Asylum Seeker Centres Research Articles

Moving in musicking: the evolving pedagogical practice of the artist-facilitator within asylum seeker centers.

The field of community music has been continuously expanding during the last years alongside the need for experienced musicians who can carry out music activities for culturally diverse groups. Based on previous studies, we identified a need for research-based practices for training musicians and music teachers who wish to facilitate community music projects. We believe that it is important to incorporate reflexive practice in order to inform the planning of the workshops, but also to support the needs of the participants. The article examines the evolution of the pedagogical practice of the artist-facilitator in active music making with children, during a series of movement-based musical workshops at an asylum seeker center in Netherlands. We used an exploratory case study integrating Action Research, in order to focus on the artist-facilitator's pedagogical practice, the participatory role of the children and the content of this type of workshops. The researchers describe the adopted pedagogical approach based on a set of guiding principles and key components that supported the design and content of the workshops. Based on a cyclical process (plan-act-observe-evaluate), the findings from every cycle were incorporated in the next one by analyzing the video footage of the workshops and the immediate reflections of the artist-facilitator. Data analysis revealed a set of recurring themes that reflect crucial aspects of the artist-facilitator's practice. Furthermore, a set of pedagogical implications are proposed that can be directly implemented within the practice of artists-facilitators who wish to engage in activities with children at asylum seeker centers.

Challenging the ‘Youth Gaze’: Building Diversity into Refugee and Asylum Reception and Integration Programmes

Abstract Reception and integration programmes have often a dominant socio-economic focus that supports refugees’ swift movement into the labour market. This article examines the assumptions that such programmes make about their core target group and how this corresponds with participants’ diverse needs, drawing on conceptual work around the intersectionalities of age, relationalities, and migrant capital to do so. It employs data from interviews with, and observations of residents of an asylum seeker centre in Utrecht, the Netherlands, participating in an innovative programme that aimed to help them ‘integrate from day one’ through co-education and co-housing. We examine the assumptions of the programme, including its inclusive orientation, but show how it appealed implicitly to younger participants. By exploring experiences of participation for a more marginal group of participants in the mid and later phases of professional lives, we show how the programme worked better for a core, younger group, but in doing so, inevitably supported those already advantaged. We argue that programmes need to be adaptive and responsive to the heterogeneity of participants, who vary by age, relationalities and possession of resources among other intersectionalities, to support all the populations they serve.

Threats and Interventions on Wellbeing in Asylum Seekers in the Netherlands: A Scoping Review.

BackgroundMost asylum seekers experience stress, not only due to the reason for fleeing and their travel but also due to their compulsory stay in the asylum seeker center in the Netherlands and the asylum procedure. This often leads to self-medication and addiction which causes lower self-esteem and lower quality of life. Adverse life events, forced migration, and prolonged asylum procedures, in addition to the complexity of the acculturation process, can all contribute to higher levels of psychopathology.ObjectiveWhat are the threats to wellbeing in terms of mental health, psychosocial, and addiction problems, and what are the effective interventions for wellbeing for asylum seekers in asylum seeker centers in the Netherlands, reported in the literature?MethodFollowing the descriptive nature of the research question and the need for identifying knowledge gaps, an overview of existing knowledge was created by executing a scoping review on influencing factors on the mental health of asylum seekers. The Neuman system model was used as a guiding framework to understand the complexity of the issues this population experience and to identify the stressors and the factors which cause the imbalance and also the disease.ResultsThe literature review resulted in 26 articles that met the criteria for inclusion. The threats included the influence of staying in the environment of an asylum seekers center, drug abuse among asylum seekers, health-care professionals and employees who do not detect or underestimate the underlying suffering of asylum seekers, and frequent relocations of asylum seekers. The two assessment instruments used were the Rapid-Assessment-Response method (RAR method) and the Health Information Assessment Tool Asylum Seeker tool (HIATUS tool). Finally, the five interventions were identified: therapy for asylum seekers diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD), art therapy, education focused on prevention as intervention, cultural interview, and mindspring.ConclusionThe knowledge on identifying and reducing threats, assessment, and treatment interventions for asylum seekers living in an asylum seekers center found in the literature provided perspectives on improving their wellbeing. The great diversity of cultural aspects and continuous changes in the number and origin of refugees in the Dutch asylum seekers centers disrupted the continuity of care.

