The problem of refugees and asylum seekers in the axis of Turkey-EU relations: opportunities and challenges

Refugees from war zones and asylum seekers are exposed to a wide range of traumas, including persecution, humiliation, gender-based violence, human rights violations, and significant family losses. This results in a statistically higher risk of trauma-related mental disorders. However, refugees and asylum seekers are a heterogeneous population, as far as their gender, age, ethnic, cultural, educational and socio-economic background are concerned. There is no certainty that the Western-centred therapies will be effective in the treatment of the trauma-related mental disorders of refugees and asylum seekers. This chapter summarizes the currently available evidence on the mental health of refugees from war zones and asylum seekers, focusing in particular on the results of randomized controlled trials of psychosocial and other non-conventional interventions applied to refugees and asylum seekers. Culturally sensitive approaches, which activate same-cultural community network support, are more likely to contribute to the effectiveness of the care process.

During the last decade or so, schooling policy has had to increasingly grapple with processes that have a global reach. One significant aspect of globalisation has been the global flows of asylum seekers and refugees. Although Australia has a long history of accepting asylum seekers and refugees, in recent times, concerns about national security have fuelled community disquiet about refugees and asylum seekers. As such the ‘refugee problem’ is a crucial site for research by those interested in the relationships between a vibrant and socially just society and educational policy and practice. This paper draws on Rose's genealogy of ‘community’ (that is community now a site for governmentality); and Bauman's meditation on ‘elusive community’ (how can we have both freedom and security?) as a means to think through an appropriate ethico‐politics for educators grappling with the refugee problem in Australia.

Prevalence of psychological distress detected by the PROTECT and PHQ4 questionnaires and subsequent mental health diagnosis. A cross sectional analysis of the outcomes of new arrival health assessments for refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland.

The international refugee protection system, which was set up in the wake of the Second World War, has been showing signs of strain for some time now. Some say that it is ill-suited to meet today's challenges, especially those posed by globalization. In a world in which information, capital, goods, and services flow ever more freely across borders, the uncontrolled movement of people is increasingly seen as a threat to the sovereignty of states. Sadly, in an age of global terrorism, it is also seen as a security risk. When the contemporary refugee regime was established, it was predicated on the willingness of states to relinquish a certain amount of sovereignty, in order to ensure that the basic human rights of a specific category of threatened individuals--refugees--would always be protected. On December 14, 1950, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 428 (V) establishing the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and giving it a mandate to operate on the territory of sovereign states on behalf of an especially vulnerable group of non-citizens--refugees. Just six months later, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees was adopted. It established an obligation for states to protect refugees from being returned to situations of danger and to grant them a certain basket of rights normally reserved for citizens. The willingness of states to agree to this visionary system was in part a recognition that their performance in 1938 at the Evian Conference, and subsequently in turning back Jews trying to escape Nazi Germany, should never be repeated. But it was no doubt also a sign of how little they could imagine the complexity which refugee problems would acquire. In 1951, refugee problems indeed seemed limited in nature and in scope. As a result, the UNHCR was initially given just a three-year mandate. The agency was tasked with finding new homes for around 1.3 million refugees remaining from the Second World War, and would then be dissolved. After that first three-year period, the General Assembly renewed UNHCR's mandate every five years until just a few months ago, in December 2003, it finally lifted altogether the time limitation on UNHCR's mandate, a sobering recognition of the apparent permanence of the world's refugee problems. Today, countries in both the developing and the developed world are expressing growing dissatisfaction with the international refugee system and are looking for new approaches to refugee problems. The reasons for this dissatisfaction are different in the North and in the South, but the implications are strikingly similar: the rights of refugees and asylum seekers will increasingly be jeopardized, unless ways of addressing states' concerns can be found. In the developing countries, which host the overwhelming majority of the world's refugees, the threat to asylum arises from the large number of protracted refugee situations (70 per cent of the world's refugees have been in exile for more than five years, according to the UNHCR), the absence of durable solutions, the limited capacity of host states to meet refugees' needs, and inadequate burden sharing on the part of the wealthy countries. This is coupled with real or perceived linkages between the presence of refugees and threats to national or regional security, and the rising xenophobia which accompanies all of the above. In the industrialized world, the strains on the system are caused by irregular migration, the risk it is seen to pose to the security of states and communities, and the abuse or misuse of asylum channels. States lament the high cost of maintaining individual refugee status determination mechanisms, the failure of the many restrictive measures they have crafted to produce the desired results, and the related growth of people smuggling and trafficking. Industrialized countries also face serious difficulties, both practical and legal, in removing persons they find not to be in need of protection. …

