This paper (120 p.) represents a great collection of service guides and packages concerning various themes within the topic “mental health policy”. Here we find also mental health legislation and human rights, as well as advocacy and organization.
Rehabilitation as a form of reparation for gross violations of international human rights law and serious breaches of international humanitarian law has received sparse attention in literature and in practice, despite its vital and immediate role in victims’ recovery. Drawing on experience from a range of past and on-going domestic administrative reparation programmes, the conference explored the normative and legal role of rehabilitation as a form of reparation in times of transition.
This article speaks about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) established in South Africa, with the express purpose of facilitating a truth recovery process aimed at reconciling with the past. According to the objectives of the latest draft of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Bill this process of reconciliation is to occur through the establishing of as complete a picture as possible of the causes, nature and extent of past abuses. The so-called “victims” of these abuses will be located and allowed to relate their stories so as to restore human and civil dignity.
This paper moves from the premise that when countries are attempting to overcome a violent past it is better to deal with the past through investigation, truth recovery, justice and support for victims or survivors of violence than to ignore it. The paper is geared toward countries that are undergoing processes of social and political transformation. Specifically it is targeted at countries that are coming out of protracted periods of political violence.
The article emphasizes on the important role of government to secure and support the TRC’s recommendations otherwise “survivors lack the means to deal with material and psychological consequences of apartheid violence, and must face enormous hurdles to have their demands heard”. Contains a rhighly relevant intervju with ICTJ Senior Program Adviser Howard Varney, a practicing advocate at the Johannesburg Bar, who worked with the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission and continues to represent victims of past conflicts in the courts of South Africa to vindicate their rights.
The role of health in development and aid policy in conflict-affected and fragile states remains a conundrum. Evidence is increasing that conflict and fragility have a devastating impact on health. At the same time, knowledge on how to construct effective and sustainable health systems in these states through local leadership and donor commitment is expanding.
Restorative justice, when trauma informed, has a great potential to effectively contribute to sustainable peace in post conflict settings. An evidence based example of a program illustrating such effect is community based sociotherapy in Rwanda. This article documents what this program has achieved in terms of restorative justice, following the closure of Gacaca, the community based justice system that was in operation in Rwanda nationwide from 2005 to 2012.
Post-conflict Libya faces the challenges of establishing a national health system that is capable of addressing mental health needs for a population traumatized by decades of repression and a recent war. In order to recover, traumatized populations require feelings of safety, calm, empowerment, connectedness, and hope. To help achieve this outcome, programs must focus on medical and social aspects at both the individual and community level.
Despite the implementation of transitional justice programs – restorative and retributive – across post-conflict societies worldwide, there is a dearth of studies into their effects on mental health and psychosocial outcomes amongst victims of mass human rights violations. The present chapter describes and discusses the existing evidence with regards to mental health outcomes of different types of transitional justice approaches applied across contemporary post-conflict societies.
A full tally of the war’s horrific violence requires estimates, models, and sophisticated pattern analysis to understand who’s responsible and why. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions more displaced by this five-years-and-counting conflict. But what does this catalog of shattered lives mean? How can we gather accurate statistics about the patterns of killings in Syria and use them as a tool to bring the perpetrators to justice?
There is a growing body of comparative research that seeks to produce empirical evidence and, thereby, contribute to policy debates on the relative merits of truth commissions. However, these efforts have been plagued by a lack of attention to case selection. The lack of consensus on what constitutes the universe of truth commission cases has contributed to a pattern of inconclusive, inconsistent findings. This article reviews the empirical literature and finds over 70 potential truth commission cases. After examining some of the reasons behind such disagreement, Brahm offers Freeman’s (2006) typology of investigative commissions as the best suited to advance research in the field.
The site is intended to be a brief sketch of the method by which an investigation of the gross human rights violations committed by the Islamic Regime of Iran in the 1980’s will take place.
This interim report covers the activities of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada on traumatized Aboriginal people who forcibly were assimilated into the Canadian mainstream by eliminating parental and community involvement in the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual development of Aboriginal children The report summarizes: the activities of the Commissioners, the Commission’s interim findings, the Commission’s recommendations.
