic review of barriers and facilitators.” Journal of Migration and Health 5 (February 2022): 100086. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmh.2022.100086.
Affandi, Hernadi. “Implementasi Hak atas Kesehatan Menurut Undang-Undang Dasar 1945: antara Pengaturan dan Realisasi Tanggung Jawab Negara.” Jurnal Hukum Positum 4, no.1 (2019). https://doi.org/10.35706/positum.v4i1.3006.
Afirda, Irdha, et al.. “Fungsi Rumah Detensi Imigrasi dalam Pemenuhan Hak Pengungsi Warga Negara Asing.” Qawanin Jurnal Ilmu Hukum 3, no. 1 (2022): 4. https://doi.org/10.56087/qawaninjih.v3i1.386
Ahrens, Jen, et. al.. “Implementing an MHGAP-based training and supervision package to improve healthcare workers' competencies and access to mental health care in Malawi.” International Journal of Mental Health Systems 14, no. 1 (2020): 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-020-00345-y.
Aoláin, Fionnuala D. Ni. “Women, Vulnerability and Humanitarian Emergencies.” Minnesota Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-27 (2010). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1611818.
Arthur - Ewusie, Emmanuel. “Has the Non -refoulement Principle Acquired Customary Status in International Law?.” SSRN (May 10, 2024). http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4824240.
Bendavid, Eran, et. al.. “The effects of Armed Conflict on the Health of Women and Children.” Lancet 397, no. 10273 (2021): 522–32.
Bhagat, Radhika, et. al.. “Mobilizing the community to address the prenatal health needs of immigrant Punjabi women.” Public Health Nurs 19 (1998); 209-14. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0737-1209.2002.19309.x.
Bolaji, Wuraola. “Trauma and transition into adulthood: African refugee and asylum-seeking care leavers in London.” Journal of Social Work Practice (2025):1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650533.2025.2449634.
Bolzoni, Magda, Enrico Gargiulo, and Michele Manocchi. “The social consequences of the denied access to housing for refugees in urban settings: the case of Turin, Italy.” International Journal of Housing Policy 15, no. 4, (2015): 400. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616718.2015.1053337.
Burnett, Angela. “Asylum seekers and refugees in Britain: Health needs of asylum seekers and refugees.” BMJ 322, No.7285, (2001): 544–547. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.322.7285.544.
Hanna-Amodio, Catarina. “Syrian Refugee Access to healthcare in Lebanon.” AOAV news, 2020. https://aoav.org.uk/2020/syrian-refugee-access-to-healthcare-in-lebanon/.
Chen, Y. Y. Brandon. “International migrants' right to sexual and reproductive health care.” International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 157, no. 1 (2022): 210–215. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.14149.
Dowling, Alison, et. al.. “An investigation into the association of pre- and post-migration experiences on the self-rated health status among new resettled adult humanitarian refugees to Australia: a protocol for a mixed methods study.” BMC (BioMed Central) International Health and Human Rights 19, no 1 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12914-019-0198-2.
Åkerman, Eva, et. al.. “A missed opportunity? Lack of knowledge about sexual and reproductive health services among immigrant women in Sweden.” Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare 19 (2019): 64-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.srhc.2018.12.005,
Fellmeth, Aaron Xavier. “Feminism and International Law: Theory, Methodology, and Substantive Reform.” Human Rights Quarterly 22, no.3 (2000): 658. https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2000.0032.
Firdausi, Yoga. “The Urgency of Indonesia in Ratifying the Convention Relating to The Status of 1951 Refugees and 1967 New York Protocol to Determine the Status of Refugees in Indonesia.” Journal of Law Theory and Law Enforcement 1, no.1 (2022):24–34.
Fitriyadi, Ahmad Adi, and Fikry Latukau. “Diferensiasi Pengungsi dan Pencari Suaka dalam Hukum Pengungsi Internasional dan Hubungannya dengan Prinsip Non-Refoulement.” Jambura Law Review 2, no. 2 (2020): 120–138. https://doi.org/10.33756/jlr.v2i2.5400.
