From Persecution to Prison - Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of ...

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ut that’s not what it’s like. Six months I’m here. I’m worried about mymental health… I cannot cry in here. My feelings are dead… I’m a victimand put in prison, and I cannot accept this.The uncertainty about the length of detention was a significant stressorfor many. After 6 months in detention, one subject said:The main problem is that we don’t know what is going to happen. Atleast with a prison sentence you know you are lessening your time. Buthere, even after three years they may still send you back… In my countryI was in prison for 5 days and there were beatings, but then theyrelease you after five days. But you get here to a democratic country, andit goes on and on with no release. It’s another kind of torture – mentaltorture. I write my mother to prepare my grave next to my grandfather…No one knows we’re here.One detainee was tearful:Because of being detained, not knowing when I will be allowed to getout, or whether I will get out... If I were not in detention, these stresseswould be decreased because I would be free and I would be able tooccupy myself…I never expected this was what was going to happen tome. I thought I was going to a place where things would get better, butlife is even more difficult [now] because I am here. I am not free. I feelpowerless and I don’t know what is going to happen to me.Another female detainee blamed much of her mental distress ondetention.I was very sad when I left my country because of what happened to me.I was forced to leave, but then here I feel sad because I am treated like acriminal. Yes, I used someone’s passport, but if I wasn’t having problems,I don’t need to come to this country…In my country they touchedmy body. Here they don’t touch my body, but they touch my brain.Criminalization of Asylum SeekersAsylum seekers considered their detention tantamount to treating themlike criminals. They consistently cited this criminalization as deepeningtheir sense of confinement and hopelessness, and as a factor in their poormental health.For many individuals this was the first time they had been incarcerated.Noted one detainee:It’s a terrible experience. I never was in prison before. I never thought Iwould be in a prison. The officers speak to me like I’m a prisoner.MENTAL HEALTH OF DETAINED ASYLUM SEEKERS 67
After being granted asylum and released following 6 months in detention,one African woman said,I will always remember being detained and handcuffed. It was a prison– I had never been in prison. I will never forget that.Said another detainee:When I came here, I thought I would be free. I could study and start toforget about what happened to me. That is why I ran away from mycountry and came to the US to begin a new life. But here I am in prison.If I wasn’t in detention, I would feel much better. Detention is thebiggest problem for me. I have never been in prison in my whole life.This is the first time.An asylum seeker detained at a county prison described how INSdetainees receive the same treatment there as the criminal inmates.You cannot complain. If you complain about anything you can be put inthe hole [solitary confinement]. They mix us with criminals. I think asylumseekers should be kept separate. The officers say, ‘INS put you inprison. Anyone in prison is a criminal.’ So they treat us like criminals.An asylum seeker detained in a county jail explained the impact ofbeing treated as a criminal this way:You are caught here and under people’s mercy. You feel extremely worthless.You can do nothing [to improve your situation]. You are not a criminal,and being shackled to go anywhere makes you regret yourself.Another asylum seeker in county prison commented:I never imagined myself incarcerated like this. I’m here with criminals. Ican’t sleep. I don’t know what my future is.Said one detainee:I had high hopes when I came here but my first experience at the airportwas to be handcuffed, made to wear prisoner’s uniform and I becameshocked; I thought I would be returned to my country, and so since thattime, my health has worsened. I have a lot of time to think about mypast and my family.Reported another detainee:You lose hope in detention. You are treated like a criminal. You’re constantlyescorted, there are cameras. There’s no freedom.RetraumatizationHaving fled their homelands for their lives, detained asylum seekers findthemselves locked up in a foreign system that can be reminiscent of the68 FROM PERSECUTION TO PRISON
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From Persecution to Prison:The Heal
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CONTENTSAcknowledgements . . . . .
