Unlike other migrants, refugees face additional burdens in adapting to their host society, but the role of host-country context (e.g., refugee protections in place) for their adaptation is under investigated. This cross-sectional study (n = 310) investigates refugees’ perceived discrimination and subjective well-being in two different contexts: refugees in Portugal and Zomi refugees in Malaysia. Results showed that perceived discrimination and related perils (i.e., perceived perils associated with displacement) were significantly higher for Zomi refugees in Malaysia, while subjective well-being and perceived forcedness of displacement were significantly higher for refugees in Portugal. For both groups, perceived forcedness was negatively related to subjective well-being, but perceived discrimination was not significantly related to subjective well-being. For refugees in Portugal, perceived discrimination was positively related to perceived forcedness. For Zomi refugees, it was positively associated with related perils. We propose that these group differences are a product of specific social and political factors, such as the (non)recognition of refugees and provision of refugee support that create a difference in refugee treatment.

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refugees,discrimination,well-being,forced displacement

This talk is associated with the following record:

• Refugees’ Post-Arrival and Displacement-Related Perceptions in Malaysia and Portugal