C: MASS MEDIA REPORTS

C2: EUROPEAN

Description: Information about mass media reports and commentaries on contemporary migration and refuge movements at European level. Sources: European organizations of media coverage Dates: 2014-2016

Title/ Summary Link/pdf/

1 The Mental Health Crisis Facing Europe's RefugeesThe migrants’ path to Europe is not a just a threat to physical integrity, but mental health is at stake tool. The German Chamber of Psychotherapists warned authorities that at least half of the refugees arriving in Germany are suffering from trauma-related mental issues, with more than 70 percent of refugees having witnessed violence and around 50 percent having directly experienced it. The United Nations High Committee for Refugees warned in 2013 that 21.6 percent of Syrians in a refugee camp in Jordan were suffering from anxiety disorders, while 8.5 percent had PTSD. All the symptoms of PTSD are often present in refugees, who suffer nightmares and flashbacks. There is a need for more efficient treatment of mentally vulnerable people among refugees.

Vice news Date: 15 October 2015

https://goo.gl/BZQIyz

2 Migrant crisis: Trauma takes toll on mental healthA story in BBC of a Syrian refugee family living in Germany for over a year. The Hazeemas lost their two youngest sons, while making the dangerous journey from Libya to Malta just over two years ago. The crammed smuggler's boat they were travelling on capsized and the two boys - aged 12 and 9 at the time - have been missing ever since. The father of the family describes the trauma on him and the whole family. He has a post traumatic stress disorder. Rafat's experience, however, is not unusual. A recent report by Germany's chamber of psychotherapists found that half of refugees are experiencing

BBC (UK)Date: 22 December 2015http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35102320

psychological distress and mental illness resulting from trauma. One fifth of refugee children are also suffering from PTSD, according to the same report.

3 “The role of social worker in the refugee crisis”The article writes about the important role of social workers who work mostly as volunteers in the refugee camps. Especially, the ‘emotional trauma of change’ is something social workers can help with. On World, Social Work Day, 15 March, IFSW organised a symposium in Vienna to bring together social workers from countries affected by the refugee crisis – everywhere from Afghanistan to Austria. They discussed a plan for social workers to pool information so they can best support refugees throughout their journeys and on their eventual arrival.

Newspaper: the guardian – UKDate: 15 March 2016https://goo.gl/8fTU8l

4 “Refugee children arriving in the UK need warm support – not cold bureaucracy”An article of a British Social worker reporting the UK government has conceded it has an obligation to meet the needs of a small number of the rootless, homeless and stateless children as the Calais Jungle camp closes. The

Newspaper: the guardian - UKDate: 21 October 2016

https://goo.gl/uGMxvZ

author is wandering how British government is going to ensure each decision is in the child’s best interest and meets its obligations under the international treaties and conventions the government has signed. Unaccompanied children arriving in UK are are vulnerable to trafficking, child labour and sexual exploitation. Their statelessness also makes the process of accessing social protection systems almost impossible at times, and they become invisible in the shadows of British society. Many countries have been significantly more active in meeting the needs of these children than has the UK. For example, Germany, Greece and Thailand have set up reception centres for six to eight young people at a time to provide safety, security and stability for a period to help with their adjustment to a different culture, climate and language. Social work practitioners and researchers have a duty to each of the young people arriving into the UK to get it right – not only in the next few weeks, but to a continuing humanitarian crisis.

5 “Children in the Calais refugee camp are at risk. Social workers must act”The refugee camp in Calais is both a shining example of human ingenuity, compassion and creativity and a huge safeguarding risk to the children living there. At the UK border there are almost 600 children living in a makeshift camp. Nearly 300 of them live on their own, exposed to neglect, abuse and exploitation. A report by the EU police agency Europol in January found that 10,000 unaccompanied asylum-seeking and migrant children have disappeared since entering Europe. Despite this unprecedented emergency, there is no coordinated social work response. A project called Social Work First (SWF) was set up in February 2016 by two social workers from Kent with the explicit aim of coordinating a social work response to safeguarding issues in the Calais refugee camp. The SWF volunteers have been working alongside the already established Refugee Youth Service and Women and Children’s Service to identify unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and have begun to carry out assessments to try to strengthen the children’s legal cases to get to the UK.

