Resettlement experiences of newly arrived humanitarian migrants in transport system in Perth, Western Australia.

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Resettlement Experiences of Newly Arrived Humanitarian Migrants in Transport System in Perth Western Australia Bola Adebayo Email: bagboareo2000@yahoo.com Resettlement experiences of newly arrived humanitarian migrants in transport system in Perth, Western Australia. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the challenges and barriers that humanitarian migrants encounter in obtaining their driver s license, and in complying with safe road practices as part of their re-settlement process in Australia. Method: A qualitative method was used. Focus groups and in-depth interviews with newly arrived migrants from refugee background and humanitarian entrants who had spent less than five years in Australia were used for data collection. Findings: The major themes that emerged from the interviews were- participants knowledge on safe road practices in Australia, challenges and barriers in obtaining information on safe road practices and getting an Australian driver s license. Conclusion: The participants stated that language, cultural insensitivity of workers at licensing centres, lack of self-confidence, and lack of understanding of the available support services, were the major barriers to obtaining information on safe road practices. This study provides important perspectives regarding the challenges facing humanitarian migrants regarding road safety issues in their new country of residence. Also, this study demonstrated the importance of understanding this subgroup of population, for the provision of services and policy making in regards to safe road practices in Australia. Keywords: Humanitarian migrants, refugees, road, safety, qualitative, culture and resettlement. Introduction Globally, road safety is influenced by environmental factors including road design, climate, and drivers behaviour (Factor, Mahalel and Yair, 2007). Driver s behaviour is influenced by social and cultural characteristic (Wilks, Watson and Faulks 1999, Factor et al. 2007). Studies conducted in Australia (Harrison 2007) and overseas (Gustafson and Falkmer 2009) showed that cultural values and traffic norms in an individual s country of origin would influence his traffic sense and safety in his subsequent country of residence (Knight, Harris, Newman and Alexander 2011). International studies reported that social class and economic capital are related to road safety and road-accident mortality (Factor et al. 2010), population groups including young people, uneducated and poor men from minority backgrounds are at higher rates of risk than others (factor et al.2010). The importance of communication among drivers 1

cannot be overemphasised (Factor et al. 2007), as clear communication clarifies driver s intentions and would lessens misunderstanding, frustration, and conflict between drivers, which are all risk factors to road accidents (Factor et al.2007). This is cause for concern, particularly in migrants with low English proficiency. However, language barrier are major issues hindering the settlement process of newly arrived migrants (Hugo 2010) that need to be recognised at a policy level. Services are required to support such migrants who are learning about road safety and applying for a driver s license. Refugees and humanitarian entrants are referred to as humanitarian migrants in this study. Newly arrived humanitarian migrants often have low levels of education including literacy and numeracy; they might have experienced severe trauma in their country of origin; and often lack the family and social networks in Australia in compared to other non-humanitarian migrants, therefore they are more likely to experience difficulties in adjusting to the new way of life in their newly settled countries (Hugo 2010, 39). Research on settlement process of migrants found that humanitarian migrants have more difficulties in adjusting economically, socially and culturally into the mainstream communities in compared to other migrant groups. (Hugo 2010). Similar findings were reported in the United States (Conor 2010), Canada, and European countries with substantial humanitarian migrant intakes (Hugo 2010). Such findings highlight the need to facilitate the resettlement process with licensing and road safety policies and practices that support humanitarian migrants. Some studies reported that foreigners ((Somasundaraswaran 2010), and recently arrived adult immigrants are responsible for most road crashes (Assum and Nordbakke 2013) due to lack of familiarity with geographic locations, roadway layout, prevailing laws, common customs, basic skills, or language idioms (Statistics Canada 2010). Also, Swedish research indicated that foreign-born drivers had a higher crash risk than drivers born in Sweden, especially migrants from less motorised countries. (Gustafson and Falkmer 2006). An Australian study challenged this view reporting no evidence to suggest that drivers born in other countries were more likely than Australian born drivers to be involved in crashes resulting in death or injury requiring hospitalisation (Dobson et al. 2004). These findings were supported by Canadian study indicating that recent immigrants were less likely to be drivers involved in a serious motor vehicle crash compared to long-term residents (Redelmeier, Katz, Lu, & Saposnik, 2011) Driving skills are interplay of information processing and motor skills, 2