Music facilitator experiences of working in asylum seeker centres: Complexities, dilemmas and opportunities

Accommodation centres for those seeking asylum present particular contexts in which to facilitate music making. Contextual and systemic difficulties abound. An exploration of a music project within six asylum seeker centres in Ireland is presented with a focus on the experiences of the four facilitators involved. Data are presented from facilitator reflective logs, researcher observations and recorded professional development sessions to uncover the complexities, dilemmas and opportunities that working in such contexts brings. While the facilitators adopted flexible and responsive ways of working, this was not always an easy process for them. Findings reveal some struggles the facilitators had with negotiating new ways of working and ‘letting go’ that actively involved the singers in the process. This often challenged their previous experiences, beliefs, assumptions and knowledge of learning relationships and pedagogical approaches. The importance of place-based and process-centred approaches to working in such difficult contexts is thus highlighted. The study calls for professional development structures and reflective practice to be embedded within such projects from the outset. Therefore, the findings are particularly important for the design and delivery of projects that seek to engage marginalised communities in meaningful ways.

Local responses to hostility to new asylum seeker centres in Norway

AbstractThis article investigates disagreement over how to respond to the establishment of asylum seeker centres in local communities. Building on interviews with individuals in one rural and one urban community in Norway, we analyse experiences and outcomes of the neighbourhood information meetings organized by the Directorate of Immigration before opening the new centres. We demonstrate that such meetings hold a broader social function, and they become arenas to raise concerns and manage disagreement among neighbours. When anti‐immigrant opinions expressed at the meetings are published in the media, community members counter the negative place representations that are not aligned with their own self‐identification. We identify three strategies of contestation deployed to counter negative media coverage: foreseeing conflict, claiming exceptionalism and mobilization to volunteer. Broader implications involve immigration authorities’ management of conflict when establishing such centres; their scope should not be limited to host‐guest relations but should include horizontal contestation within the community.

Pregnant asylum-seekers’ perspectives regarding mental health screening: a qualitative study

Abstract Background This study aimed to identify a suitable and acceptable method to screen for depression, anxiety and PTSD in pregnant asylum seekers. Methods We conducted eight semi-structured interviews with pregnant asylum seekers. Before the interview participants filled out the Refugee Health Screener 15 (RHS-15) and a demographic questionnaire. During the semi-structured interview, we discussed the acceptability and suitability of the RHS-15 to screen and start dialogue about PTSD, anxiety and depression. To analyse data, an inductive thematic analysis was performed by two researchers. The interviews took place at the Asylum Seeker Centre of Ter Apel, the Netherlands in the months of November and December 2020. Results The following themes were identified: ‘Importance of mental health screening', ‘Talking about mental health' and ‘Use of the RHS-15'. Pregnant asylum seekers find themselves in an underserved, and disadvantaged situation. They find it meaningful and acceptable to talk about mental health with their midwife or other health care professionals, but they would not initiate a conversation on mental health spontaneously. They would appreciate encouragement in disclosing matters regarding their mental health and help with navigating the healthcare system. Barriers and enablers to talk about mental health included a language barrier, cultural differences, relationship with health care providers and practical barriers. Participants considered the RHS-15 suitable for mental health screening. Conclusions This is the first study in Europe that assesses the suitability and acceptability of mental health screening in pregnant asylum seekers from their perspective. Asylum-seeking women appreciate mental health screening during pregnancy and think the RHS-15 is an acceptable and suitable method. Further research is necessary for health care providers and policy makers to implement mental health screening for pregnant asylum seekers. Key messages The results of this study suggest that asylum-seeking women deem mental health screening during pregnancy nessesairy and find the RHS-15 a suitable and acceptible method of screening. This is the first study in Europe that investigates the opinion of pregnant asylum seekers on mental health screenings.

Can community involvement policies mitigate NIMBYism and local opposition to asylum seeker centres?

Local governments have to take authoritative decisions about the placement of controversial but necessary facilities such as Asylum Seeker Centres (ASCs). Opposition from local residents against such facilities is often considered to be an expression of NIMBYism. This article explores whether a policy of community involvement addressing the underlying reasons for local opposition can mitigate such opposition towards an ASC. It uses a mixed methods approach combining survey data and semi-structured interviews among neighbourhood residents about an ASC in Utrecht. Local opposition is associated with experiences of economic competition and cultural threat. The policy strategy did not moderate these effects. Those who became involved were a selective group of locals who were largely already accepting of the centre and its inhabitants and involvement was often incidental. However, contact between asylum seekers and neighbours developing within and beyond the ASC mediated the effect of cultural threat – confirming Allport’s contact hypothesis.

Threats on well-being in asylum seekers in the Netherlands. A scoping review: An Integrated Personalized Care Approach

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.

