Exploring helpers' perspectives about Mental Health and Psychological Support (MHPSS) offered to refugees in Mozambique

Abstract

Civil wars have the potential to produced devastating impacts, including increasing the number of people seeking asylum abroad. Forcibly displaced people usually carry vulnerabilities and are at greater risk of developing common and severe mental health disorders, due to stress and traumatic situations experienced prior to their flight or even after arriving at the host country, all of that combined with poor living conditions found in refugee camps (UNHCR, 2023; Bunn et al., 2022). Mozambique currently hosts more than 28,500 asylum seekers and refugees (UNHCR, 2022) from 18 different nationalities. Around 9,000 live in the Mozambican refugee camp (Maratane), the main place in the country that offers support to those arriving seeking for help. The purpose of this research is to explore and analyze the psychosocial support offered to the asylum seekers and refugees in Mozambique, based on the perspective of the humanitarian workers. This dissertation explores what is currently been provided by the host country in terms of psychological, social and legal support.