There has been a long tradition in the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic of receiving refugees. There were Jewish refugees from the Spanish Inquisition, Hungarians and Poles fleeing revolts in 1848-9, and those of Turkish descent and usually from the Balkans. Concurrent with this trend is the history of refugees and immigrants leaving Turkey, such as many Armenians, Greeks and Jews leaving at the turn of the century, and after 1923 and the Treaty of Lausanne. Little is currently published on the topic. This article defines a refugee; provides an overview of the refugee problems of the 1980's due to Bulgarian, Kurdish, and Turkish refugees; and the legal and political aspects. As a country of origin, there is discussion of the political and economic aspects of Turkish asylum seekers in Europe. The potential refugee flows to and from Turkey are also examined. I) For this study, refugees are victims of political violence and are persecuted for political or religious beliefs, ethnic or racial background, or war. In Turkey, there are national refugees, international refugees outside the Convention, and UNHCR Convention refugees. During the 1980's all 3 groups were arriving: from eastern Europe, Iranian Kurds, Iraqis, and ethnic Turks from Bulgaria and Afghanistan. The Turkish restricted acceptance of the 1951 Convention on Refugees creates serious humanitarian and security consequences for refugees other than those from eastern Europe and of Turkish ethnicity. Political considerations play an important role in treatment where security threats outweigh humanitarian need. The case is given for Kurdish refugees. II) Asylum seekers from Turkey in Western Europe was determined between 1986-90 to be 185,000 from applications. These figures have risen steadily due to the political instability and military activity of areas bordering Iraq and Syria, the Emergency Region. In addition there are economic and employment problems, and there has been a suspension of human rights. Europe in return has tightened legislation and procedures to differentiate economically motivated refugees from authentic political asylum seekers. Further research is needed to investigate refugee problems. Further refugees may come due to the promotion of a Black Sea Cooperation Region and easier crossings of borders to the former Soviet Republics. Ethnic Turks in Moldavia or Romania or Bulgaria may leave due to unrest. Factors affecting asylum seekers are improvements in Turkey's human rights record, repeal of bans of the Kurdish language, completion of the South Eastern Development Project, and the European government policy on asylum.

The current problem of refugees cannot be handled with policies that address the root of the problem. The increasing number of refugees in the Southeast Asian region makes transit countries overwhelmed in dealing with this problem. On the other hand, as a refugee recipient country in the last ten years, Australia has had a strict policy in accepting refugees. Australia's approach to return refugee ships to a transit country is a controversial policy because Australia itself is a country that signed the 1951 convention on refugee status. On the other hand, the existence of refugees and asylum seekers has a significant impact on the local community's social changes, and the current refugee policy arrangement is still in the hands of UNHCR ( United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) under the auspices of the United Nations. There has been no concrete communication to touch the root of the problem of refugees and asylum seekers. Through an enthusiastic approach and communication with community-based management between ASEAN countries and Australia, it is hoped that it can resolve human rights issues related to supervision to empower refugees in society to become citizens of a third country, in this case, Australia.

