Financial Instability and Job Insecurity Among Resettled Rohingyan Refugees

Background and Purpose: The Rohingya, an ethnic hill tribe from Burma, have been victimized by violence, political persecution, and social ostracization at the hands of the Burmese military, and as a result, more than 4,000 Rohingyan refugees have resettled to the United States since 2016. While Rohingyans face challenges that are similar to the barriers faced by other resettled refugees, they carry an added literacy and language burden due to the fact that the Rohingyan language does not have a written script, but exists entirely as an oral language. This presents unique challenges for the integration of newly resettled Rohingyans, particularly related to employability, and subsequently, financial self-sufficiency. The purpose of the present study was to identify and examine the lived experiences of resettled Rohingyan adults with regards to financial stability and employment.

Methods: A convenience sample of 21 participants was recruited by phone by an emic Rohingyan researcher and member of the research team. Because the study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, recruitment and all data collection was conducted by telephone rather than face-to-face, though the majority of the participants resided within a two-mile radius of one another. A semi-structured interview guide asked questions about the experiences of participants related to economic self-sufficiency, employment, and financial stability, among a variety of other topics. Of the 21 participants in the study, the majority were male (71.4%), married with children living at home (66.6%), and had lived in the U.S. an average of 4.4 years. Almost three-quarters of participants (71.4%) spoke no English. The analysis of data was conducted using an independent categorical coding strategy, with the development of a taxonomic system that resulted in the development of central domains that were extracted into themes.

Results: The financial-related themes extracted from the data included: High debt-income ratio, the inability to meet basic needs due to inadequate monthly income, and employment instability. The employment instability theme included two subthemes: challenges applying for employment, and the impact of COVID-19 on employment and income.

Conclusions and Implications: The results of this study demonstrate a need for resettlement efforts and resources to include language and literacy training to enhance employability of resettled Rohingyans. Importantly, economic relief for individuals such as resettled refugees employed in low wage positions must be prioritized, especially during prolonged periods of economic instability as was experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employability and subsequent financial self-sufficiency are pillars of refugee resettlement efforts; however, care must be taken to ensure that adequate resources are in place to promote economic success in special populations such as the Rohingya community.