Violence and torture against migrants and refugees attempting to reach the European Union through Western Balkans

Abstract

Introduction: This paper presents a study of traumatic experiences, including torture, among refugees and migrants at the border between Croatia and Bosnia. The number of people being forcefully displaced is increasing and militarized border enforcement efforts have made migration a dangerous endeavour. The European Union is externalizing its borders, but migrants and refugees have not ceased arriving in Western societies despite facing violence and torture both throughout their journey, and at the gates of Europe. Method: 54 participants were assessed, 51 males and 3 females, 26 were self-declared economic migrants and 28 stated that they fled due to political or religious persecution. The Iraqi version of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) was adapted to collect traumatic and torture stressors experienced by the migrants/refugees during their stay in Western Bosnia, and more specifically during their detention and refoulement (push-backs) when attempting to cross the border between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia. Results: 98.14% reported experiencing multiple forms of torture, 81.5% reported having their property looted, and 70.4% stated that they had been physically harmed on the mentioned border during migratory transit. Torture experiences were associated with the migratory and confinement phases such as exposure to the rain and cold (92.6%) or lack of food, water and medical care (66.7%). Finally, 50% of participants fulfilled the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to the cumulative effect of traumatic experiences. Differences were found only in the amount of traumatic experiences between economic migrants and refugees who fled for political or religious reasons. No differences were found in torture experiences and PTSD diagnosis. Conclusions: Violence perpetrated by security forces against migrants is crystallized at the border-zones. Migrants are held in conditions that would amount by themselves to torture. Traumatic experiences have an effect on migrants/refugees’ mental health and can trigger the development of post-traumatic stress disorder. Guaranteeing human rights for migrants/refugees throughout their journey is needed.

Trauma, Reparation, and Quality of Life in Victims of Armed Conflict after Peace Agreements

“…Contrary to what was expected from previous studies (see, for example, Abello-Llanos et al, 2009;Guarch-Rubio et al, 2020), in the present study, the number of victimizing events suffered, and time elapsed since such events had little effect, with the type of trauma being much more relevant. Victims of sexual assault showed a more affected quality of life.…”

Mental Health in the Transit Context: Evidence from 10 Countries

“…It has been documented that transit can last from several months to several years [ 7 ]. Transit usually includes a long and risky route across the sea and land where refugees are exposed to detention or extended stays in camps [ 8 ] and illegal pushbacks [ 9 ], as well as physical and psychological violence [ 7 , 10 , 11 ], human trafficking [ 12 ], and other life-threatening situations [ 13 ]. In addition, prolonged periods of time in transit usually entail poor housing, limited access to essential services such as healthcare [ 14 , 15 ], discrimination by the local community, and separation from family and friends, which can lead to a lack of social support, isolation, and loneliness [ 13 , 16 ].…”

Polytraumatization in young male refugees from the Middle East and its association with internalizing and externalizing symptoms

“…These events have occurred, for example, on the Mediterranean route, which is usually boarded in substandard boats, or on the Balkan route [ 51 ]. Some of the young refugees experienced violence at the hands of smuggling gangs or by confrontation with border police [ 28 , 58 ]. In mainland Europe, overcrowded temporary refugee camps with poor living conditions contributed to an increased risk of experiencing further traumatic events [ 31 ].…”