Turkey is one of the most bypassed countries and is occupied by refugees and asylum seekers coming from the Middle East. The problem of refugees in Turkey has become more complicated after the outbreak of the Corona Virus (COVID-19), so that according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), refugees are the most vulnerable to COVID-19. This study aims to describe how the Turkish government's efforts in providing protection to refugees from the dangers of the spread of COVID-19. This study adapts qualitative methods by utilizing news, journals and books as secondary data. This study found that Turkey has made various efforts by following the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and also collaborating with UNHCR to protect refugees from COVID-19

According to the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), children and adolescents represent 41% of all forcibly displaced individuals. They have to deal with conflicts, violence, and the many difficulties of flight and resettlement during a critical stage of their emotional, social, cognitive, and physical development. They are more likely to experience mental health problems during migration. Despite the several known risk factors, it is frequently challenging for refugees and asylum seekers to get mental health care. In this paper we review available studies on interventions aimed at promoting mental health and at preventing common mental disorders in immigrant adolescents and children. The relevant PubMed, Scopus, PsychINFO and Web of Science databases were searched for papers published until March 21, 2023, using ("immigrants" OR "migration" OR "asylum seekers" OR "refugees") AND ("promotion" OR "prevention") AND ("mental health" OR "mental disorders" OR "psych*") AND ("children" OR "adolescents" OR "young adults") as search string. Fourteen articles qualified for the detailed review. The majority of available interventions, although highly heterogeneous in format and content, showed significant improvement in several psychopathological dimensions, including trauma-related symptoms, psychological stress, anxiety, depressive and cognitive symptoms. Available studies on interventions for the prevention of mental disorders and the promotion of mental health in refugees and asylum seekers children and adolescents indicate that provided interventions were associated with a global improvement for participants. Implementation strategies to improve their scalability are highly needed.

Using statistics collected by UNHCR and the Serbian government, the paper examines aspects of the refugee problem in FR Yugoslavia whose war-affected population amounted to 646 066 persons in 1996 (a figure that is almost certainly an underestimate). Relatively few refugees will return to their homes even with a political settlement because so many homes are damaged or destroyed. Many people would like to settle in Western Europe and some have already succeeded (especially in Scandinavia where asylum seekers from Former Yugoslavia accounted for 80 percent of the applications in January-September 1993). But regulations are being tightened and asylum seekers are now facing deportation. Housing refugees in FRY is expensive (only 350 refugees got new homes and permanent citizenship in 1994), but some exchanges have been arranged between Serbs arriving from Croatia and Croats established in Vojvodina who are willing to move in the opposite direction. The most promising solution discussed in the paper is resettlement in border villages which have experienced steady depopulation since the Second World War. Houses are available for refurbishment and arable land is cheap. The resettlement of refugee farmers could make an immediate impact on food production and over the longer term there could be sustained economic growth in the context of a newly-constituted Euroregion. Such a strategy would make a virtue out of necessity by helping the refugees and the border regions which have had their potential enhanced by cross-border cooperation.

