Acculturative Challenges and Opportunities Among Arab-Speaking MENA Refugees in the United States

Language Barrier

Almost 90% of the refugees shared that their lack of English proficiency served as one of the biggest barriers they faced in the United States. Respondents reported that they could not communicate their needs to others, fill out necessary forms, or approach others for help. Siba is a Syrian refugee and noted that her lack of English language skills, along with her inability to drive, has diminished her job opportunities, making her family vulnerable to financial risks. She shared, “Language and the driving—all my problems will be resolved if I learn how to drive and how to speak English.”

Hamid, who was from Egypt, said that some Americans were rude and dismissive because they could not understand his accent. He explained that at his previous job at the local airport, he was not allowed to speak Arabic because people “thought you were talking about them” and it made them uncomfortable. Ahmed, a Syrian refugee, said that the challenge of not speaking the English language was compounded by his limited understanding of U.S. laws. When discussing the major challenges he faced in the United States, he commented, “There are two difficulties that I face being in America: language and the law. We’re still trying to learn what the law is here, and I’ve learned a few things from my own mistakes.” Husna, who had left her home country of Egypt to escape religious persecution, found that her lack of language proficiency and inability to communicate led her to become susceptible to exploitation, where she put her legal and economic welfare into the hands of others. She shared, “I suffered problems because most of the people I worked with were Americans, and I could not talk very well. So, they gave me lots of work knowing that I would not be able to complain.”

The language barrier severely limited the participants’ opportunities in many areas, especially work, and the refugees indicated that their inability to speak English left them feeling helpless in their new surroundings. The language barrier negatively affected the refugees’ ability to communicate and demand fair treatment at work. Many refugees could not access services available to them and were reliant on apps to fill out forms. The inability to communicate led to acculturative stress and slowed down the adaptation.

Different Cultural Conceptions of Mental Health

Many participants had difficulty responding to interview questions about mental health because they appeared unfamiliar with the concept of mental health. While MENA refugees willingly described the suffering and danger they experienced before coming to the United States, most said they did not have any resulting “psychological disorders,” or they had only minor trauma.

Most participants shared that they were not familiar with the term “mental health” prior to the interview. When the interviewer explained that mental health referred to social and emotional well-being, their responses were diverse in understanding. Hamid explained his understanding of the concept of mental health as follows:

Having a good brain, you think right; you can understand people and what their beliefs are. You try to respect their beliefs, even if they don’t believe, so you need to have good mental health to understand what’s going on around you.

Malik, a father of four from Syria who lost his home and factory to bombings, described mental health as “sometimes [a person] is very happy and sometimes something very small can happen and then, he would feel upset. No one can ever control it.” Ali, a refugee from Iraq, commented that the concept of mental health is that “you should always smile, and this is why I am smiling all the time.”

Intimate Partner Violence

Several of the women participants reported experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Aaliyah, a Syrian mother, described the Arab culture of silence surrounding IPV, saying, “There are many women who are subjected to injustice from their husbands, but you wouldn’t know about them because no one talks about it.” She commented that violence against women was an everyday affair: “Assault is like a joke to us. We just tolerate it and move on.” Arafa, a Sudanese immigrant who experienced IPV before divorcing her abusive husband, voiced a similar assessment:

Men in our society are raised as if they are kings, and that the whole world is there to serve them. . .. They grow up with the mentality that they’re superior, that they’re better than women. And then, unfortunately, they come to use that power that they have.

Arafa noted that these negative attitudes toward women and wives prevail even after Sudanese immigrants arrive in the United States. She recounted her ex-husband’s opinion of women and their place in society:

My ex-husband told me, “Your opinion does not matter, I don’t care what you think. I’m the man of this house. My children are carrying my name.” Unfortunately, this is what men in our society say, and that’s the way they act with their wives.

Arafa was quick to point out that her experience of IPV worsened after her family arrived in the United States, and she believed that the stress of acculturation prompted the escalation in violence. Pointing that acculturative stress was a trigger that unleashed physical violence for the first time, she recounted:

Adjusting to the culture, having to deal with a job, providing for the family, all that contributed and made it worse. . ..There was a lot of emotional and verbal abuse, but the physical abuse started here [in the US], and that is because, I guess, he was going through a lot of stress himself.

Some respondents showed empowerment and resilience despite fear of stigma and reported that they had tried to employ the U.S. legal system to fight back against their abusive husbands. A Syrian mother recalled, “Last Sunday I had a fight with him but when he started to attack, I threatened to call the police and complain. I shouted, “Get out of here!” [and] then he left the house and was afraid to come back.” Despite being relatively new to the country, Arafa left her husband, stayed in a women’s shelter with her two children, and filed for divorce. She said she was able to take these steps because she “had the support of the legal system, the resource agencies, and the domestic violence shelters.” She continued, “I felt empowered when I came here [to the US] just knowing that people have rights and that some situations are unacceptable. If I were back home, it would have been much harder to decide to leave.”

