Mind the Gap

Thanks to Dee for this follow-up article to the previous post on the practical challenges to integration. This article continues the discussion on mental health that was touched on previously. Through the research project mentioned in the article, this post identifies a number of mental health service issues that many refugees and asylum seekers can relate to.

Disjointed mental health service provision for refugees and asylum seekers

My previous blog looked at some of the practical challenges faced as asylum seekers transition to new refugee status such as ineffective multiagency working, resulting in gaps in service provision, and problems in obtaining ID documents and variations in the types of ID accepted by different organizations.

I now look at some of the challenges experienced by refugees and asylum seekers in accessing and using mental health services. A 2008 report published by the Faculty of Public Health, “The health needs of asylum seekers”, highlighted some of the issues faced by both asylum seekers accessing health services, and health service providers providing health services for asylum seekers. These include frontline staff with limited training in cultural and language differences, limited knowledge of the different service needs of asylum seekers, a lack of interpreting services, and ineffective multiagency working.

Writing identities: Zena Agha at TEDxWarwick 2014

We are honoured to post another Warwick Salon TedxTalk by the brilliant Zena Agha, daughter of fellow Home Away From Home contributor Jeena, in which Zena deftly explores the themes of poetry, immigration and identity. To read Zena's bio, please click here.

Often Overlooked!

Thank you David  for raising awareness about a group of people who usually go unnoticed but whose needs are the most representative of us all. The project discussed by David shows the importance of being able to pause for a second and listen to the voices of disabled asylum seekers.   

Who are they? They are the people like you and me. However, besides being migrants, asylum seekers or refuges, they have another challenge - their disabilities!

What is the situation today? Is it different from the conclusion of a well-documented research by Robert and Harris (2002)? They wrote, "Disabled people in refugee and asylum-seeking communities frequently experienced great hardship. Considerable confusion about the responsibilities of different agencies and NASS,  a lack of co-ordinated information and service provision, and gaps in professional knowledge on disability-related entitlements increased the difficulties experienced by disabled people in refugee and asylum-seeking communities."

Practical challenges to integration

Thank you, Dee, for this informative and up-to-date account of some of the practical challenges faced by new refugees. The report cited highlights the crucial role played by the government in supporting refugees and asylum seekers. Definitely worth a read in order to better understand the current situation.

The Refugee Integration and Employment Service (RIES) was one of the many public services cut by the coalition government’s austerity measures in 2011. The RIES provided much-needed integration, employment and mentoring services for between 6–12 months for those with new refugee status. The loss of this vital service along with cuts to grassroots organizations which support refugees has meant that those with newly-granted refugee status now lack crucial assistance when they are at their most vulnerable — both during and immediately following the 28-day grace period.