Floyd, Annette, and Dikaios Sakellariou. “Healthcare access for refugee women with limited literacy: layers of disadvantage.” Int J Equity Health 16, no. 195 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-017-0694-8.
Forss, Katarina Sjögren, et. al.. “Physical Activity in Relation to Wellbeing Among Newly Arrived Refugees in Sweden: A Quantitative Study.” Frontiers Media in Public Health 8 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.532883.
Fouskas, Theodoros. “Sociological Perspectives of Migrant Health Disparities and Access to Healthcare Services during and beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic: Voices of Immigrant and Refugee Women in Greece.” International Journal of Non-Profit Sector Empowerment 2, no. 1 (2023). https://doi.org/10.12681/npse.32592.
Fouskas, Theodoros. “Racial and Ethnic Inequalities, Health Disparities and Racism in Times of COVID-19 Pandemic Populism in the EU: Unveiling Anti-Migrant Attitudes, Precarious Living Conditions and Barriers to Integration in Greece.” Societies 12, no. 6 (2022): 189. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc12060189.
Gil-Bazo, María-Teresa. “Refugee Protection under International Human Rights Law: From Non-Refoulement to Residence and Citizenship.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 34, no. 1 (2015): 11–42. https://www.jstor.org/stable/48503350.
Gorlick, Brian. “Human Rights and Refugees: through International Human Rights Law.” Nordic Journal of International Law 69, no. 2, (2000): 117-177. https://doi.org/10.1163/15718100020296224.
Gwyther, Marni E, and Melinda Jenkins. “Migrant farmworker children: health status, barriers to care, and nursing innovations in health care delivery.” Journal of Pediatric Health Care 12, no. 2 (1998): 60-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0891-5245(98)90223-1.
Hamidah, Anisatul. “Urgensi Prinsip Non-Diskriminasi Dalam Regulasi Untuk Pengarus-Utamaan Kesetaraan Gender.” Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan 51, no.3 (2021): 677–697. https://doi.org/10.21143/jhp.vol51.no3.3129.
Hussein, Julia, and Laura Ferguson. “Eliminating stigma and discrimination in sexual and reproductive health care: a public health imperative.” Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (2019) 27, no. 3 (2019): 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2019.1697103.
International Labour Organization (ILO). Extending social protection to Migrant Workers, Refugees and Their Families: A Guide for Policymakers and Practitioners. Geneva: ILO, 2021.
Jenne, Erin K.. “Varieties of Nationalism in the Age of Covid-19.” Nationalities Papers 50, no.1 (2022): 26–44. https://doi.org/10.1017/nps.2021.104.
Phillimore, Jenny. “From Mere Life to a Good Life: Shifting Refugee Integration Policy from Outcomes to Capabilities.” Refugee Survey Quarterly 43, no. 4 (December 2024): 387–409. https://doi.org/10.1093/rsq/hdae014.
Phillimore, Jenny. “Refugee-Integration-Opportunity Structures: Shifting the Focus from Refugees to Context.” Journal of Refugee Studies 34, no. 2 (2021): 1946–66.
Kabakian-Khasholian, Tamar, Jihad Makhoul, and Aleni Ghusayni. “ “A person who does not have money does not enter”: a qualitative study on refugee women's experiences of respectful maternity care.” BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 22, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-022-05083-2.
Kondoy, Valerie Liany Gabriela. “Peranan Indonesia Dalam Menangani Pengungsi Terkait Konvensi 1951 (Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951).” Lex Et Societatis 8, no. 2 (2020): 107–118. https://doi.org/10.35796/les.v8i2.28496.
Kulier, Regina, and Aldo Campana. “Reproductive health research challenges.” Reproductive Health 9, no.1 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1186/1742-4755-1-2.
Kurniawan, M Beni. “Politik Hukum Pemerintah dalam Penanganan Pandemi Covid 19 Ditinjau dari Perspektif Hak Asasi atas Kesehatan.” Jurnal Konstitusi, 12, no.1 (2022): 40. https://doi.org/10.31078/jk1837.