In sum, while participants shared that IPV was common among the MENA refugee community, some women reported being empowered and resilient and said they had started to warn their husbands to stop using violence. Women seemed to be increasingly less willing to accept IPV, due to, in part, their access to the U.S. legal system, which they felt was protective against IPV.

The Added Struggle of COVID-19

The interviews were conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and many respondents said they had been adversely affected by the lockdown, home-schooling, or job loss. Arafa, a Sudanese refugee, said single parenting coupled with pandemic stress affected her ability to parent. When asked about her experience during the pandemic, she responded, “It stressed me out the most because it was just too much. I was very easily agitated.”

Online schooling and working from home were particularly challenging for many respondents. Aaliyah, a Syrian mother, discussed the challenges of online schooling: “Going to school [in person] is better. They [the children] weren’t committed, they weren’t organized, weren’t disciplined. I couldn’t control all of them.” Zahra, a mother of six from Syria who was parenting her children alone while her husband was in a nursing home with extensive injuries, described online schooling as a “waste of time” for her daughter. She explained, “I don’t know the language. I don’t know how to log her in or to be online with her to attend her school. . . I thought that the whole year was a waste of time because she didn’t learn anything.”

Financial pressures were another main source of worry for interviewees during the pandemic. Ahmed faced a financial crisis when he was laid off, and his wife, who had worked in a kindergarten classroom, was out of work due to shutdowns. He explained, “We had no income for several months. I looked for the unemployment benefit and tried to apply for it. I applied for many jobs.” Ali, who is from Iraq, said officials were constantly asking him if he had found a new job. He recalled, “No person could find a job due to the pandemic. . .. They told me they could not keep paying rent and that I had to find a job.” Ali also commented on the isolation his family experienced during the pandemic. The social isolation was so difficult, that Ali’s wife suggested the family return to Iraq. He explained,

My wife was the reason we came here. She was the one who insisted on coming here. But because of the challenges we have been through during the lockdown, she said more than once that she wants to go back. She is a very social person. She used to go out, visit, and talk to people. When we got here, for five months no one talked to her, no one visited her, she visited no one. It was difficult.

Concerns Around the Retention of Ethnic Identity and Norms of Family Life

Several parents expressed worries about being distanced from their cultural roots and their children losing their ethnic identities, cultural heritage, and language skills. Husna, an Egyptian refugee, expressed concern that her daughter might not follow the more conservative culture of Egypt, which entails strict boundaries between girls and boys. She explained, “The society here is open but in Egypt it is more conservative, the concept of friendship between boys and girls. . .. I hope she holds onto the definition of friendship that she knows from Egypt.” Firas, a father of four from Syria, was concerned that his children would not be able to retain their Syrian cultural heritage, Arabic language skills, and religious beliefs. He acknowledged that his children were acculturating very quickly in the United States and had already lost some of their Arabic skills, making it harder for him to communicate with them. Sarah, a mother of two, also hoped her daughters would continue to speak Arabic. Although she wanted her daughters to take full advantage of the opportunities offered in the United States, she was concerned that they might not remember where they came from.

Ahmed, a Syrian refugee who came to the United States through Jordan, described being concerned that his children would follow the common U.S. path of leaving the household when they became adults:

It is wrong in my opinion that in America when someone hits the age of 18, they separate themselves from their parents and go and live alone. The idea that they [children] can be wise and independent enough to rely on themselves by the age of 18 is wrong. . .. Parents are supposed to guide their children.

Ghassan also expressed worries about the norms of family life in the United States. He did not approve of the individualistic path typical of the United States. He commented, “We have strong family relationships, but others don’t have it; others call their parents once a year or only at Christmas. . .This is something I don’t like [about the U.S.].” Hamid, an Egyptian Christian who fled religious persecution and sought asylum in the U.S., did not want his children to adopt typical American religious attitudes and behaviors. He explained,

Christian life here is not like there [Egypt]. When we worshiped God, it was really hot, like you’re hungry for God, you pray a lot every day. You have a good spirit, you have a good relationship with God, and I want her to keep this tradition.

Worries About Children Keeping the Wrong Company and Using Substances

Zahra, a Syrian mother of six who moved to the United States after spending 5 years in a refugee camp in Jordan, said she was more concerned about her children in the United States than she was in Syria. She revealed:

When in Syria, I used to fear for them because of the bombing and the war, but here, I’m more afraid. I always want to know who they are with and where they are going. I am very concerned about someone giving them drugs and them becoming addicted. It’s a big country here; teenagers might lose their way easily, and I fear bad friends. I tell them not to take anything from anyone because I worry about drugs.”