The problem of asylum seekers and refugees is a matter of human rights (HAM), as well as a problem in international law. In 1951 the United Nations created The Convention Relating Status of Refugees 1951 (Convention Concerning the Status of Refugees 1951). Therefore, the Perpers regarding the Handling of Refugees from Abroad No. 125 of 2016. Even though this Perpres has been issued, it is still unable to complete the handling of asylum seekers and refugees in Indonesia, especially international asylum seekers in Kalideres, West Jakarta, where the asylum seekers are Not getting enough attention from the government. The formulation of the problem in writing this journal is How the responsibility of the Indonesian government in handling asylum seekers in Kalideres is seen from humanitarian principles. In this paper, the method used is a normative research method in which the author approaches legal principles. In this study the authors use legal sources, namely: the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 37 of 1999 concerning Foreign Relations, Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 6 of 2011 concerning Immigration and Perpers regarding the Handling of Refugees from Outside. Negeri No. 125/2016, as well as The Convention Relating Status of Refugees 1951. From those problems, the authors conclude that the handling of asylum seekers and refugees is an obligation for the Indonesian government, because human rights are an obligation mandated by the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and international law.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 65.6 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide. Several factors have a major influence on asylum seekers' health; so, their health profile is markedly different from that of the population in the country of asylum. The aim of this study is to review the major issues physicians need to be aware of when treating asylum seekers, with a special focus on the neurological problems of asylum seekers and refugees. The major impact factors on refugees' health are linked to experiences and exposure (1) in the country of origin, (2) in refugee camps and en route to Europe, and (3) in the process of immigration into the host country and living in European asylum centers. Refugees' health is also affected by psychological problems and by infectious diseases. Additionally, chronic diseases resulting in polymorbidity, cancer, and neurological diseases are easy to overlook and demand special attention. Neurological injuries/diseases may be traumatic (e.g., spinal cord injuries), posttraumatic (e.g., chronic pain syndromes), the result of cerebral infections, or the consequences of starvation (e.g., epilepsy, ataxia, and paraesthesia). The main challenges for physicians are lack of awareness of the asylum seekers' specific health care problems, language and intercultural communication problems, as well as access and integration of asylum seekers into the health care system. The health issues of asylum seekers are manifold and challenging to physicians. Awareness of these conditions is mandatory to ensure good clinical practice for this patient population, which has a huge burden in chronic, infectious, mental, and neurological diseases.

The movement of population was only a domestic issue of a country, but along with the number of countries that paid attention to Asylum Seekers and Refugee so that these issues become worldwide problem. In International law the existence of these refugee protected by the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Refugee Protocol about Refugee. The Indonesian state did not ratify the Protocol so that Indonesia was not obliged to accept the asylum seekers and refugee. However, Indonesia’s strategic position makes Indonesia become a transit country for those who want to continue into the destination country. Therefore, the Government of Indonesia issued a Presidential Decree Number 125 of 2016 concerning Handling of Foreign Refugees. The problem research is how to handling asylum seekers and refugee after the publication of Presidential Decree Number 125 of 2016 concerning Handling of Foreign Refugees. This research is used empirical-normative research methods. Thus, the Government of Indonesia already has a legal basis to handle these asylum seekers and refugees. Indonesia is expected can be more instrumental in addressing the problem of asylum seekers and refugees internationally even thought Indonesia has not ratified the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol. However, in its implementation Presidential Decree Number 125 of 2016 concerning Handling of Foreign Refugees did not run smoothly. It’s because a lot of their handling has not yet referred to the Presidential Regulation.

Introduction: Asylum seekers in Dutch refugee Camps are often heavenly burdened from mental health problems triggered by the reason of fleeing and the circumstances during their travel to the Netherlands. This leads frequently to self-medication for relieve and as a consequence addiction, lower quality of life and mutual displeasure. In order to create an overview of existing knowledge of why so many asylum seekers experience psychiatric problems in Dutch refugee Camps, we reviewed the literature on influencing factors on mental health of asylum seekers with regard to the experience of the asylum seekers procedure and staying in a refugee camp.Methods: We used the PRISMA ScR statement recommendations in the design, literature search, analysis, and reporting of our scoping review (Tricco et al., 2018).Results: The duration of the asylum procedure is an important risk factor for experiencing psychiatric problems. How asylum seekers perceive and cope with illness in terms of their culture of origin, is often unknown by professionals providing mental health care in refugee camps in the Netherlands. The Dutch refugee camps are typically parsimonious; meaning asylum seekers receive “bed, bath and bread”, as such they literally receive only the very basic support. An asylum seeker has limited rights in the Netherlands. They live usually in mixed groups of refugees of different cultural background in small living facilities. They can’t work, only voluntary on the asylum seekers centre and work that is mostly far below their education level, such as cleaning work while they have an academic degree. They get a small weekly allowance for groceries, clothes and all the other things they need. Only children with the age under eighteen have access to school facilities.Discussion: When an asylum seeker gets a residence permit, this person moves from the asylum seeker centre to a living space in the Dutch community. This reliefs the person from the strict regulations in the asylum seeker centre, leading by itself to a better health perception. However they face problems from the burden full experiences of living in the strict regime in the asylums seeker centre, not feeling prepared for living in the free Dutch society.Conclusions: Circumstances in Dutch refugee centres have an increasing effect on psychiatric problems of refugees. These problems are originated in the reason of fleeing and the circumstances during their travel to the Netherlands, but are accelerated by the strict regime in Dutch refugee centres.Lessons learned: Living in mixed cultural setting in sparse circumstances should be supported by healthcare providers in Dutch refugee camps which have competencies in guiding refugees in how they perceive and cope with illness in terms of their culture of origin.Limitations: There is no universal way to treat asylum seekers, and the literature is not specific in how to deliver integrated and personalized care.`Suggestions for further research: Cultural sensitive treatment possibilities and current treatment evaluation of healthcare for refugees in refugee camps.

