Background: European countries are the main receiving countries of immigrants such as refugees and asylum seekers belonging to ethnic minority groups due to a global increase in social and political instability as well as socio-economic conflicts. Both the number of ethnic minority groups and the number of people with mental disorders are therefore growing significantly. The current healthcare ...

Asylum seekers flee their countries in search of safety due to persecution at home. Characteristics were assessed of 134 consecutive asylum seekers who sought mental health services at a program caring for survivors of torture and refugee trauma, using a chart review of patients seen between January 1999 and December 2002. Two-thirds of the sample were female, and 82% came from Africa. Eighty-f...

OBJECTIVE To synthesize the recent qualitative literature and identify the integrative themes describing the parenthood experiences of refugees, asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants. METHODS We searched seven online databases for the period January 2006 to February 2017. We included English and French published peer-reviewed articles and graduate-level dissertations, which qualitatively e...

Applying for asylum in the United States can be a strenuous process for both applicants and immigration attorneys. Mental health professionals with expertise in asylum law and refugee trauma can make important contributions to such cases. Not only can mental health professionals provide diagnostic information that may support applicants' claims, but they can evaluate how culture and mental heal...

BACKGROUND The National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs conducted a large voluntary research project among torture rehabilitation centers in the United States (US). Its goal is to fill the void in the literature on demographic and diagnostic data of torture survivors across a large country. METHODS Twenty-three centers across the US collaborated over six years, utilizing training and...

This study examined the incidence of suicide and self-harm in asylum seekers in the UK, both those in detention and in the community. The investigation revealed that data recording is seriously flawed or sometimes non-existent. However, the scanty data those were available from Immigration Removal Centres, coroners' records and Prison Ombudsman's reports showed high levels of self-harm and suic...

BACKGROUND In 2015, Italy was the second most common point of entry for asylum seekers into Europe after Greece. The vast majority embarked from war-torn Libya; 80,000 people claimed asylum that year. Their medical conditions were assessed on arrival but their mental health needs were not addressed in any way, despite the likelihood of serious trauma before and during migration. Médecins sans F...

BACKGROUND Approximately 90% of new tuberculosis (TB) cases notified in Norway are asylum seekers and other immigrants from high-incidence countries. Asylum seekers are screened upon arrival at the National Immigration Centre. Other immigrants receive a letter from the Municipal Health Services requesting that they present for screening in their municipality of residence. In order to identify p...