Bhandari Divya, Kotera Yasuhiro, Ozaki Akihiko, Abeysinghe Sudeepa, Kosaka Makoto, Tanimoto Tetsuya
Medical Governance Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
Human Sciences Research Centre, University of Derby, Derby, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Apr 19;21(1):752. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10796-8.
Worldwide, COVID-19 has exacerbated the vulnerability of migrants, impacting many facets of their lives. Nepalese make up one of the largest groups of migrants residing in Japan. Crises, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could disproportionately affect migrants from low- and middle-income countries like Nepal, widening health and economic inequalities. An in-depth, comprehensive assessment is needed to appraise the diverse problems they encounter. Drawing upon qualitative interviews, this study aimed to identify challenges faced by Nepalese migrants in Japan as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and to discuss their needs to counter these challenges.
This qualitative study employed an interpretivist approach to appraise the first-hand experience of Nepalese migrants living in Japan. Fourteen participants (8 males and 6 females, aged 21 to 47 years old) were recruited to participate in semi-structured in-depth telephone interviews (45-60 min) regarding: (a) their perceived current physical and mental health, (b) problems faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (c) perception of available and necessary support structures. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to recruit the participants. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed.
Six themes were identified: 1) experiencing psychosomatic symptoms, 2) adoption of new healthy behaviors, 3) financial hardship, 4) family concerns, 5) reflections on discrimination and 6) reflections of existing support and expectations of support systems. The findings of our study illustrate the specific impact of COVID-19 among Nepalese migrants regarding their unstable employment conditions, perceived lack of social support, possible obligation to send money home, difficulty in accessing services due to the language barrier, and a lack of effective governmental support from Nepal. Pandemic-related adversity has negatively impacted migrants' mental well-being, exacerbating their vulnerability.
Comprehensive and timely support should be provided to the vulnerable migrant population. Effective coordination among relevant parties in both countries, including the governments concerned, should be facilitated.
在全球范围内，新冠疫情加剧了移民的脆弱性，影响了他们生活的许多方面。尼泊尔人是居住在日本的最大移民群体之一。诸如当前的新冠疫情等危机可能会对来自尼泊尔等低收入和中等收入国家的移民产生不成比例的影响，加剧健康和经济不平等。需要进行深入、全面的评估，以评估他们遇到的各种问题。本研究通过定性访谈，旨在确定新冠疫情给在日本的尼泊尔移民带来的挑战，并讨论他们应对这些挑战的需求。
这项定性研究采用解释主义方法来评估居住在日本的尼泊尔移民的第一手经历。招募了14名参与者（8名男性和6名女性，年龄在21至47岁之间）参加半结构化深度电话访谈（45 - 60分钟），访谈内容包括：（a）他们当前感知到的身心健康状况，（b）新冠疫情导致的问题，以及（c）对现有和必要支持结构的看法。采用目的抽样和滚雪球抽样技术招募参与者。访谈进行录音、转录并进行主题分析。
确定了六个主题：1）出现身心症状，2）采取新的健康行为，3）经济困难，4）家庭担忧，5）对歧视的反思，6）对现有支持的反思及对支持系统的期望。我们的研究结果表明，新冠疫情对尼泊尔移民产生了特定影响，涉及他们不稳定的就业状况、感知到的社会支持不足、可能的寄钱回家义务、因语言障碍难以获得服务以及缺乏来自尼泊尔政府的有效支持。与疫情相关的逆境对移民的心理健康产生了负面影响，加剧了他们的脆弱性。
应向脆弱的移民群体提供全面及时的支持。应促进包括相关政府在内的两国有关各方之间的有效协调。
