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

persecution they fled. As in their homeland, their fate hangs in the balanceof forces they do not understand or control. Commented one detainee:I came to this country to save my life, and when I see myself in this condition,it makes me worried too much that I stay in prison.One asylum seeker from Eastern Europe, who was brutally beaten theresaid, “My hands shake when I think of what happened to me.” Seeing theguards in the INS detention center, he says, brings back these disturbingmemories. “When some guard[s are] on duty—they remind me of the militiain my town—always yelling at you. I go to my bunk and try to avoid them.”A survivor of sexual abuse expressed dismay and confusion over herdetention.After surviving torture and rape, I feel like I need time to relax andrecover. It was a terrible surprise and disappointment to be put inprison. My feelings of tension have gotten much more serious. Instead ofbeing consoled for what happened I feel I’m being resented. And it’svery bad.She went on to elaborate certain post-traumatic stress symptoms, andtheir connection to her confinement.I have great fear, I feel like I’m reliving it at times. When I think aboutwhat happened to me-I feel the pain in my body again-like it’s happeningto me… I feel like if I could have contact with family and friendsthey could console or comfort me. But to experience what I experiencedbefore arriving to this country and then being put in prison, that addedto my suffering.Several detainees noted that being yelled at by guards often provokedmemories of prior abuse. One man, who was imprisoned for a year in hiscountry of origin due to his political affiliations, was subjected to beatings,and severe burning. He spent nearly 5 years in US detention centers andprisons before being paroled to Canada, where he was granted asylum.When I see the guards and the way they are yelling at us, it makes meremember how I was tortured in my country.One detainee who reported being tortured in captivity in his country oforigin described how being detained again was increasing his prior symptoms.“I can’t tolerate a closed space, it makes me very nervous.”Although he had begun to experience insomnia before fleeing his countryhe noted that, in detention, “Every day I feel like it’s getting worse… Ialmost feel afraid to fall asleep.”A woman, who said she was imprisoned and tortured in her country oforigin, has an overriding sensation that connects her more than two yearsin INS detention with her prior persecution. She said her trauma symptomsbegan “in my country, but I feel more panicked here.” She went on,MENTAL HEALTH OF DETAINED ASYLUM SEEKERS 69