Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
KU AMIS, 21 February 2019 DRC and integration of refugees in Denmark
Mads Ted Drud-Jensen Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees, DRC Integration Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Presentation
. Danish Refugee Council, and DRC Integration . Displacement – internationally and in Denmark . Integration of refugees in Denmark . The issue of intersectionality . Trauma . Women . LGBT Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Dansk Flygtningehjælp DANISH REFUGEE COUNCIL Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Danish Refugee Council . Established in 1956 to support refugees from Hungary. Today, the largest Danish NGO with programs in 36 countries worldwide. . In Denmark, we cooperate with government, municipalities, and public institutions for provision of integration services. We carry out advocacy. We provide counselling for asylum seekers. . Vision: A dignified life for all displaced. Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Integration Department – 500 employees + 8,500 volunteers Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
DRC’s Integration Circle
. A dignified life as a vision for integration activities: Support and enable refugees and migrants to be part of a community and to enjoy equal rights and opportunities in Denmark.
. Language proficiency, employment, participation in civil society, and an inclusive society are pivotal for the quality of life, empowerment and future possibilities of refugees and migrants.
. Meeting the individual with a focus on resources. Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Internationally and in Denmark DISPLACEMENT Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
. 5.6 million refugees in region The long way to Europe . 3.6 million in Turkey . 1 million in Lebanon . 670,000 in Jordan 1,000,000The Syrian way to Europe . 200,000+ more refugees in asylum appl. in region than 1 year ago Europe (2011-17) . 7 mio. IDPs in Syria . Many more in need of aid in Syria . Lack of funding
Turkey 3.6 mio.
Iraq Lebanon 250,000 1 mio.
Jordan 670,000 Egypt 130,000 Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Homs (The Guardian 2014) Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
All refugees are shocked
. Extreme conditions . Brutal events . Losses . Fundamental changes . Cultural differences . Minority . Client Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
We Refugees
“We lost our home, which means the familiarity of daily life. We lost our occupation, which means the confidence that we are of some use in this world. We lost our language, which means the naturalness of reactions, the simplicity of gestures, the unaffected expression of feelings. We left our relatives in the Polish ghettos and our best friends have been killed in concentration camps, and that means the rupture of our private lives.” Hannah Arendt, 1943 Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge) Denmark: facts and figures Number of asylum applicants and residence permits 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Asylum 3,806 6,148 7,557 14,792 21,316 6,266 3,479 3,523 applicants UAM: 2.144 UAM: 1,184 Residence 2,249 2,583 3,889 6,104 10,849 7,494 2,749 1,652 permits
Nationality of asylum applicants Country 2015 2016 2017 1 Syria 8,608 1,253 864 Before 2015: Also 2 Iran 2,787 300 148 many from Somalia 3 Afghanistan 2,331 1,127 188 In 2018: Eritrea and 4 Eritrea 1,740 274 355 Syria 5 Stateless 1,734 491 138 6 Iraq 1,537 452 145 Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
INTEGRATION OF REFUGEES IN DENMARK Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Refugees and the Aliens Act
. Convention status: Risk persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion
. Protection status: Risk of death penalty, torture, inhumane and degrading treatment
. Temporary protection status: Cannot return due to war or conflict. - no right to family reunification within the first 3 years. Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge) Permanent residence is far away
Citizenship Can be applied for Permanent residence after 8 years Temporary residence permit can be applied for permit – everyone! after 8 years Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
The Danish Integration Act
Quota system dispersing refugees to (almost) all municipalities 5 year integration program (max.) for refugees Responsibility of municipalities – individual integration plans Aim: employment and economic self-sufficiency
Entitlements: . Free Danish language tuition (up to five years) . Integration benefit (low) . Affordable housing – temporary . Health care, mental and social care (trauma rehabilitation etc.) Obligations – 37 hours per week: . Attend language training and pass test . Actively participate in employment promoting schemes Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
New legislation – probably adopted today
. Increased focus on cessation and return . From ”integration” to ”self-support and repatriation” (regarding benefit and programme) . Only temporary housing . Lower benefit for parents after 36 months of residence (when obtained the right to 50% child-support) . The island (from 2021)
. Basic rights and obligations remain the same Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Facts and figures: employment
Refugees in employment after 3 years:
Source: Det Nationale Integrationsbarometer, Ministry for Immigration and Integration Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Various vulnerabilities – e.g. trauma, gender, lgbt INTERSECTIONALITY Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Refugees: diverse group, individuals . Diversity . Complexity . Intersections
. Various countries of origin . Multi-facetted backgrounds and identities Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Vulnerable groups – policy-perspective
. (Unaccompanied) Minors . Disabled . Elderly . Seriously ill . Mentally ill (and traumatized) . Pregnant and single parents . Victims of torture, rape and violence . Victims of trafficking . LGBT-persons . Women and girls
EU Directives, UN Conventions, ECtHR… Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Reception and integration – holistic approach
Trauma
Exile-related Socio-economic stress stress Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Why focus on refugees with trauma?
