Understanding Refugee Trauma
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Refugee Crisis: Safer for Us, Better for Them
Many Syrian and Afghani refugees are stranded between settlement in the west and returning home to war and persecution. The experiences of refugee girls and women in particular, are especially horrific: 44% minor Syrian girls are married off to older men for their pleasure; 20% of female refugees endure sexual violence of all kinds, at different stages of their journey; and, live in penury, excluded from the labor market. Forced migration makes gender an even greater liability for female refugees.
I recently conducted a fact-finding trip to Germany to interview many of these refugees to learn more about the psychological effects of their trauma.
I ask for your help in funding the third phase of this important work to interview more refugees; findings will be published in a research or book. Better understanding the refugee crisis can make the situation safer for us and better for them.
My name is Dr. Shaifali Sandhya and I'm from the US. Through my work, I learned that the lasting effects of trauma can be better predictors of a refugee’s success or failure than country of origin or religion.
What does that mean to us?
Most governments are focused only on the religion of potential immigrants. But the alienation, distress, and depression survivors carry with them can manifest itself in many ways. We need to learn more about the situation so our communities and policy makers can address the situation better.
I funded the first phase of my study by myself. Some of the results were published in a recent article in U.S. News and World Report. I ask you to read it and learn more about the horrible ordeals these men, women, and children experienced.
Here is one young man’s story:
Everyone in Arbaz's family is dead.
One brother disappeared more than two decades ago and another died after losing a leg in a bombing and an arm to the Taliban, who sawed it off at the shoulder.
Arbaz's hosts have generously provided for his material needs and attended to his physical injuries, but after 11 months as a refugee in Germany, this is the first time the 23-year-old Afghani opened up about the trauma he experienced in his home and during his journey.
"Nobody knows my heart is crying," he told Dr. Shaifali Sandhya at a Red Cross refugee center in Berlin.
"When I would tell people at home, they'd treat it as an ordinary thing."
Please read more at:
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-02-15/in-germany-refugees-face-challenges-beyond-relocation
I appreciate your support to enable and further this important work. The funds will be used to support:
• Travel to refugee camps in Germany, Turkey, and Greece.
• Translators and other logistical support for foreign interviews.
• Interviews among refugees and immigrants resettled in the U.S.
• Transcription of interviews.
• Video editing.
• Quantitative analysis by psychology professionals.
• Qualitative analysis by psychology professionals.
In addition to conducting interviews, I will personally analyze the data and present a report on my findings to government officials, immigrant community leaders, and the press.
More than 100,000 children are in limbo. Millions of men and women are without homes.
Please help me gain a better understanding of how we can go from being an “us and them” to just being an “us”.
Thank you for your generosity.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-02-15/in-germany-refugees-face-challenges-beyond-relocation
Many Syrian and Afghani refugees are stranded between settlement in the west and returning home to war and persecution. The experiences of refugee girls and women in particular, are especially horrific: 44% minor Syrian girls are married off to older men for their pleasure; 20% of female refugees endure sexual violence of all kinds, at different stages of their journey; and, live in penury, excluded from the labor market. Forced migration makes gender an even greater liability for female refugees.
I recently conducted a fact-finding trip to Germany to interview many of these refugees to learn more about the psychological effects of their trauma.
I ask for your help in funding the third phase of this important work to interview more refugees; findings will be published in a research or book. Better understanding the refugee crisis can make the situation safer for us and better for them.
My name is Dr. Shaifali Sandhya and I'm from the US. Through my work, I learned that the lasting effects of trauma can be better predictors of a refugee’s success or failure than country of origin or religion.
What does that mean to us?
Most governments are focused only on the religion of potential immigrants. But the alienation, distress, and depression survivors carry with them can manifest itself in many ways. We need to learn more about the situation so our communities and policy makers can address the situation better.
I funded the first phase of my study by myself. Some of the results were published in a recent article in U.S. News and World Report. I ask you to read it and learn more about the horrible ordeals these men, women, and children experienced.
Here is one young man’s story:
Everyone in Arbaz's family is dead.
One brother disappeared more than two decades ago and another died after losing a leg in a bombing and an arm to the Taliban, who sawed it off at the shoulder.
Arbaz's hosts have generously provided for his material needs and attended to his physical injuries, but after 11 months as a refugee in Germany, this is the first time the 23-year-old Afghani opened up about the trauma he experienced in his home and during his journey.
"Nobody knows my heart is crying," he told Dr. Shaifali Sandhya at a Red Cross refugee center in Berlin.
"When I would tell people at home, they'd treat it as an ordinary thing."
Please read more at:
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-02-15/in-germany-refugees-face-challenges-beyond-relocation
I appreciate your support to enable and further this important work. The funds will be used to support:
• Travel to refugee camps in Germany, Turkey, and Greece.
• Translators and other logistical support for foreign interviews.
• Interviews among refugees and immigrants resettled in the U.S.
• Transcription of interviews.
• Video editing.
• Quantitative analysis by psychology professionals.
• Qualitative analysis by psychology professionals.
In addition to conducting interviews, I will personally analyze the data and present a report on my findings to government officials, immigrant community leaders, and the press.
More than 100,000 children are in limbo. Millions of men and women are without homes.
Please help me gain a better understanding of how we can go from being an “us and them” to just being an “us”.
Thank you for your generosity.
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-02-15/in-germany-refugees-face-challenges-beyond-relocation
Organizer
Shaifali Sandhya
Organizer
Chicago, IL