which improve with practice and training, regardless of the nature of transport system in different countries, (Elander, West and French 1993). More than 620,000 refugees have resettled in Australia in the last five decades (Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) 2004). In most societies, including Australia, refugees find resettlement process difficult in comparison to immigrants who arrived on selected family or skill visas (DIMA 2004). Humanitarian migrants particularly have more overwhelming needs as a result of their previous circumstances and experiences (Smith 2005). They are often regarded as a minority group associated with unfavourable conditions such as poverty, crime, limited education opportunities and ill health (Dumas, Rollock, Prinz and Blechman 1999). Humanitarian migrants ability to integrate, and participate socially and economically in their new settled countries is often informed by issues of mobility and licensing (Knight et al. 2010). A qualitative research study on settlement experience of newly arrived refugees in Tasmania Australia, reported that acquiring a driver license was a high priority as having a licence enhanced employment chances (Flanagan 2007). Also, the study identified the barriers in transport system faced by this population group, including unfamiliarity with public transport timetables and routes making public transport difficult or impossible (Flanagan 2007). Also, most of them are shift workers and on casual contract, their work schedules require them to attend workplaces at times when it is frequently impossible to access public transport (Flanagan 2007) this might necessitates the use of private transport. Therefore, they might feel pressured to drive without an authorised driving license, due to their settlement issues, such as healthcare issues, housing banking, schooling matters for their children, issues related to employment (Somasundaraswaran 2010). Humanitarian migrants would rely on government and service providers in the community to assist them in their resettlement process than other migrant groups (Hugo, 2010). Studies indicated that major cities in Australia are automobile dependence (Forster 2004 Mees 2000), car users in Australia is 31% higher in compared to European cities and 71% higher than Asian cities (Parbo 1997). Perth in Western Australia and Adelaide in South Australia has been reported to have the highest portion of car users (Forster 2004, Australian Bureau Statistics (ABS) 2006). Studies conducted by Forster (2006) shows that in the five major capital cities (Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney) over half of the workers, lived in one suburban local government (LGA) and worked in another, while only a quarter of the population Australia lived and worked in the same suburban LGA. These factors have contributed to high automobile dependence in these cities (Forster, 2006). Jensen s (1999) study on transport behaviour reported that in some culture, 3

car ownership has cultural phenomenon, and many people often symbolises car with freedom, independence, sanctuary and that some people indicates car ownership with adult status (Jensen 1999). Culture (Factor, Mahalel and Yair, 2007), socio-economic status (Braver 2003), personal capability and characteristic of transportation system in individual countries (Elvik 2008) have been identified as major indicators for road safety outcomes. This evidence suggests the need for road safety authorities to develop and implement effective road safety strategies and programs that would improve the safety of the community. While studies have been conducted on road safety issues in migrants and people from cultural and linguistic diverse (CALD) background (Wilks et al. 1999: Harrison 2009), few studies in Australia have explored the road safety issues and the needs of humanitarian entrants in area of transport system. This paper will present findings from that investigated the challenges and barriers that humanitarian migrants encounter in acquiring a driver s license, and in complying with safe road practices as part of their re-settlement process in Australia. 4

