symptoms of depression and anxiety; 30 % of
them show symptoms corresponding to
PTSD. 15
attempts. 9 In Denmark, public authorities
referred eight asylum applicants to specific
torture screenings in 2016. 10 Of the 1,500
asylum seekers examined during 2016 by the
Crisis and Trauma Unit in the Region of Västra
Götaland in Sweden, about half indicated that
their human rights were violated in ways that
could amount to torture, degrading or
inhuman treatment.11
Other data cover only a specific timeframe. In
eastern Germany, between March 2014 and
October 2015, PTSD was diagnosed in 35.42 %
of the persons supported by the specialised
centres in four federal states and depression
was diagnosed in 27.08 % of cases. 16 In
Bulgaria, between April and September 2016,
the Nadja Centre provided consultations to
250-300 persons, out of whom 20-30 were
diagnosed with PTSD. 17 The Austrian Network
for Intercultural Psychotherapy and Extreme
Traumatisation (Netzwerk für Psychotherapie
und Extremtraumatisierung, NIPE) reports
that its 10 member organisations treated
2,550 asylum seekers between July 2015 and
July 2016.
According to a Swedish Red Cross study from
2016, 12 the prevalence of torture among
samples of forced migrants varied from 1 %
to 76 % and was heavily dependent on the
background of the group sampled, the
context in the country of origin and the
instrument used to detect torture in the
country of asylum.
Exploring
the
identification
rehabilitation of torture victims
and
Some collected information covers only a
specific region. In Italy, for example, between
October 2014 and December 2015, the NGO
‘Doctors without Borders Italy’ carried out
interviews in special reception centres (Centri
di Accoglienza Straordinaria, CAS) in the area
of Ragusa (Sicily), as well as in Rome, Milan
and Trapani (Sicily). According to their report,
out of the 387 interviewees, 189 persons
(48.8 %) were victims of traumatic
experiences before their journey to Italy and
319 (82.4 %) during the journey. Of the
387 patients interviewed, 27 % showed
symptoms corresponding to anxiety and
PTSD, and 19 % showed symptoms of
depression. The most frequent traumatic
experiences before the journey included
witnessing the kidnapping or detention of a
family member (28 %), conflicts between
families (31 %) and fear for their own lives
(7 %). The most frequent traumatic
experiences registered during the journey
included: detention (35 %), armed conflict
(12 %), forced labour and exploitation (5 %),
torture (9 %), sexual violence (4 %), and a
constant feeling of their own lives being at
risk (10 %). 18
In August 2016, FRA’s monthly migration
report focused on migrants with disabilities.
The report includes a section on victims of
torture. It explores the situation concerning
the identification and rehabilitation of torture
victims in seven EU Member States.
Data on traumatised persons
As with victims of torture, the EU Member
States covered do not collect statistics on
how many asylum seekers or migrants are
severely traumatised or suffer from
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Existing
data mainly originate from civil society
organisations and their collection is not
systematic.
Where data exist, they may be linked to
specific projects or research. In Slovakia, for
example, within the framework of a specific
project – the STEP 3 project – NGOs identified
six persons with psychiatric disorders and one
with PTSD between 1 December 2016 and 30
January 2017. 13 In Germany, research carried
out by the Technische Universität München in
2015 concluded that more than one third of
Syrian refugee children in a Bavarian
reception centre suffered from psychological
disorders. 14 In Sweden, one in three newly
resettled Syrian refugees displays clear
4