Re-traumatisation, fear and suicidal thinking: a case study of ‘boatpeople’ from Australia

Abstract

Ninety percent of “boatpeople” who make it toAustralia’s migration zone are assessed as legitimate refugees and given Temporary Protection Visas (TPV) allowing them to stay inAustraliafor three years in the first instance. The aim of this paper is to pinpoint aspects of re-traumatisation, fear mistrust as stressors for one individual living on a TPV.  This paper identifies how discrete elements in the recent and distant past interact with the present forming a re-traumatising environment with ongoing psychosocial stressors and changes in mental distress.  The paper is based upon extensive ethnographic fieldwork with people released from Australian Immigration Detention facilities.