Evaluating Asylum Seekers: An Interview with Dr. Arno Vosk
In the third installment of Evaluating Asylum Seekers, Sampsonia Way speaks to Dr. Arno Vosk, an advisor to a medical student clinic at the University of Pennsylvania. I find it incredible that people who have endured such suffering in their home countries should find it so difficult to get refuge in the United States.
The Asylum-seeking Child in Europe
Children constitute an important part of asylum seekers whether they arrive With their families or alone. In 2003, there were more than 17 million refugees (43 per cent of refugees), asylum seekers and others who are of concern to the UNHCR. Of these millions of people, it is estimated that children under the age of five make up 11 per cent and 32 per cent are children aged six to seventeen. Many of these children have experienced war, violence, acts of cruelty and similar traumas. Others have been exposed indirectly through their parents traumatizing experiences. Such experiences are today increasingly recognized as being a similar burden to a child as if they are assaulted themselves. The adults often have very big problems and the children run the risk of having their problems concealed. Registration data and statistics are generally not produced in a way that makes the exposed situation of children visible. The childrens reasons for asylum in their own right are rarely investigated.
Report of the parliamentary inquiry into asylum support for children and young people
The inquiry into asylum support for children and young people received written submissions and heard oral evidence from over 200 individuals and organisations, including local authorities, safeguarding boards and academics. The panel considered perspectives from health, poverty, housing, well-being and asylum support experts, and heard directly from families with experience of living on asylum support. The evidence shows that the current asylum support system is in urgent need of reform if it is to have regard to the safety and wellbeing of children and meet its obligations to promote children’s best interests
Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings
Reading the full IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings from cover to cover may not be possible during an emergency. This limitation led to the development of this field version, which may be used as a check-list for program planning and emergency response. This brief version cannot capture all the important points in the Guidelines. Readers are encouraged to use this field version only in conjunction with the full Guidelines.
http://www.who.int/mental_health/emergencies/IASC_guidelines.pdf
Resilience and recovery after war: Refugee children and families in the United States
When working with refugee children and their families, the most effective practitioners provide comprehensive services, are culturally competent, and integrate evidence-based practice with practice-based evidence. Truly rich multicultural practice involves a process of community engagement that allows for dialogue, questioning, and adaptation of practice to fit a groups beliefs and values while still providing culturally informed, effective care.
http://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/refugees-full-report.pdf
Children and armed conflict: a guide to international humanitarian and human rights law
The update of the Guide on Children and Armed Conflict is a welcome effort to record developments with regard to the normative framework that guides international action on children and armed conflict. The last decade has seen major developments in this regard and the issue of children and armed conflict has united Member States across continents in their determination to take firm action, especially against perpetrators.
http://www.ibcr.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Guide-international-law-2010-english-1.pdf
Engendering forced migration: victimization, masculinity and the forgotten voice
The article discusses taboos as female combatants and male-male rape in order to carve out a better map for treatment in the realm of psycho-social interventions, with a focus on refugee studies as an international arena dedicated to understanding and protecting victims of violence and persecution.
Inter-Agency Guiding Principles on unaccompanied and separated children
Children separated from their parents and families because of conflict, population displacement or natural disasters are among the most vulnerable. Separated from those closest to them, these children have lost the care and protection of their families in the turmoil, just when they most need them. They face abuse and exploitation, and even their very survival may be threatened. They may assume adult responsibilities, such as protecting and caring for younger sisters and brothers. Children and adolescents who have lost all that is familiar home, family, friends, stability are potent symbols of the dramatic impact of humanitarian crises on individual lives.
https://www.unhcr.org/protect/PROTECTION/4098b3172.pdf
Guidelines for prevention and response; Sexual and gender-based violence against refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons.
These Guidelines offer practical advice on how to design strategies and carry out activities aimed at preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence. They also contain information on basic health, legal, security and human rights issues relevant to those strategies and activities (168 pages).
Statement of Good Practice
The Statement aims to provide a straightforward account of the policies and practices required to implement and protect the rights of separated children in Europe
http://www.scepnetwork.org/images/18/219.pdf