Each refugee community experiences specific migration experiences. The migration journey of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees are marked by exposure to multiple pre-and post-migration traumatic events. A two-group, cross-sectional design was used to identify the relationship among migration stressors, family presence, and number of children based on refugee theory. The results of the study indicate that refugees in India have higher psychological distress than refugees in Canada, and the number of children had a positive relationship with psychological distress. Findings from the study will help in the adaptation of culturally and contextually relevant settlement programs to improve the quality of life for refugees and to reduce the cost of settlement programs provided by host countries. © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014.

Sri Lankan Tamils Refugee settlement programs Refugee theory Refugee policies Refugee trauma

ethnic group Canada immigration policy refugee human settlement quality of life psychology