This report is a brief summary of truth commission in Sierra Leone; it provides useful information on conclusions, recommendations and subsequent developments.
A report on the implementation of a truth and reconciliation commission the Liberian government has launched, to probe human rights abuses in the past.
Overview of the proceedings of the ECCC, the hybrid tribunal created in 2006 to try senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge and those “most responsible” for the crimes that took place. The court has five suspects in custody and has almost completed its first trial which began in March of 2009.
At the close of his visit to Sri Lanka in late October 2017, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Mr Pablo de Greiff concluded that Sri Lanka “continues to deprive itself of the benefits of transitional justice.” In 2015, the Sri Lankan government co-sponsored UN Human Rights Council Resolution 30/1 on promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.
This article contributes to the debates around concepts of truth, confession, forgiveness and reconciliation. The theoretical discussion shows to what extent these concepts are interconnected, and share a complex relation with justice and reconciliation. It argues that the knowledge about past violence is hardly a canonical truth. It is at best a negotiated truth. This knowledge is inevitably a combination of facts and interpretations. This knowledge is sought and used for understanding past violence but also for paving a way towards the reconstruction of post-conflict societies.
In the dynamic political landscape that has emerged following 50 years of conflict, Colombia is taking steps toward truth and accountability. The Commission for the Clarification of Truth, Coexistence, and Non-Repetition (the “Commission”) is scheduled to begin taking statements in November 2018. While its task of constructing a historical truth from the stories of millions of victims will be colossal, the preparation for its launch has reinvigorated hope among victims for healing their long-held traumas.
This WHO-declaration is intended to serve as a working instrument, providing framework to achieve consensus and cooperation.
This represents a detailed handbook (133 p)which tries to explain the “use and application” of the UN declaration of basic principles of justice for victims of crime and abuse of power from 1985. This is based on the conviction that victims should be treated with compassion and respect, and that they are entitled to prompt redress through access to the criminal justice system.
This handbook (51 p.) outlines the UN declaration of Basis Principles of Justice 40/34, with advice and guidance how that can be pursued.
UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power from 1985.
Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, other relevant human rights instruments and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.
This report is focused on killings, abductions, torture, and sexual violence against LGBT people by armed groups in Iraq. It is based on 54 interviews with LGBT Iraqis who have survived violence and discrimination by state and non-state actors, based primarily on their gender expression and presumed sexual orientation.
Family reunion in exile may be a complex and challenging experience. Refugee families are often reunited in the host countries after having lived through long periods of separation, insecurity and violence. Assisting families in the process of reunification is discussed as an issue of priority, both from a psychological and a human rights point of view. Based on clinical experiences, the authors suggest that accompanying families in this process of transition is meaningful and useful. The chapter argues that work with refugees should be seen through a family lens, and that mental health professionals have the knowledge and background regarding families and systems that enable them to offer good assistance to families in reunification processes (chapter 13 in Working with Refugee Families, not open access).
In the field of refugee family research and intervention forms a growing field of scientific study, focusing on the refugee family as the central niche of coping with, and giving meaning to, trauma, cultural uprooting, and exile. This important new book develops an understanding of the role of refugee family relationships in post-trauma healing and provides an in-depth analysis of central clinical-therapeutic themes in refugee family psychosocial interventions. Expert contributions from across transcultural psychiatry, psychology, psychotherapy and social work have provided chapters on post-trauma reconstruction in refugee family relationships, trauma care for refugee families, and intersectorial psychosocial interventions with refugee families. This exploration of refugee family systems in both research and clinical practice aims to promote a systemic perspective in health and social services working with families in refugee mental health care.
For refugees, the right to family reunification is crucial because separation from their family members causes significant anxiety and is widely recognised as a barrier to successful integration in host countries. Well-designed family reunification policies also help create the safe and legal routes that are necessary to prevent dangerous, irregular journeys to and within Europe. Based on this analysis, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights sets out a number of recommendations to member states intended to assist national authorities in re-examining their laws, policies and practices in order to give full effect to the right to family reunification, for the benefit of both refugees and their host communities.