Methods Setting There has been a significant population growth in Western Australia (WA) in the last five years. Overseas migrants accounts for over half of the state s net migration, which is the highest in Australia, and approximately 5% are humanitarian migrants (Lee et al.2013). The study was conducted in Perth, where several Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) and Settlement Grants Programs (SGP) were located. These agencies allow refugees to access various services, which provide advice, advocacy, and opportunities for social support and community development (Peister and Tilbury 2003). Study design The qualitative data for this study were gathered by focus group discussion and face-to-face interviews. Eight focus groups and face-to-face interviews were conducted with humanitarian migrants living in Australia for less than five years. The author is a qualified health professional from CALD background and has research skills. The author also has considerable experiences in working with humanitarian migrants; she facilitated the focus group discussion. Studies shows that using overseas trained health professionals is beneficial in community based research with refugees and migrant population (Lee et al. 2014). Faceto-face interviews were conducted with humanitarian entrants who attended the driving program workshop that was coordinated by the author at a multicultural service organisation in Perth. Participants Criteria to participate in the study included being an adult migrant from refugee background or a humanitarian entrants with less than five years duration in Australia and having lived in Perth for more than 12months.The focus group comprised participants from the same ethnicity and language group, in order to make the group relatively homogenous, so that people can express themselves uninhibitedly ((Kitzinger, 1995). Recruitment While gaining access to vulnerable participants can be difficult, using gatekeepers, such as family members, legal guardians, professional health care providers, service organizations or agencies can assist the process (Moore and Miller 1999). Bilingual workers at Settlement 5

Grants Program at different multicultural service organisations assisted in recruiting participants for face-to-face interviews. The snowball sampling was used for recruiting participants for the focus group interview; this approach was found to been highly effective in qualitative research in vulnerable populations (Patton 2002). Data Collection and Procedure Interviews were conducted at convenient places in the Perth metropolitan area in Western Australia. Focus group participants were sought from groups that share a common ethnicity. Participation was voluntary. Each focus group sessions lasted for approximately 60 minutes and comprised an average of 6 participants; the largest group had 8 participants. Participants were assured of anonymity and confidentiality. At the commencement of the focus groups, participants were welcomed, and given a name tag. Participants were asked to respect each other s confidentiality and opinions at the beginning of the focus group (Hansen 2006). An information sheet was given to the participants to read, with bilingual workers accepted by the group to interpret the information for participants with limited English skills. The use of trained interviewers who are not a part of the close community has been found to effective in conducting interviews in people from refugee background (Merry et al. 2011), as sensitive issues might be discussed. Participants were asked to complete a consent form and a brief demographic questionnaire. Demographic data collected from the interview groups included education level, occupational status, ethnicity, transit country, years since arrival in Australia, concession health care card held, language(s) spoken, age group, and status of driving license. Data Analyses The data was collected from September 2012 to June 2013. The interviews were recorded on audiotapes, with hand notes written by a non-participant who was accepted by the group. The audio recording was transcribed verbatim in English; identifying data were removed to maintain privacy of the participants. Data were analysed through thematic analytic approach. This approach is found to be theoretically flexible in analysing qualitative data (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The researcher read the data several times to identify and index the themes and categories (Pope et al. 2000). Translation of the focus group transcript was interpreted during transcribing to provide cultural relevance to the data. Two investigators analysed data independently and then discussed with a third party, in order to have accurate result. Comparison analysis was also used to have a better understanding of patterns and common 6

features of human behaviour and experience (Thorne 2000) the researcher examined similarities between newly arrived humanitarian migrants and humanitarian migrants who have lived for more than five years in Australia, and compared the findings with evidences from the literatures. 7

RESULTS Study Participants Sixty people, aged 18-50years participated in this study. Based on the demographic results, Table1, participants were predominantly male (60%). 95% of the participants were unemployed. Majority of the participants were from Afghanistan, participants from other nationalities includes Iraq, Burma, Liberia, Ethiopia Burundi, Sri Lanka, Congo, Eritrea, Sudan and Iran as shown in Table 1. Majority of the participants stayed in primary transit country before they migrated to Australia as shown in Table 2. Some of the participants lived in the refugee camps at the primary transit countries certain period of time. Most of the participants were currently attending Adult Migrant English (AME) classes at different locations in the Perth Metropolitan areas. The demographic results indicated that 25 % held an overseas licence, 40 % had Learner Permits, 12% had Probationary Licenses and 5% had full Australian Licenses. Table1- Country of origin Country of origin Frequency Precent Afghanistan 12 20 Iraq 4 8.3 Burma 5 8.3 Liberia 5 8.3 Ethiopia 3 5 Burundi 3 5 Sri Lanka 5 8.3 Congo 5 8.3 Iran 4 6.6 Eritrea 5 8.3 Sudan 8 13.3 Table 2 -Primary Transit Country Country of origin Frequency Precent Pakistan 6 10 Thailand 5 8.3 Jordan 8 13.3 Kenya 7 11.6 Nigeria 2 3.3 Indonesia 5 8.3 Egypt 5 8.3 Uganda 6 10 Guinea 4 6.6 Sudan 3 5 Tanzania 5 8.3 South Africa 2 3.3 8