Laverack, Glenn. “The Challenge of Promoting the Health of Refugees and Migrants in Europe: A Review of the Literature and Urgent Policy Options.” Challenges 9, no. 2 (2018): 32. https://doi.org/10.3390/challe9020032.
Leonardi, Fabio. “The Definition of Health: Towards New Perspectives.” International Journal of Health Services 48, no.4 (2018): 735-748. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020731418782653.
Lischer, Sarah Kenyon. “The Global Refugee Crisis: Regional Destabilization & Humanitarian Protection.” Daedalus 146, no.4, (2017): 85–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1162/DAED_a_00461.
Mendola, Daria, and Alessandra Pera. “Vulnerability of refugees: Some reflections on definitions and measurement practices.” International Migration 60 (2022): 108–1. https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12942.
Mengesha, Zelalem B., et. al.. “Challenges in the Provision of Sexual and Reproductive Health Care to Refugee and Migrant Women: A Q Methodological Study of Health Professional Perspectives,” Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 20, no.2 (2017): 307–316, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-017-0611-7.
Mikhael, Lefri. “State Responsibility in the Fulfillment of the Right to Mental Health Related to Human Rights.” Jurnal HAM 13, no. 1 (2022): 151–166. http://dx.doi.org/10.30641/ham.2022.13.151-166.
Mourtada, Rima, and Andrea J. Melnikas. “A. Syrian refugee women’s access to family planning services and modern contraception during overlapping crises in Bekaa, Lebanon.” BMC Women's Health 23 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-023-02613-8.
Murray, Sally B, and Sue A Skull. “Hurdles to health: immigrant and refugee health care in Australia.” Australian Health Review 29, no. 1 (2005): 25. https://doi.org/10.1071/ah050025.
Musdahlipa, Oktavianti Putri, and Rhafizqa Nur Syarifah Syafna. “Perlindungan Hak Asasi Manusia Yang Diberikan Oleh Rumah Detensi Imigrasi Kota Balikpapan Kepada Pengungsi.” Lex Suprema Jurnal Ilmu Hukum 3, no. 2 (2021): 747–762.
Nampewo, Zahara, Jennifer Heaven Mike, and Jonathan Wolff. “Respecting, protecting and fulfilling the human right to health.” International Journal for Equity in Health 21, no.1 (2022): 36-4. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-022-01634-3.
Nurhalimah, Siti. “Covid-19 dan Hak Masyarakat atas Kesehatan.” Jurnal Sosial & Budaya Syar’i 7, no. 6 (2020): 543–554. https://doi.org/10.15408/sjsbs.v7i6.15324.
OHCHR. “More than a roof : Documenting the work of specialist women's organisations providing holistic shelter services in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.” OHCHR, 2016. https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Women/SR/Shelters/Womankind_MoreThanARoof.pdf.
Perwira, Indra. Memahami Kesehatan Sebagai Hak Asasi Manusia. Jakarta: ELSAM, 2014.
Putra, Angga Reynady Hermawan. “Perwujudan Hak Atas Kesehatan Dan Prinsip Non-Diskriminasi Melalui Vaksinasi Kelompok Pengungsi & Pencari Suaka Sebagai Kewajiban Hukum Negara-Negara Menurut Hukum Internasional.” Jurnal Gloria Justitia 1, no.2 (2021): 81.
Rajaratnam, Surendran, and Azlinda Azman. “Refugee and Asylum Seeker Women's Experiences with Healthcare and Social Environment in Malaysia.” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 19, no. 11 (2022): 6542. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116542.
Tahir, Ahmad Rashidi Mohamed, et. al., “Reproductive Health Issues and Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) on Family Planning (FP) among Rohingya Female Refugees.” Open Journal of Social Sciences 10, no.03 (2022): 80–93. https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2022.103006.
Salim, Liem Fat. “Aksesibilitas Pembiayaan Kesehatan Dalam Program Jaminan Kesehatan Nasional.” Lex Et Societatis, 8, no.4 (2020): 104–114. https://doi.org/10.35796/les.v8i4.30915.