Newspaper: the guardian –UKDate: 22 June 2016https://goo.gl/JTYz1o

6 “Experts sound alarm over mental health toll borne by migrants and refugees”

Newspaper: the guardian –UKDate: 8 June 2016

The article is referred to the conditions faced by refugees and migrants in camps across Europe, and that more people die trying to reach the continent. The mental health of those who have risked everything in the hope of starting a new life in Europe is gaining more attention. Post-traumatic stress is just the tip of the iceberg. PTSD is very important, but it is also the disorder that everyone jumps to, including the media. A lot of refuges have depression and anxiety disorders and surprisingly a lot of epilepsy and psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia. In a paper to the European commission last year, the European Psychiatric Association said that acute and long-term psychiatric care needed to be provided to all asylum seekers in order to avoid reaching chronic conditions of mental disorders.

https://goo.gl/BSk7L0

7 “How UK social workers can support traumatized Syrian refugees.”Many of the Syrian refugee’s families coming to the UK are likely to have been traumatised by their experiences and this will have profoundly affected their physical and mental health. Children will need physical and emotional health support, but will mainly need consistency, care and security. Education, a regular and predictable routine and the opportunity to be a child again, will be vital. Social workers should work with schools and families to secure school placements and this must be an early priority as this will establish the children in the community and allow them to get the consistency they require.   It is vital that school staff is supported throughout this transitory period. Agencies such as child and adolescent mental health services and the school nursing service should help the families to register with GP's and access the support services they will almost certainly need after the ordeal they have been through.

Newspaper: theguardian –UKDate: 5 February 2014https://goo.gl/YU3tBX

8 “Cologne library opens its doors to refugees: “You will fill this room with life”The Cologne Public Library in Germany is serving as a social and educational

Newspaper: theguardian –UKDate: 21 February 2017

space for the city’s refugees. The sprachraum, a large ground-floor room that sits opposite the main library building, serves as both a meeting point and learning hub for the city’s migrant community. The author supports that unlike many of their UK libraries, German libraries have better adapted into dynamic spaces with a bent towards digital and community engagement as well as printed matter. Many public libraries in Germany, including Cologne, now include “maker spaces”, in which users can experiment with new technologies, including 3D printers and virtual reality glasses. For every study room, there is likely to be a cafe or children’s play area. The Cologne Public Library’s director

https://goo.gl/Tt9C10

9 Refugees and mental health: 'These people are stronger than us'The psychological and social stresses often experienced by refugees during migration can double the prevalence of severe disorders (psychosis, severe depression and disabling anxiety), and increase the figures of mild to moderate mental disorders from 10% to 15-20%. The article refers to a psychologist Pina Deiana’s work at the shore, in the first-aid reception centres nestled among the coastal rocks. Deiana’s work starts at the shore, in the first-aid reception centres nestled among the coastal rocks. The demand for psychological support has been high: this year MSF introduced “psychological first aid” for victims of particularly traumatic sea crossings.

Newspaper: the guardian –UKDate: 14 September 2015https://goo.gl/2oOZlA

A child’s drawing at the first reception centre in Pozzallo, Sicily. Photograph: Holly Young

10 A press release of the European Commission presenting proposals to complete Completing the reform of the Common European

the reform of the Common European Asylum System in order to move towards a fully efficient, fair and humane asylum policy – one which can function effectively both in times of normal and in times of high migratory pressure. The Commission is proposing to replace the Asylum Procedures Directive with a Regulation establishing a fully harmonised common EU procedure for international protection to reduce differences in recognition rates from one Member State to the next, discourage secondary movements and ensure common effective procedural guarantees for asylum seekers.

Asylum System: towards an efficient, fair and humane asylum policyhttp://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-2433_en.htm