Results from Focus Group and Interviews Emergent themes obtained from the studies were categorised into major five major areas: information and knowledge of safe road practices in Australia, limited communication skills, cost and affordability of formal driving tutoring, limited understanding of the licensing legislation and system and relationship with service providers. Information and knowledge regarding safe road practices in Australia Most participants identified language as major barrier in understanding information on safe road practices in Australia. The use of seat belt, speed limit, and road signs, were new practices to them. Many participants stated that they found the educational resources on safe road practices difficult to understand. Some participants considered some of the road signs confusing. Many participants indicated a preference for driving resources written in their language for easy understanding. Reading safe drive booklet was difficult for me to understand, there are few resources on safe road practices written in my language. Also, most of them are in electronic format, which I cannot easily access, because I am not computer literate, and I cannot afford Internet at home (Male, 27). Importance of road safety All participants acknowledged that a good understanding and knowledge of road safety would reduce fatalities and disabilities on the road. Many participants stated that observing safe road practices is a behavioural change for them, and might take a while for them to adopt safe road practices in Australia. I don t drive with seat belt in my country; I have never seen a child restraint seat for kids, until when I arrived in Australia I am used to pedestrian and cyclists giving way to the motorists, but it s the opposite in Australia. (Male, 33). Some of the participants mentioned that, the only reasons they practise safe road rules were to avoid road infringement, and they only practise safe road rules, whenever they sight a law enforcement officer or the police s patrol car. 9

Most of the time, I do forget to put my kids in child restraint seat, but whenever, I am driving, and I see a police officer on the street, I park, to put the belts on (Female, 22). Licensing Process and System Majority of participants acknowledged that the licensing system and process in Australia is complex, and difficult to understand, compared to their primary transit countries or their countries of origin. Some of the participants were aware that information on the licensing process and system are available in different languages including Arabic, Farsi, Swahili, French, Tigrinya, and Amharic. However, they expressed the concerns of the information available only in electronic format, and being difficult to access on the government website due to their limited communication skills. Most of the participants with overseas license mentioned that they have driven illegally several times, because it was difficult to comprehend the licensing process to obtain their Australian driver s license. I have been driving illegally for more than two years; I failed the practical driving tests 8 times now. I have a sick child, which I need to take regularly for hospital appointments (Female, 33). Participants expressed their concerns about their limited understanding of issues such as process of buying second hand car, transferring of car ownership through government department, references checking on second hand cars to determine stolen and outstanding debts on the second hand to be purchased. I got a call from a private car dealer that there s enormous debt to be pay on my car, after 2months that I bought a second hand car from my community member who has relocated to another state. I have done transfer of ownership, and the car is currently in my name. I reckon, this would not have happened, if have a good understanding that there are agencies and government that conducts reference checking on second hand cars (Male, 28). Infringements and fines Overall, 70% of the participants with Australian full license and probationary license had incurred traffic infringement and fines. The participants indicated speeding (45%) as the most commonly committed traffic offence since their arrival in Australia followed by non-use of seat belts and lack of restraining children in an appropriate seat (25%). Few participants stated to have acquired infringement as result of drink driving and fatigue related crashes. A participant, mentioned fatigue related crash, in which he had a head-on collision crash with another vehicle that was not overtaking his car at the time of the incident. He attributed the accident to sleep deprivation due to double work shifts. 10