Does the Local Presence of Asylum Seekers Affect Attitudes toward Asylum Seekers? Results from a Natural Experiment

AbstractThe influx of refugees to Europe is a topic that dominates the political and media agenda. Furthermore, the installation of asylum-seeker centres (ASCs) has made asylum seekers and refugees highly visible in the everyday life of many European citizens. Drawing on theories of ethnic threat and intergroup contact, we examine how geospatial proximity to ASCs translates into threat or contact in an everyday context and how this affects attitudes toward asylum seekers. By taking advantage of a natural experiment, where the ASCs are assigned to city districts as-if at random, as well as innovating measures of outgroup exposure and geospatial proximity, we find that, although higher numbers of asylum seekers in one’s own neighbourhood are related to an increased perception of their local presence, the actual presence of asylum seekers does not lead to more negative attitudes or a greater threat perception, nor to more frequent contact. It is only when the number of asylum seekers in one’s own direct neighbourhood suddenly increases that attitudes toward asylum seekers deteriorate.

How liminality enhances conviviality through multilingual co-creations: Young refugees in the Netherlands

This article explores the multilingual creativity of young refugees in the Netherlands and the social contexts and situations in which it develops. Because these young refugees form an under-researched group, the authors build on different discipline-based studies on (young migrants’) multilingualism, super-diversity, conviviality, liminality and networks. The authors start with the collection of personal network data including languages used with each network member. These data show that participants use and combine the Dutch language with the majority of non-native people in their networks. To explain this, the network data are connected with participants’ ‘network stories’. In these stories, participants refer to the asylum seeker centres, where they began their lives in the Netherlands, as the breeding ground for their multilingual creations with the Dutch language. The authors show how, in the liminal and super-diverse context of these centres, young refugees’ multilingual practices and innovations enhanced conviviality and connectedness. The authors also delineate how ‘oldcomer’ and ‘newcomer’ participants’ distinct multilingual innovations relate to their different present networks. In both groups, however, these innovations are a source of belonging among the non-natives in their networks.

The Local-National Gap in Intergroup Attitudes and Far-Right Underperformance in Local Elections

The far right typically performs worse in local elections than in national ones. We propose that a key reason for this underperformance is the difference in how intergroup attitudes manifest and are informed in local and national settings. We document the existence of a local-national gap in intergroup attitudes through survey experiments and open-ended survey questions that randomly vary whether study-participants are asked about the national or the local setting. In the first experiment, we find a substantial local-national gap, where the influx of refugees during the refugee crisis was seen as instigating changes in the national setting, but rarely locally. In the second experiment, we investigate the perceived amount and nature of public discussions about refugees and immigration. We again find a substantial local-national gap. Compared to discussions in the local setting, there is a perception of more discussion in the national setting, and the nature of those discussions are perceived as more heated, conflictual, and biased than local discussions. We also find a local-national gap in information sources about refugees and immigration in a final study. In local questions, native citizens are more likely to rely on everyday experiences and social networks. In national questions, they are more likely to rely on media representations. These local-national gaps are seen in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Importantly, we also find the gap among respondents who had an asylum seeker center established in their local community recently. The local-national gaps in intergroup attitudes revealed here can account for patterns in far-right electoral performance that so far have remained puzzling, and they deserve further attention in future research both in political science and social psychology.

Reducing health inequities for asylum seekers with chronic non-communicable diseases: Australian context.

Asylum seekers are susceptible to chronic non-communicable diseases pre- and post-arrival due to poor living conditions, unhealthy lifestyles and restrictive and poor access to health services. Despite their need for constant and continuous health care access due to poor health, they face healthcare services access restrictions dependent on their visa conditions in Australia. Some visas only allow access to hospital services with restrictions on primary health services access such as GPs and free or discounted pharmaceutical products. In comparison, disadvantaged host populations have access to free/discounted pharmaceutical products and unrestricted access to primary and secondary health care. Ten professionals who constantly engage with asylum seekers in three large asylum seeker centres in Melbourne were interviewed either face-to-face or over the phone. The interviews were essential to understand how health inequities may be addressed for asylum seekers. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a thematic analysis framework. Their recommendations, based mainly on their experience and evaluation of programs, were: (1) cultural competence training; (2) use of interpreters; (3) free access to health services and medications; (4) use of English learning to promote health literacy and community integration; (5) robust chronic non-communicable diseases screening; and (6) health promotion and accessible food programs.

The “Brick and Mortar” of Mobilization?

