Purpose Migrants and refugee youths’ (MRY) sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) is a global health issue. MRY tend to encounter adverse SRH experiences because of their limited access to and knowledge of SRHR services. Using a socioecological framework, this study examined the barriers affecting MRY’s SRHR.     Methods A cross-sectional study utilising a participatory action research design was used. 87 MRY (ages 16-26, from 20 different cultural groups living in Greater Western Sydney, Australia) participated in the study and completed seventeen focus group discussions on MRY’s experiences of SRHR. Focus groups were co-facilitated by youth project liaisons for authenticity and validity. The data were analysed thematically and interpreted using socioecological theory.     Results The findings identified socioecological barriers such as lack of awareness and access to services, sociocultural dissonance, and under-implementation of SRHR services. These barriers include cultural disconnects, language barriers, remote service locations, intergenerational cultural conflicts, and ineffective SRHR services. Key themes included traditional and institutional stigma, lack of SRH education, reliance on social media for SRH information and privacy concerns.     Conclusion There is limited consideration of MRY’s SRHR and the impact of intergenerational discordance and stigma on MRY's rights. The findings suggest the necessity for a collaborative SRHR strategy and policy design that empowers MRY's agency across multicultural contexts.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

The authors declare that this study received funding from the Australian Research Council (grant number: DP200103716) and the Western Sydney University Central Funding covering the article processing charge. The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

Ethics Committee of Western Sydney University Human Research gave ethical approval (H13798) for this work.

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Availability of data and materials: The dataset generated and/or analysed during the current study is available under restricted access. The data is located in the Research Data Australia portal at https://doi.org/10.26183/2x5y-v748. For more information or potential collaboration, please contact the corresponding author.

https://doi.org/10.26183/2x5y-v748