“Let’s manage the stressor today” exploring the mental health response to forced migrants in Johannesburg, South Africa

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMHSC-11-2021-0103
• Published date: 31 August 2022
• Date: 31 August 2022
• Pages: 1-15
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Inequalities & diverse/minority groups,Sociology,Race & ethnic studies,Minorities,Multiculturalism,Racial identity,Work,economy & organizations,Labour movements
• Author: Rebecca Walker,Jo Vearey

“Let’s manage the stressor today”

exploring the mental health response

to forced migrants in Johannesburg,

South Africa

Rebecca Walker and Jo Vearey

Abstract

Purpose –In South Africa,the majority of the population struggles to access care and supportfor mental

health challenges.Drawing on challenges faced by asylum seekersand refugees in the urban margins of

Johannesburg,this paper aims to explore the relationshipbetween migration and mental health througha

lens of heightenedvulnerability, precariousurban spaces and unmet basic needs.

Design/methodology/approach –Remote interviewswere conducted with respondents workingin the

mental health-care sector (public and private) and with migrant communities in Johannesburg.

Respondents were identified via purposive sampling and interviews were conducted in English. Key

findingswere identified using thematic analysis.

Findings –Effective responses to asylum seekers and refugees facing mental health challenges are

based on an understandingof context, of crisis and of the need to meet basicneeds such as paying rent,

finding employment and providing for families. These ‘‘daily stressors’’ not only compound ‘‘extreme

traumatisation’’but are a form of trauma in and of itself.

Originality/value –This paper shows how alternative responses determined by an understanding of

context, of crisis and of the need to meet basic needs provide critical and potentially far-reaching

interventions. Locatingtrauma in the unmet needs, precarious urbanspaces and marginalisation opens

up spaceto further question the ways that migrationand mental health shape and reshapeone another.

Keywords Migration, Well-being, South Africa, Refugees, Trauma, Mental Health, Health-care,

Health systems

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

Johannesburg, a city built onand shaped by migration and mobility and often referred to as

eGoli –the “City of Gold,” –is a place where manySouth Africans and non-citizens continue

to move in search of better lives (Landau and Pampalone, 2018;Vearey, 2017). Yet few of

its residents call the cityhome and many find themselves struggling to find employmentand

safe housing and to access public services including health care (Vearey, 2017). For some

non-citizens –including asylum-seekers and refugees [1], the challenge of accessing and

securing the necessary legal documentation required to stay and work in the country

compounds these existing daily stressors.

Some asylum seekers (holders of a Section 22 permit) and refugees (holders of a Section24

permit) and other forced migrants (which can include individuals who do not have

documents but consider themselves to be asylum seekers) [2] find themselves living in

densely populated urban areas that despite being diverse, and often vibrant, are

Rebecca Walker and

Jo Vearey are both based

at The African Centre for

Migration and Society

(ACMS), The University

of Witwatersrand,

Johannesburg,

South Africa.

Received 11 November 2021

Revised 5 March 2022

Accepted 5 March 2022

©Rebecca Walker and

Jo Vearey. Published by

Emerald Publishing Limited.

This article is published under

the Creative Commons

Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence.

Anyone may reproduce,

distribute, translate and create

derivative works of this article

(for both commercial and

non-commercial purposes),

subject to full attribution to the

original publication and

authors. The full terms of this

licence may be seen at http://

creativecommons.org/licences/

by/4.0/legalcode

The support of the Economic

and Social Research Council

(ESRC) (UK) is gratefully

acknowledged.

DOI 10.1108/IJMHSC-11-2021-0103 VOL. 19 NO. 1 2023, pp. 1-15, Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1747-9894 jINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MIGRATION, HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE jPAGE 1