This article seeks to explain the emergence of a local protest movement against an asylum seeker center (“asielzoekerscentrum” or AZC in Dutch) in the Beverwaard neighborhood in the city of Rotterdam (NL). Based on the contradictory evidence found on the connection between material conditions and anti-immigration mobilization, this article seeks to expand the literature by viewing materiality through the lens of storytelling. Through a qualitative analysis of twenty-eight interviews with inhabitants, local politicians, civil servants, and social workers in 2017, this article illustrates how storytelling about territorial stigmatization and material deprivation played a role in mobilizing inhabitants against the establishment of an AZC in their area two years prior, in 2015. Overall, this article argues that it is not materiality per se but inhabitants’ reading of materiality through practices of storytelling that informed collective mobilization against the arrival of an AZC in a relatively deprived urban community.

New neighbours or a security threat? The role of local stories in anti-asylum seeker centre mobilization in the Netherlands

This article addresses the underexplored role of local storytelling in informing mobilization against asylum seeker centres in the Netherlands. In doing so, it summarizes the preliminary results of an in-depth qualitative study of an anti-asylum seeker centre protest movement in the neighbourhood Beverwaard in the city of Rotterdam. Based on 28 interviews with different stakeholders (citizens, local politicians, civil servants and social workers), a story-based thematic qualitative analysis inductively identified three important storylines (identity, voice and materiality) that played a key role in mobilization against the AZC in the local space. This article will discuss two concrete examples of how stories about voice and identity informed mobilization against a local asylum seeker centre based on grievances, as well as political opportunity structures. As such, this article expands currently dominant perspectives on anti-immigration mobilization that largely focus on broader macro factors such as radical right party politics and socio-economic deprivation by drawing attention to the ways in which bottom-up storytelling practices inform processes of anti-asylum seeker centre mobilization.

Latent tuberculosis screening and treatment among asylum seekers: a mixed-methods study.

Evidence on conditions for implementation of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) screening and treatment among asylum seekers is needed to inform tuberculosis (TB) control policies. We used mixed-methods to evaluate the implementation of an LTBI screening and treatment programme among asylum seekers in the Netherlands. We offered voluntary LTBI screening to asylum seekers aged ≥12 years living in asylum seeker centres from countries with a TB incidence >200 per 10 000 population. We calculated LTBI screening and treatment cascade coverage, and assessed associated factors with Poisson regression using robust variance estimators. We interviewed TB care staff (seven group interviews) and Eritrean clients (21 group and 21 individual interviews) to identify programme enhancers and barriers. We screened 719 (63% of 1136) clients for LTBI. LTBI was diagnosed among 178 (25%) clients; 149 (84%) initiated LTBI treatment, of whom 129 (87%) completed treatment. In-person TB and LTBI education, the use of professional interpreters, and collaboration with partner organisations were enhancers for LTBI screening uptake. Demand-driven LTBI treatment support by TB nurses enhanced treatment completion. Factors complicating LTBI screening and treatment were having to travel to public health services, language barriers and moving from asylum seeker centres to the community during treatment. LTBI screening and treatment of asylum seekers is feasible and effective when high quality of care is provided, including culture-sensitive TB education throughout the care cascade. Additionally, collaboration with partner organisations, such as agencies responsible for reception and support of asylum seekers, should be in place.

Are attitudes determined by location? Differences in perceptions of asylum seekers between residents of two Zagreb neighbourhoods

Based on two theoretical approaches—contact theory and threat perception theory—in combination with meaningful encounter and media perspective and using the example of two neighbourhoods in Zagreb, this paper aims to explore several issues related to asylum seekers: (1) the definition and perceptions of asylum seekers expressed by locals; (2) attitudes towards asylum seekers in relation to vicinity to an asylum seeker centre and contact with asylum seekers on the neighbourhood level; and (3) the relationship between attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics of respondents. The survey was conducted in the period of November 2015 to January 2016, using a systematic random sample (N = 299) in two selected neighbourhoods of the City of Zagreb: Dugave and Trnje. Each neighbourhood represents a specific surrounding in relation to the proximity of asylum seekers. In terms of location and contact with the asylum seekers, significant differences were found in all obtained latent dimensions of attitudes towards asylum seekers and attitudes based on locational attributes regarding asylum seeker reception: Dugave residents (located closer to the reception and accommodation centre) expressed, in general, more negative attitudes towards asylum seekers and their reception in Croatia than their counterparts in Trnje. The specific timeframe (the 2015–2016 sequence usually referred to as “European Migration Crisis”) and the spatial context chosen for conducting the survey allows for spatialised and comparative findings. The discussion further develops the perceptive role played by media in a context of highly-mediatised migration, and the nature of contact in shaping more positive or negative attitudes towards refugees and migrants.

Occurrence of intestinal parasites among asylum seekers in Italy: A cross-sectional study.