Relationship with Service Providers Majority of the participants stated that the most of the workers at the licensing centres lacks culturally sensitivity when engaging with people from diverse background, especially people with limited communication skills. I attended the licencing centre 4 times for my learners permit test, before I finally understood the process involved. The workers were not helpful; their statements were confusing and contradicting to each other. You can see the discrimination through their body language (Female, 39). The participants expressed their concerns about the assessors who conduct the practical driving tests at licensing centres, describing them as being unfriendly, and at times their instructions were not always clear. The assessor should be kind because a test is not the end of the world (Male, 25) Most of the participants stated to have benefitted from bilingual driving instructors, and volunteers in the process of gaining their licenses, especially in the process of passing theory based road rules test and in acquiring skills to drive according to Australian standard. Some of the participants advocated for bilingual assessors for their practical driving tests at the licensing centres. 11

Discussion The findings of this study suggest that more considerations need to be given in policies and practice to support non-english speaking humanitarian migrants who undertake road safety programs and apply for drivers licenses. The fact that most newly arrived humanitarian migrant drives illegally without an authorized driver s license is of concern, given the risk this poses to them, their families and the general public. In the recent decades, public campaigns and awareness of seat belts as an injury-reducing tool in car accidents have increased (Braver 2003). However, the prevalence of non-use of seat belt in this group is still high. While this finding is consistent with the previous studies on the relationship between low socioeconomic status (SES), and use of seat belts in United States (Shinar 1993; Braver 2003), it suggests that this health promotion and accident prevention message is not being effectively communicated to humanitarian migrants and needs to be reviewed. The majority of the newly arrived humanitarian migrants are of lower SES with low literacy level (Lloyd, Kennan, Thompson and Qayyum 2013); lower levels of education are significant risk factor for road accidents to motor vehicle occupants. (Braver 2003). Epidemiological studies in United States (2003) indicated a three-fold increased risk of death among men and women without high school degrees for all races and ethnic groups combined. This finding is consistent with Swedish study that socioeconomic position was a significant determinant in road traffic injuries in young people, rather than their country of origin (Hasselberg & Laflamme, 2008) Therefore, addressing factors such as low literacy and education in newly arrived humanitarian migrants offers an upstream approach to improve public health in the area of road safety. Participants in our study considered improving their knowledge and understanding of safe road practices would reduce fatalities. Conveying the information in culturally appropriate and user-friendly format was the major concern for the participants. Usually, the process of orientation and settlement for humanitarian migrants involves their previous existing information being reassessed in order to accommodate new information and knowledge of their new environment (Lloyd et al. 2013). Inability of the newly arrived refugees to access information effectively due to language or literacy incompetency may lead to social exclusion 12

(Caidi and Allard 2005), which invariably might affects their capacities to take opportunities, participate and settle down in their new environments (Lloyd et al. 2013). Technology advances have led to government information on road safety and the licensing process being in electronic format. Health and safety promotion material must be presented in ways that are culturally and linguistically appropriate if they are to be successfully However, limited English proficiency may be an important obstacle to the use of Information Technology (IT), particularly use of the Internet (Ono and Zavodny 2008). Ono and Zavodny s (2008) findings indicated that, there was significant disparities in IT usage between immigrants and natives especially migrants with low proficiency in English language (Ono & Zavodny, 2008).Interestingly, an Australian study reported that recently arrived migrants are much more likely to use computers than Austalian born citizens, although, they acknowledge that level of educational attainment and proficiency English is strongly correlated to computer usage (Chiswick and Miller 2007). Most participants identified barriers to accessing information included, a lack of access to a computer, computer illiteracy, and costs of having Internet. Evidence suggests that African refugees often prefer print to electronic based resources due to the affordability and accessibility (Borland and Mphande 2006; Miligiorino 2010). It would be a false assumption for government authorities to assume that all humanitarian migrants are computer literature (Goodall, Ward and Newman 2010). Even when information on safe road practices are available in different formats, the sources and formats maybe different or conflict with the humanitarian migrants cultural values and their perception on a particular subject (Palmer et al. 2009). Therefore, making government information available on road safety measures and the licensing system in multiple formats and in a culturally appropriate manner for different CALD populations is advisable. This is particularly salient in light of our findings that suggest that newly arrived humanitarian migrants may not be IT literate, and may observe safe road practices only because of penalties for non-compliance to road rules and regulation in their new country of residence. Information literacy is not a description of skills or practice rather it is a literacy practice that reflects the manner in which the information and knowledge is being used to produce a sustainable outcome (Lloyd et al. 2013). Providing humanitarian migrants with support to attend culturally and linguistically appropriate programs on road safety and licensing process can go some way to address the issue and improve safety on the roads, 13

