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

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In the bad dream I fear if I go home to my country I will be killed.Sometimes in my dreams I see the people from my country come here tokill me. I dream that too much… the government people, the police –they have guns. I wake up and just sit up in my bed and can’t fall asleep.This happens 2-3 times a week since I come here this never stopped andin fact has gotten worse… I know I might still have the problems [if Iwere released] but they would be much better. This place is like a prison– makes them worse.Said another detainee:In my dreams I feel like someone is hitting me. Last time I dream I ambeing brainwashed… I feel I don’t have a future because of my situationhere. This is the same ordeal I had in my country. The only difference isthe beating.One asylum seeker reported that while in detention she experienced significantfeelings of nervousness and sadness, which had started before shearrived in this country, but had markedly worsened. She reported frequentlyexperiencing nightmares in which soldiers are coming after her.In the night I wake up really shaking and my heart is pounding. SometimesI don’t sleep. Sometimes when the door opens I jump. I feel likethe soldiers are coming at me.…If I wasn’t in detention, I could go for awalk, but here you are shut in with nowhere to go.Certain incidents in detention brought back disturbing memories forsome detainees. For example, a struggle with officers left a detainee in aprison infirmary for several days.After I left the medical unit, I had nightmares that the INS prison guardswere questioning me about having to go back to my country and theygrabbed my throat again two or three times. I woke up sweating. I startedpraying, ‘Free me, God.’ I dreamt about [my country] last year, but morerecently I’ve had nightmares about my treatment in INS detention.Difficulty of ConfinementMany detained asylum seekers cited their confinement and the associatedisolation and powerlessness as contributing to their poor mental health.After finally winning asylum and being released, one detainee stated,Since I had been locked up, the stresses were too much, with no freedomto see people and share your feelings. In INS [detention] you are lockedup for 22 hours. No chance to get away from the stress.Many detainees bemoaned not being able to escape their thoughts as aresult of this confinement.MENTAL HEALTH OF DETAINED ASYLUM SEEKERS 71
In my country even though I became nervous, it wouldn’t show, I couldhandle it. Because in my country, when I got nervous, I could take awalk, go somewhere else or breathe different air. But here it is the sameroutine day and night. 22 hours a day I’m in bed just lying in [my] bunk.In his detention facility, an enclosed roof area was the only recreationalfacility.They have ‘outdoor’ for 1 hour but it is very small… to call it outdoor ismisleading, it’s a covered roof, with a little opening… Even in my countrywhen I was in prison there was at least time when I could go outside.Boredom also weighed heavily on asylum seekers. One asylum seekerwho was imprisoned in his country for protesting human rights abusesthere, and subsequently repeatedly beaten and tortured, said:The days are long, there is all this time and nothing to do but think,think, think. And so I think a lot about what happened to me in mycountry. It upsets me a lot.A woman from Africa who was granted asylum remembered her confinement:In detention there were not enough activities. The #1 activity was thinkingand being sad. Outside, I think a lot but I am free now.This asylee said one of the most important changes for her since releasewas “to breathe fresh air again.”Another African woman described her slowly passing days: “Samething day and night, no relief, I feel like a dead person here, no relief.”One subject noted that since being in detention he had reversed his circadianrhythm entirely. He stated that he had to force himself to sleep duringthe day “because it’s crazy loud [in the detention center]. Now I’m inthe habit of sleeping all day, from 1 p.m. – 12 a.m. I’m up all night, but it’squiet.” The subject now sleeps more than twelve hours at a time.Another detainee put it simply:We need fresh light, a view of sky, why are we treated like criminals withguards everywhere?One detainee discussed the growing intensity of his anxiety, andexplained how detention has exacerbated his anxious thoughts.I see my father when he was killed; he was killed in front of me… I’mthinking a lot about my family and not knowing where they are… Ithink a lot about what happened to me. If I were not in detention, Icould be doing normal activities. And I wouldn’t think so much aboutwhat happened. I’m not saying these things would be eliminated ever,but I would feel much better because I am a free person… I’ve neverbeen in jail before so I’m quite scared.72 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
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intensely personal events they had
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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 and 76: When I am talking to you now it is
Page 77 and 78: After being granted asylum and rele
Page 79: “Being here is like going through
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
Page 127 and 128: This subject was himself threatened
Page 129 and 130: 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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