This publication is conceived as a point of reference for capacity-building material, technical assistance, co-operation projects and new practices for and with relevant authorities and institutions. It focuses on the reunification of families with children in the context of international migration, and in particular on reunification possibilities for unaccompanied and separated refugee and migrant children. It presents an overview of legal principles of human rights, children’s rights, refugee law and EU law relevant to family reunification and then discusses key features of family reunification procedures, with promising examples of law and practice and relevant applicable standards.
The aim of this literature review is to give an overview of existing research about the relationship between 1) family migration and integration and 2) family migration regulation and integration. With regard to the first issue, outlined in chapter 3 of this report, we have identified three main streams of literature on family migration and integration: First, there are studies comparing the integration of family migrants to other admission categories. Second, there is a stream of literature focusing on intra-ethnic marriages between a second-generation immigrant and a spouse from their parents’ country of origin. Finally, there are also some case studies investigating challenges and opportunities for integration for other family migrants, for example intra-European migrants and mixed marriages between a native and a third country national.
It is widely recognised that family life is essential for the well-being of individuals and societies. For people fleeing war and persecution being reunited with their family members is generally their first priority upon arrival in the host country. On a daily basis practitioners witness the negative impact family separation has on people seeking protection in Europe, and how it affects their ability to engage in most aspects of the integration process. The constant worry people carry about their family left behind, as well as the absence of relatives who could support them, increase their vulnerability when they have already been exposed to traumatic experiences associated with forced migration.
More than 17,000 refugees, mainly women and children, could be prevented from reuniting with close family members in the UK due to new rules the Home Office plans to introduce, according to analysis by the Refugee Council.
A Danish law requiring a three-year waiting period for the families of asylum-seekers to join them violates their right to family life, Europe’s top rights court ruled Friday. The European Court of Human Rights found that Danish authorities did not strike a fair balance between the rights of a 62-year-old Syrian asylum seeker and the interests of the country when they denied his wife a residency permit.
“I want all families to be made whole, to be reunified, to be together — as is our right,” says writer, poet and student Elizabeth Zion. In this profoundly moving talk, Zion shares the impacts of family separation, including her personal struggles with homelessness and poverty — and points a way toward moral and just policies that recognize the human rights of migrant families.
This study examines whether family separation caused by prolonged waiting times for family reunification is associated with the risk of psychological disorders – such as PTSD – among refugee fathers. The study was conducted by the Danish Rockwool Foundation Research Unit and the University of Copenhagen. According to its researchers, this is the first large-scale cohort study to demonstrate that family separation is associated with an increased risk of psychological disorders among refugee fathers.
Spokesperson Shabia Mantoo said Afghan refugees have been approaching UNHCR offices, desperately concerned about the safety and welfare of their loved ones left behind, or living in neighbouring countries. “While recent political developments in Afghanistan have not led to large-scale cross-border displacement, many among pre-existing Afghan refugee and asylum seeker populations remain separated from their families owing to the inaccessibility of family reunification procedures,” she told journalists in Geneva.
A new study analyzing the mental health impacts of family separation finds that children and parents seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border experience severe psychological trauma even years after reunification. The Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) study provides the first-ever qualitative analysis of the mental health effects of the forced family separation policy and shows further evidence of the “zero tolerance” policy’s detrimental effects on the mental health of impacted families.
If a child has been removed from the care of his or her parents, safe and timely family reunification1 is the preferred permanency option for most children.2 Safe and stable reunification does not begin or end with the return of children to the care of their parents. Caseworkers should give careful consideration to assessing families’ capacity for keeping children safe and their readiness to reunify as well as to planning for postreunification services and contingencies in the event of future safety concerns. Child welfare agencies may find it challenging to help families achieve timely reunification while at the same time preventing children from reentering foster care.
The possible benefits of including refer- ring professionals in the first family inter- views are being explored as a way to en- gage refugee families in therapy. Families in exile confront a number of problems related both to premigration traumatic exposures and to present adaptation processes. Refugee clients and the referring professionals in the larger system frequently see the problems and their solutions quite differently. This situation may often result in unclear working alliances in a context of therapy.
The article discusses the situation of unaccompanied refugee children in Norway, and how this affects their state mental health. Recommendations on how to help better are also given.
