The Importance of Resources and Security in the Socio-Economic Integration of Refugees

In many European countries, including the Netherlands, refugees stay in asylum accommodation pending a decision on their asylum request. While it seems evident that the lack of resources and insecurity about the future experienced during this stay will impact refugees’ subsequent ability to integrate with the host society, so far this has hardly been studied in an extensive way. Also, the type of residence status granted can be a source of insecurity that impacts their integration. Previous studies on refugee integration have already shown the impact of pre-migration stressors such as traumatic experiences on mental health and integration. In this study, we use a large-scale dataset containing detailed information on about 4,000 refugees to show that also post-migration stressors affect mental health and hinder the socio-economic integration of the four largest refugee groups in the Netherlands: Afghan, Iraqi, Iranian and Somali.