In recent years Europe has experienced a dramatic increase in migration flows. Nevertheless, limited data is available about the occurrence of neglected parasitic diseases among migrant population. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of intestinal and urinary parasites in newly arrived asylum seekers. A total of 364 newly arrived migrants hosted at the Asylum Seekers Centre of Castelnuovo di Porto (Italy) were screened during 8 months period for intestinal and urinary parasites. Each enrolled subject was interviewed using a standardized questionnaire, with focus on socio-demographical data and risk factors of parasitic infections. Stool analysis showed a prevalence of intestinal parasites of 20.6%. The travel route did not affect the prevalence of intestinal parasites (p = 0.096), while a significant negative correlation was found between the length of travel and the prevalence of parasite infection (p = 0.019). No statistically significant correlation between gastrointestinal symptoms and the presence of intestinal parasites was detected. The prevalence of intestinal parasitosis reported in asylum seekers does not necessarily reflect the prevalence of the parasitosis in the motherland. An anamnestic and syndromic approach may not be sufficient to highlight the problem of intestinal parasitic infestations in a screening setting.

An acute febrile outbreak in a refugee community of an Italian asylum seeker center: lessons learned.

ObjectivesThe management of infectious outbreaks in closed settings represents an important public health issue. An outbreak of acute febrile syndrome affecting 22 refugees resident at the Asylum Seekers Centre of Castelnuovo di Porto in Rome has been reported, and the preventive and control measures adopted have been described as an example of public health safety.MethodsPharyngeal swab and whole-blood samples were collected from 22 cases observed and analyzed for standard bacterial cultures and respiratory and herpesviruses by qualitative CLART PneumoVir2 and Entherpex microarray.ResultsA possible respiratory-transmitted etiology and a concomitant reactivation of multiple herpesviruses have been evidenced. The epidemiological investigation showed that the spread of the epidemic was promoted because patients were hosted in neighboring rooms or in the same room, facilitating the rapid spread of infectious disease.ConclusionsThe potential way of transmission was supposed, and preventive measures for infection control were adopted. The measures adopted are an example of best practice for outbreak management, and the microbiological surveillance is recommended for public health improvement.

T133. MENTAL HEALTH OF ASYLUM SEEKERS AT THE HUMANITARIAN CAMP IN PARIS

BackgroundAsylum seeker status is associated to higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders due to not only pre-migration events but also to the trajectory of migration and post- migration adversities. Mental problems and need of care may vary according to these different stages. In France, after the cleaning of the “Calais jungle” in October 2016, most asylum seekers moved to Paris, where they live as homeless. An asylum seeker center (CPA- Centre Premier accueil) was then created a few weeks later, to allow rapid access to asylum seeker procedure, shelter, and medical care (including mental health).MethodsWe will analyze 1- year data (socio-demographic characteristics, migration history, psychiatric symptoms, hospital admissions and medical prescriptions) of about 1000 recently arrived asylum seekers who consulted for psychiatric examination in the refugee camp (CPA). Prevalence and bivariate analyses will be done. Factors associated with mental health problems will be identified using multivariate analyses.ResultsFindings will be discussed in the light of the French/European immigration policy and the organization of the public mental health system.DiscussionThe results of our study will contribute to the identification of mental health problems and correlates at the arrival of asylum seekers in France, in the aim to develop adequate service planning, prevention and support.

Developing a culturally sensitive mental health intervention for asylum seekers in the Netherlands: A pilot study

Introduction: This pilot study investigated asylum seekers’ needs and expectations in the mental health field to develop a culturally sensitive psychosocial intervention. Method: Participants were residents of a certain asylum-seekers centre in the Netherlands, with most of them from the Middle East crisis. Needs and expectations were identified using therapy expectations questionnaire (11 participants) and two focus groups (17 participants). Results: Participants associated mental health problems with post-migration stressors more often than with past traumatic experiences. Often, health problems were silenced due to shame, guilt, anxiety and the fear of negative stigma. Individuals and communities were limited in their ability to provide support for those suffering from psychosocial distress due to heavy stigma and the burden of multiple stressors. Conclusion: We underscore the importance of considering the local knowledge of mental health in developing emergency interventions and emphasise the need to reach beyond the trauma-focused approach to strengthen capacities within the community. Key implications for practice Developing a culturally sensitive mental health intervention for asylum seekers requires local knowledge of mental health issues Mental health interventions in emergencies should reach beyond the individualistic trauma-focused approach to address the whole context of forced displacement Because armed conflict often leads to a disruption of the social ecology of a community, mental health interventions should build on existing local support and services and strengthen capacities within the community.