Quality of Governance and Freedom

Despite their traumatic experiences and current challenges, the interviewees displayed resilience and hope about their new lives in the United States. Several of the participants focused on freedom from oppression as an important benefit of life in the United States. Malik was a father of four from Syria who endured years of difficulties in Turkey before making it to the United States. Comparing his present life to his struggles in the war-torn home country, he commented, “It is like moving from hell to heaven.” He was very happy that his children had the opportunity to be educated and to live in “a land of liberty and freedom.” Malik proclaimed, “This is our country. This is my country.” Sarah, a Syrian mother of two daughters, said that coming to the United States was a relief. She explained, “When we were in Jordan, we were pressured psychologically, and although we came to an unknown future [in the US], we felt relieved. I feel that here we have a secure future.”

Ghassan, a Syrian father of five who chose to come to the United States for the sake of his children, focused on the security offered by respect for people and law. He observed:

Thankfully we came to a country that respects people, and as long as you are within the frame of the law, you can work and pay taxes. It’s enough for me to see that my children will have a better future, and to know that my children and grandchildren are growing up in a country that respects human beings.

Najmo, a refugee from Syria, echoed Ghassan’s assessment of the United States’ strong legal system and orderly society when discussing why she was hopeful about her family’s future: “First, respect for other humans. The law is very good and strong here. There is order. There is a future for kids, so life is beautiful.” Tarik, who was persecuted in Syria for being in the Kurdish minority, said that he had never felt discriminated against in the United States. He was not concerned about experiencing discrimination at the hands of fellow Arabs due to the legal protections offered in the United States:

If an Arab thinks this way here, according to the law, they cannot do anything about it. Because the law applies to everybody, everyone adheres to the law, nobody can step over the law. I’m proud of such a law.

Support From Fellow Immigrants

Many interviewees described receiving support from fellow immigrants, who had helped them with translations, completing forms, grocery shopping, and obtaining necessary supplies (e.g., furniture). Amal, a refugee from Syria, recalled:

When we first came here, my husband started going to the mosque. He met a Syrian guy there, and his father is in a WhatsApp group. The group’s purpose is to help newcomers from Syria; they bring food and anything they need. They helped us. . . it was very helpful to find people who speak the same language you do, you feel that a burden has been lifted.

Amal’s family was also able to obtain financial help from a fellow immigrant. Even though the immigrant was from a different country, the common bond of their faith and the mosque created enough trust between the two. She explained, “My husband borrowed money from our Iraqi neighbor and from other men who prayed with him in the mosque.” The family also received free services from other Arabic-speaking immigrants from the Middle East, which helped them overcome everyday challenges. For example, when Amal experienced dental problems, their Iraqi neighbors stepped in to help: “Our neighbor offered to help me take my tooth out free of charge. He took me to a Palestinian dentist, and when the dentist learned that we were newcomers, he didn’t ask for any money.”

Malik, a father of four who fled Syria when war broke out, received support from his immediate supervisor at work, a fellow Syrian who became Malik’s guide and friend. He expressed gratitude for this new life in the United States and described his supervisor as his strongest support system, commenting, “I ask him for everything I need.”

Quality of Education for Their Children

Many of the interviewees were hopeful for the future because their children were receiving a high-quality education in the United States. Arafa, who came to the United States from Sudan, described her children’s school as being very responsive to any concerns she had, saying, “I really like the school. . .. if I have any questions, the teacher will let me know if there are any concerns, so I appreciate that.” Arafa believed that raising her children in the United States would allow her to teach them to value gender equality and asserted that she “wouldn’t have been able to raise them in Sudan that way.” She continued, explaining that now that her children lived in the United States, “Even if my family and my circle have these [patriarchal] values, the society does not, or most of the society doesn’t.” Sarah, a Syrian refugee and a mother of two girls emphasized similar points, commenting, “I am very happy that they are in a country where they can learn and be educated, and they can have their rights.”

Respondents also highlighted other aspects of the U.S. school system they found valuable. Zahra, a Syrian mother of six, was grateful that the school had a wide range of activities for children. She stated:

Something I am also happy about the school system is that they have extracurricular activities. My son likes mechanics and repairing cars, so he has this extra class, and he is very happy about it. In our country we don’t have such things.

Malik, a Syrian father of four, was very pleased that his children were learning English. He recalled, “When I first came here, I was dreaming of the day when my children could speak English. They write for me now. They translate for me. They take me places. They help me a lot.” Tarik, a Kurdish refugee who had immigrated from Syria, pointed to the shortcomings of the education system in his home country, explaining:

It was the lack of concern and the lack of care about the student, whether the student shows up or is absent, is present, participates, or does not participate, nobody cares. I have my older son who went all the way up to the 4th grade, supposedly passing up to the 4th grade, but he didn’t even know how to write his name.

By comparison, he found that his children were learning much more in U.S. schools,

I envy that they are now well educated, they’re cultured. They come and say, “Hi father, come and we will translate something for you from English,” and I feel like the situation has gotten so much better if you compare this to that. I feel like I am reborn, and I feel like I’m giving my children a better life here.