Розглянуто проблему сучасної міграційної кризи в країнах ЄС, основні загрози безпеки зовнішніх кордонів ЄС та загострення міжетнічних конфліктів. Проаналізовано сучасну міграційну політику країн ЄС, розкрито основні підходи до вирішення міграційних проблем, висвітлено проблеми інтеграції мігрантів у європейські суспільства, заходи, які застосовують окремі європейські держави у боротьбі із нелегальною міграцією, а також наголошено на необхідності вдосконалення сучасної міграційної політики країн ЄС, розробки нових умов та принципів адаптації мігрантів, що застосовуватимуться Україною. Відзначено, що прагнення України стати рівноправним членом світової та європейської спільноти вимагає від нашої держави неухильного дотримання міжнародних угод та стандартів у сфері захисту прав людини, одним з яких є свобода вільного переміщення громадян. Україна, в силу свого геополітичного розташування, стала транзитною країною для багатьох шукачів кращого життя. У цьому потоці певний відсоток становлять люди, що змушені шукати притулок. Ці люди не можуть розраховувати на захист своїх урядів, і в цьому відрізняються від інших мігрантів, у яких би тяжких умовах ці мігранти не знаходилися, а також від інших груп людей, які мають потребу в гуманітарному захисті. Також автор намагається проаналізувати питання нелегальної міграції до країн європейського континенту, що було викликано і спровоковано напливом біженців із територій, де активно ведуться військові дії та масові збройні конфлікти; робиться спроба висловлення пропозицій та шляхів їх розв’язання. Також сформульовано поняття «європейська міграційна криза», що застосовується для визначення ситуації, яка склалася в країнах Європейського Союзу внаслідок процесів нелегальної міграції біженців. Проаналізовано ключові проблеми нелегальної міграції, розглянуто основні заходи, що здійснюються ЄС задля врегулювання напливу мігрантів, визначено рівень їх ефективності. Акцентовано увагу на необхідності вдосконалення міграційної політики як на рівні країн-учасниць ЄС, України, так і Європейським Союзом загалом.

A description of the activities of the Parliamentary Assembly of CSTO on migration policy and countering illegal migration from 2010 to 2022 is given. The relevance of the parliamentary dimension of migration policy within the CSTO is confirmed by the situation that develops almost along the entire perimeter of the borders of the CSTO member states. The adopted recommendations on harmonizing the legislation of the CSTO member states in the areas of countering illegal (irregular) migration and human trafficking (2011) are covered; problems of refugees and asylum seekers (2014); creating a positive image of labor migrants (2015); qualifications of acts for various types of human trafficking (2016); pension provision for labor migrants (2016), blocking the channels of international terrorism (2022). The prospects for the rule of law of the CSTO member states in the field of migration security for 2024–2025 are outlined. Recommendations are being developed in the field of combating illegal migration and the Concept of Migration Security of the CSTO member states.