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The Bellevue/NYU Program for Surviv
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don, Miranda Ip, and Meriam Alrashi
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Significant symptoms of depression
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Detained asylum seekers participati
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persecution, yet most emphasized ho
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In many facilities, the response to
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years in detention, she finally got
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abuse For example, while being take
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They didn’t let me use the phone
Page 25 and 26: intensely personal events they had
Page 27 and 28: Limitations of this study include t
Page 29 and 30: Non-governmental organizations serv
Page 31 and 32: 22 FROM PERSECUTION TO PRISON
Page 33 and 34: the late 1990s ranging from 10 to 7
Page 35 and 36: Historical BackgroundFor most of th
Page 37 and 38: international standards with the 19
Page 39 and 40: apply for asylum make up the majori
Page 41 and 42: tion judge. 57 Yet in many parts of
Page 43 and 44: York and Newark, New Jersey has had
Page 45 and 46: trict began denying parole to them
Page 47 and 48: Correctional Facility in 2000. “[
Page 49 and 50: men of which 750 were detained on i
Page 51 and 52: from that same country from seeking
Page 53 and 54: Detention Facilities in this StudyF
Page 55 and 56: high reliability in numerous langua
Page 59 and 60: York County Prison in York Pennsylv
Page 61 and 62: TABLE 2:Demographic Characteristics
Page 63 and 64: TABLE 4:Prevalence of Pre-Migration
Page 65 and 66: on a part time basis, researchers w
Page 67 and 68: Case #1(DK): “Loneliness and Fear
Page 69 and 70: TABLE 6:Hopkins Symptom Checklist-2
Page 71 and 72: TABLE 8:Harvard Trauma Questionnair
Page 73 and 74: think such services were available.
Page 75: When I am talking to you now it is
Page 79 and 80: “Being here is like going through
Page 81 and 82: In my country even though I became
Page 83 and 84: how long they were there - six mont
Page 85 and 86: Thoughts of SuicideSeveral asylum s
Page 87 and 88: here?’ I told the doctor, they br
Page 89 and 90: Another subject reported a positive
Page 91 and 92: substantial distance from their att
Page 93 and 94: eported that her experience in dete
Page 97 and 98: e somatic manifestations of the psy
Page 99 and 100: Case #2 (JG): “Health Care in Cha
Page 101 and 102: TABLE 11:Detainee Perceptions of He
Page 103 and 104: TABLE 13:Availability and Quality o
Page 105 and 106: detainees, or because they did not
Page 107 and 108: Difficulty Obtaining Specialized Ca
Page 109 and 110: Another detained asylum seeker repo
Page 111 and 112: One detainee who speaks French and
Page 115 and 116: Detention Facilities in this StudyS
Page 117 and 118: even though many reported having ex
Page 119 and 120: CASE #3 (HN): “SOLITARY CONFINEME
Page 121 and 122: Here, I’m scared. In [the detenti
Page 123 and 124: emote control and watch what he wan
Page 125 and 126: Whenever someone misbehaves, they t
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This subject was himself threatened
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One detainee reported several incid
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Some Process Exists to Respond to R
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There were no witnesses other than
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tion. An INS officer said they put
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There is an Anglican minister who c
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The dentists didn’t explain anyth
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tion between dental age and chronol
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Case #4 (LK): “Fifteen-Year-Old G
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136 FROM PERSECUTION TO PRISON
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TABLE 16:Treatment/Abuses Reported
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“There is no political asylum her
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I was crying. I was so afraid with
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save her life, but was not able to
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Case #5 (CR): “Begging for Mercy
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ehind and told me to sign. He physi
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days and it is now 2 years and four
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viewers asked for additional inform
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y study participants. In evaluating
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trast, under US law, detention of s
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nation for an asylum determination
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very negative effects of detention
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authority to grant asylum and with
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absconding.” 250 Since the passag
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said “[F]reedom from imprisonment
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Standards relevant to this study ar
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“detained person” generally as
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which they are charged and a fair h
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esponse to substantial public press
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specified procedures, provided they
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PunishmentThe Detention Standard on
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any time the detainee complains.”
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while in detention, thus adding to
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Establish a Uniform National Parole
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that effect. These officers should
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Besides their inaccuracy, these exa
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friends so asylum seekers can maint
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appropriate staffing of such groups
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efugees and asylum seekers who win
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of thorough documentation. However,
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Human development is complex and di
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18. Country from which fleeing pers
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9. Being close to death.10. Forced
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Complete for each health problem:5.
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Explain:(Interviewer: Write brief n
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2. Depression SymptomsA How much we
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B. You said that you have experienc
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Explain:13. How was your physical h
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Yes ...........1No............22. W
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Explain:20. At the time of your arr
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