While research shows that influencing behavioural change using health behaviour theories might resolve social and interpersonal problem relating to healthy lifestyle in vulnerable population (Dumas et al. 1999; Buchanan 2000; Glanz et al. 2008). Several studies indicated that understanding cultural background and personal preferences (Sue and Zane 1987; US department of Health and Human services 2009) and being able to empower vulnerable population by facilitating their participation in change process, would produce better outcomes (Leverack 2009; Tengland 2012). However, information alone might not be the only solution to raise awareness in newly arrived humanitarian migrants of safe road practices. Studies have also shown that vulnerable population tend to respond less to health information, as processing information requires time, effort, accessibility, literacy and money (Baum 2008). These resources are often limited or unavailable in a vulnerable population due to their low social economic status. Most participants expressed their concerns, about insensitivity in their interaction with service providers to obtain their driver s license. Some participants requested bilingual workers or workers from their ethnic groups to provide service and information on road safety and licensing. Previous studies have considered the advantages and the disadvantages of ethnicity matching in providing services to people CALD populations (Sawrikar 2013; Harris and Hackett 2008). While benefits include trust, better understanding of culture, shared language, and effective engagement with clients (Sawrikar 2013). However, the issue of breaches in confidentiality and over-identification of issues was reported in some studies as the reasons why ethnicity matching was not beneficial (Sawrikar 2013; Weinfied 1999). Also, unsolicited empathy from professionals with similar ethnic background can conflict with professional norms, which can lead to different intervention decision for the clients (Weinfied 1999). However, training all workers regardless of their background in cultural competency outweighs race/ethnicity matching in providing services and supports to people from diverse background (Hutnik and Gregory 2007). Cultural sensitivity extends beyond shared language (Weinfied 1999); it involves the understanding and appreciation of cultural beliefs and traditions relating to social and health care (Weinfied 1999). Limitations While this small sample of study participants, does not represent all humanitarian migrants population in Australia, it does offer a snapshot of some of the issues across cultures related to road safety and licensing process in Australia. Participants were from eleven humanitarian 14

migrants communities. Australia is a multicultural nation, (Meagher and Healy 2005), new refugee arrivals in developed countries are extremely diverse group (Earnest et al. 2007). Nonetheless, the study sample was restricted to humanitarian migrants in Perth Western Australia only, suggesting that further research could be conducted to explore the resettlement process of newly arrived humanitarian migrants in other states in Australia in the area of transport system. Conclusion. Newly arrived refugees and humanitarian entrants face challenges in settling and integrating into their new countries of residence. Obtaining a driver s license and being able to drive safety are key factors contributing to their settlement process. This study highlights the importance of developing policies and practices that consider the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse humanitarian migrants that have so far been overlooked in road safety programs and in obtaining a driver s license. This includes ensuring staff working in these contexts respond to this population group in ways that are culturally competent and respect cultural differences. Tailoring information and providing resources on safe road practices in a culturally appropriate manner would not only benefit the newly arrived humanitarian migrants, but would also reduce risk factors to road safety and increase the number of humanitarian migrants with an authorised driver s license. Conflict of interest statement There is no known conflict of interest Acknowledgement The analyses conducted in this article were only possible through the cooperation of the Settlement Grants Program Officers at Perth Metropolitan areas. 15

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