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Refugee Trends in the New Middle East
- 작성자 HI***
- 조회수 12
2025-12-09 12:59:21
Refugee Trends in the New Middle East
In 2024, the number of refugees and forcibly displaced people reached 123 million worldwide — the highest figure in modern history. The Middle East remains at the heart of this crisis. From Syria and Iraq to Yemen, Libya, Palestine, and Sudan, conflict has produced a wave of displacement that shows no sign of slowing. Yet beyond the visible scenes of war and evacuation lies another issue that receives far less attention: the mental health of those who survive.
Beyond Borders: What Happens After Survival
Public discussion about refugees often stops at the moment of arrival. We focus on evacuation routes, asylum decisions, and the politics of hosting. But for refugees themselves, survival begins after they cross the border.
The most damaging threats are not always sudden or violent. They are quieter and more persistent:
unstable housing
financial strain
limited employment
discrimination
isolation from community and culture
These factors accumulate. They erode dignity, create uncertainty, and over time inflict deep psychological harm. Many refugees live with PTSD, depression, and aggression, not only because of what they witnessed before fleeing, but because of the conditions they face while trying to build a life in a new country.
Two Countries, Two Systems
A comparison between South Korea and Egypt reveals how institutions shape mental well-being.
South Korea established the first Refugee Act in Asia in 2013. Most applicants, however, do not receive full refugee status. Instead, they remain as humanitarian residents, renewing their visas annually. Their access to work is limited, social assistance is absent, and daily life is constrained by insecurity. Yet even this modest legal framework offers some protection.
In Egypt, a Refugee Law was passed in 2024 — but its enforcement decrees have not yet been established. This means the law does not function in practice. Refugee status may be revoked for political activity or union participation, and there are no guaranteed benefits in health, housing, or education. Employment barriers push refugees into informal labor, exposing them to exploitation.
The result is stark: refugees in Egypt show higher levels of PTSD, financial strain, and aggression, while depression remains high in both countries. Institutional maturity matters. Where rules exist, even imperfectly, mental health outcomes are less severe.
A Silent Emergency
We often assume that trauma is imported — that refugees carry their psychological wounds from the countries they escaped. But trauma is also produced in host societies. Uncertain legal status, economic precarity, and cultural exclusion form a second layer of risk.
Policies designed to control or limit refugees can unintentionally amplify the very problems they were meant to prevent: instability, resentment, and social fragmentation.
What Must Be Done
Both South Korea and Egypt have urgent responsibilities.
South Korea should expand mental health services and financial support for humanitarian residents. Legal status must be more stable and less dependent on annual renewal.
Egypt must implement enforcement decrees for its Refugee Law without delay. Without guaranteed access to basic services, refugees remain vulnerable to exploitation and psychological deterioration.
In both countries, government action should be complemented by civil society — community groups, local leaders, and NGOs that can provide trust, access, and cultural understanding.
Conclusion
Refugees are often described using numbers: 123 million displaced, millions crossing borders, thousands arriving every year. But behind every number is a person who must find housing, work, community, and meaning in an unfamiliar society.
The true measure of refugee policy is not how many people a country admits, but how those who arrive are able to live.
Mental health is where the silent crisis unfolds. And in the new Middle East, shaped by conflict and mobility, this crisis is no longer invisible. The question is whether we will acknowledge it — and act.
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