. 30-45% of refugees have trauma-related symptoms (DK-estimate) . 13-25% of refugees in high-income countries have PTSD . Employment rate in Denmark for refugees being treated for PTSD is below 10% . Refugees receiving treatment for PTSD (in DK) have, on average, lived in Denmark for 14½ years . Measures to identify trauma are in need of improvement Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Symptoms of trauma and PTSD Invasive thoughts, feelings and images . Flashbacks . Inner images . Nightmares Avoidance behaviour . Overly focus on job/studies . Isolation . Avoiding intimacy and social contact . Avoiding sensory input and situations resembling traumatic experience Constant state of alert . Increased arousal . Violent reactions to small changes . Difficulty finding peace and concentrating Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Detecting trauma
Protect Questionnaire
. Developed by seven European organisations
. For professionals and volunteers working with asylum applicants and refugees Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
How to engage with vulnerable refugees?
. Traumas imply internal chaos – activities should contribute to external structure . Sense of security, structure, routines, personal boundaries, communication
. Meet refugees as individuals, not as diagnoses . Avoid stigmatization, reactions to trauma vary significantly, refugees with trauma have resources too, accommodate to individual needs, boost (self)confidence Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Engaging with self-awareness
. Keep focus on your job/function
Over- . Distancing Avoid counter-transference identification Balanced Emotional Overly absence protective empathetic Low Low approach engagement expectations Trivialization Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Activities, education, employment…
Language education, going to school, to work – if possible – is important and beneficial to vulnerable and traumatized refugees . Daily activities, social community, inclusion, meaning
Simple repetitive tasks Assignments with high No sudden sensory time pressure stress-factors Complex tasks Small units/groups, requiring acquisition of mentor as gate keeper new knowledge Ongoing changes in context and demands Reception and conditions in exile are crucial for healing and well-being
Risk factors: Protective factors:
. Uncertainty about asylum . Family reunification and stay . Social network . Separation from family . Employment . Lack of network . Language proficiency . Low socio-economic . Permanent housing status i exile . Access to health services . Loss of status . Language barriers . Perceived discrimination
Preserving and Improving the Mental Health of Refugees and Asylum Seekers, Umar Ikram and Karien Stronks for the Health Council of the Netherlands, 2016 Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Women Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Refugees, gender and employment
Women: 20% Men: 57% Source: UIM, integrationsbarometer.dk Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Women with refugee backgrounds
. Lower level of education and less labour market experience than men . Descendants: women better educated than men . More time for women to learn language of host country . Education and language proficiency have more importance for women
OECD (2018), Triple Disadvantage? Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Women with refugee backgrounds
. Women have more health problems . Women lack networks . Gender-differences in support and interventions . Employment of mothers pivotal for employment of children/daughters . Employment for women is higher in host country than in country of origin, and the gender gap is smaller Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Other issues
. Responsible for home and children – gender roles . Coercive control . The pre-understandings of professionals . Discrimination
. Access to gender-seggregated labour market in Denmark . Temporary protection status (§7.3) in particular women (hinders education and divorce) Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
LGBT-refugees
And LGBT+? Asylum process Trauma Municipality and housing Single Meeting professionals and volunteers Double minority Exile- Socio- Isolation LGBT-identity related economic Rights stress stress … LGBT+ as a resource Mads Ted Drud-Jensen, Knowledge Center for Vulnerable Refugees (Center for Udsatte Flygtninge)
Thanks
Mads Ted Drud-Jensen: [email protected] Center for Udsatte Flygtninge: www.udsatteflygtninge.dk