Samari, Goleen. “Syrian Refugee Women’s Health in Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan and Recommendations for Improved Practice.” World Medical & Health Policy 9, no.2 (2017): 255–274. https://doi.org/10.1002/wmh3.231.
Saunders, Peter. “The immigrant poverty profile.” Migration Action 10, no.3 (1998).
Segal UA, Mayadas NS. “Assessment of issues facing immigrant and refugee families.” Child Welfare. 84 No.5, (2005): PMID: 16435651.
Setyawan, I Putu Dika. “Peranan Rumah Detensi Imigrasi Denpasar Dalam Menangani Pengungsi Luar Negeri.” Kerta Dyatmika 19, no. 2 (2022): 67–77. https://doi.org/10.46650/kd.v19i2.1297.
Supaat, Dina Imam. “Refugee Children in Malaysia: The Past, Present, and Future.” Malaysian Journal of Syariah and Law 3, no. 1 (2015): 1. https://doi.org/10.33102/mjsl.vol3no1.4.
Svalastog, Anna Lydia, et. al.. “Concepts and definitions of health and health-related values in the knowledge landscapes of the digital society.” Croatia Med Journal. 58, no. 6 (2017): 431-435. https://doi.org/10.3325/cmj.2017.58.431.
UNHCR. “Health access and utilization survey among Syrian refugees in Lebanon.” UNHCR Assesment report, 2022. https://reliefweb.int/report/lebanon/health-access-and-utilization-survey-among-syrian-refugees-lebanon-march-2022.
UNHCR, The Principle of Non-Refoulement as a Norm of Customary International Law: Response to the Questions Posed to UNHCR by the Federal Constitutional Court of the Federal Republic of Germany in Cases 2 BvR 1938/93, 2 BvR 1953/93, 2 BvR 1954/93’ (UNHCR, 1994) https://www.refworld.org/jurisprudence/amicus/unhcr/1994/en/20625.
UNHCR, Sexual And Gender-Based Violence Prevention And Response In Refugee Situations In The Middle East And North Africa, (2015).
UNHCR, Global Trends Forced Displacement in 2022 (UNHCR Publication, 2023) https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/global-trends-report-2022.pdf.
UNHCR, Global Trends Forced Displacement in 2023 (UNHCR Publication, 2024) https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2024-06/global-trends-report-2023.pdf.
UNHCR. UNHCR Global Trends 2013. (UNHCR Publication, 2014) https://www.unhcr.org/statistics/country/5399a14f9/unhcr-global-trends-2013.html.
UNHCR. UNHCR Resettlement Handbook. (UNHCR publication, 2011), https://emergency.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/UNHCR%2C%20Resettlement%20Handbook%2C%202011.pdf.
UNHCR. UNHCR: Sharp decline in refugees, others of concern in 2003. (2004), UNHCR Press release, https://www.unhcr.org/news/news-releases/unhcr-sharp-decline-refugees-others-concern-2003.
Vu, Alexander, et.al.. “The Prevalence of Sexual Violence among Female Refugees in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.” Public Library of Science (PLoS Currents) (2014). https://doi.org/10.1371/currents.dis.835f10778fd80ae031aac12d3b533ca7.
Weiner, Myron. “The clash of norms: dilemmas in refugee policies.” Journal of Refugee Studies 11, No. 4, (1998): 433. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/11.4.433.
Widagdo, Setyo, Ikaningtyas, Fransiska A. Susanto, M. Choirul Hidayat. “Synergy in the Fulfilment of National Interest in Efforts to Handle Refugees in Indonesia through Repatriation and Resettlement.” Brawijaya Law Journal 8, no. 2 (2021). https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.blj.2021.008.02.05.
World Health Organization (WHO), Health of Migrants, (WHO Res. A61/12, WHO publication, 2006).
the United Nations Human Rights Regional Office (UNHR) for Europe. Promising Local Practices for the Enjoyment of the Right to Health by Migrants. (UNHR publication, 2019)
World Health Organization (WHO). Constitution World Health Organization. (WHO publication, 2006).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Brawijaya Law Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