The aim of this study was to compare profiles of present mental health and previous exposure to violence among refugee children from the Middle East, whose asylum seeking families either did or did not obtain permission to stay in Denmark.
A review about the connection between trauma, exile and mental health in young refugees from the Middle East.
This report gives a voice to these children. It provides compelling first-hand evidence of the impact that prolonged immigration detention is having on their mental and physical health. The evidence given by the children and their families is fully supported by psychiatrists, pediatricians and academic research.
This study concludes that the risk of mental distress is greater in asylum-seeking children who have undergone a high annual relocation rate.
The exact proportions of sexual violence are impossible to measure, yet MSF’s medical data reveals that it is a problem of alarming proportions. Information provided by our patients reveals the high risk of sexual violence throughout the migration process, with survivors experiencing rape and other forms of sexual violence by numerous different perpetrators in their countries of origin, in route and in Morocco itself.
According to a stunning Fusion investigation, 80 percent of women and girls crossing into the U.S. by way of Mexico are raped during their journey. That’s up from a previous estimate of 60 percent, according to an Amnesty International report. Through May, the number of unaccompanied girls younger than 18 caught at the US-Mexico border increased by 77 percent.
An estimated 60 to 80 percent of female migrants from Central America are sexually assaulted on their journey—and perpetrators often act with total impunity. As thousands of Central American women weigh the risks of migrating to the US each year, they must take into account an extra peril: An estimated 80 percent of female migrants from Central America are victims of sexual abuse at the hands of criminal groups, human smugglers, or corrupt officials during the journey.
The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive review of the situation of female asylum-seekers and refugees in France, in order to furnish a base of information which might guide future UNHCR policies and actions in this area, and which may serve to make recommendations to French government and institutions.
This Commission advocates for laws, policies, and programs to improve the lives and protect the rights of refugee and internally displaced women, including those seeking asylum.
Torture victims are not receiving the specialised support they need to get better and to engage effectively with the asylum process. One reason for this is that most EU Member States, including the eight countries featured in this report, do not have a procedure for systematic identification of torture victims in the asylum procedure. This key issue has a range of negative consequences on the individual, such as deteriorating physical and mental health and flawed consideration of their asylum claim.
Refugee research to date has predominantly focused on factors that make refugees more vulnerable for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and /or psychological distress. Few papers have studied potential protective factors such as resilience.
Feel like getting inspired today? Then look no further than these TED and TEDx Talks that highlight the resilience of refugees from all around the world. These are just a handful of voices representing the ingenuity of tens of millions of displaced persons and the daily struggles they face.
Systematic inquiry into patients’ migration trajectory and subsequent follow-up on culturally appropriate indicators of social, vocational and family functioning over time will allow clinicians to recognize problems in adaptation and undertake mental health promotion, disease prevention or treatment interventions in a timely way
Trauma-informed approaches emerged partly in response to research demonstrating that trauma is widespread across society, that it is highly correlated with mental health and that this is a costly public health issue. The fundamental shift in providing support using a trauma-informed approach is to move from thinking ‘What is wrong with you?’ to considering ‘What happened to you?
This Campbell systematic review assessed whether detaining asylum seekers has an impact on their mental health. The review also assessed whether detaining asylum seekers has a negative impact on their physical health and social functioning.
The article outlines the effects of detention of asylum-seekers in their country of refuge. Anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder were most commonly reported.
This paper reviews current literature regarding the mental health of asylum seekers and refugees. Good practice measures for mental health care is also discussed.
The article outlines how increasingly harsh policies within the asylum-seeking process can affect the mental health of the asylum-seekers negatively, especially when it comes to post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety.
The article suggests that addressing psychological distress during the early phase in a resettlement country may promote long-term refugee adjustment and reduce exposure to acculturative hassles.
Fathers of refugee background experience poorer mental health and poorer general health than Australian-born fathers. Fathers who have migrated from non-English-speaking countries also report greater psychological distress than Australian-born fathers. This underscores the need for primary healthcare services to tailor efforts to reduce disparities in health outcomes for refugee populations that may be vulnerable due to circumstances and sequelae of forced migration and to recognise the additional psychological stresses that may accompany fatherhood following migration from non-English-speaking countries.