Trauma, Collective Trauma and Refugee Trajectories in the Digital Era

Trauma, Collective Trauma and Refugee Trajectories in the Digital Era
Author: Selam Kidane
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2021-10-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9956552054

Forced migration has become an inescapable reality of our world in the 21stcentury. Why? The traumatic experiences of refugees are key to understanding why people keep on the move despite enormous risks. This book sheds light into the psychological impact entailed in refugee trajectories. With findings mainly from Eritrean refugee communities in multiple locations, the underpinning research reveals alarming levels of individual and collective trauma. The book outlines a new approach for treatment: Trauma, Recovery, Understanding, Self-Help Therapy TRUST. The intervention was developed as a practical and low resource support to traumatised vulnerable refugees. TRUST utilises information technology to reduce levels of trauma, enabling refugees to build social and economic resilience as an alternative to pursuing risky migratory trajectories. The study concludes that providing psycho-social support is a more prudent alternative to managing forced migration and avoiding the use of hostile refugee polices that expose refugees to more trauma and put them at risk of heinous organised crimes including human trafficking. TRUST resulted in significant positive outcomes for refugee wellbeing even in deprived refugee camps.

Trauma, Collective Trauma and Refugee Trajectories in the Digital Era

Trauma, Collective Trauma and Refugee Trajectories in the Digital Era
Author: Selam Kidane
Publisher: Langaa RPCID
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2021-11-05
Genre:
ISBN: 9789956552504

Forced migration has become an inescapable reality of our world in the 21st century. Why? The traumatic experiences of refugees are key to understanding why people keep on the move despite enormous risks. This book sheds light into the psychological impact entailed in refugee trajectories. With findings mainly from Eritrean refugee communities in multiple locations, the underpinning research reveals alarming levels of individual and collective trauma. The book outlines a new approach for treatment: Trauma, Recovery, Understanding, Self-Help Therapy - TRUST. The intervention was developed as a practical and low resource support to traumatised vulnerable refugees. TRUST utilises information technology to reduce levels of trauma, enabling refugees to build social and economic resilience as an alternative to pursuing risky migratory trajectories. The study concludes that providing psycho-social support is a more prudent alternative to managing forced migration and avoiding the use of hostile refugee polices that expose refugees to more trauma and put them at risk of heinous organised crimes including human trafficking. TRUST resulted in significant positive outcomes for refugee wellbeing even in deprived refugee camps.

Enslaved

Enslaved
Author: Mirjam Van Reisen
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 823
Release: 2023-01-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 9956553727

Eritrean refugees are being trafficked and enslaved in Libya, where they are tortured to force relatives to pay a ransom for their release. Labelled with a digital code, they are moved along in the possession of the traffickers through a series of black holes, in which their access to digital technologies and connectivity is highly controlled. They are tortured, abused, extorted and subjected to sexual violence. Many die along the way. If they make it to the Mediterranean Sea, they risk being intercepted and returned to Libya or dying at sea. Over the period of this study (201721), it is conservatively estimated that at least 200,000 men, women and children have fallen victim to human trafficking for ransom in Libya, and the cumulative value of this trade for that period is estimated at over 1 billion USD. This detailed ethnographic study identifies the routes, modus operandi, organisation, and key actors involved in the human trafficking for ransom of refugees and migrants, who are desperately in need of protection. The book is part of the GAIC Research Network and African studies series published by Langaa RPCIG and makes an important contribution to the literature on human trafficking, migration studies, African studies, modern slavery, social protection and governance.

Human Trafficking and Trauma in the Digital Era

Human Trafficking and Trauma in the Digital Era
Author: Mirjam van Reisen
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 550
Release: 2017-02-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9956764531

Eritrean refugees crisscross between countries in the Horn of Africa and North Africa in search of a safe place. Along their journeys, they are looted, threatened, intimidated, violated, and held for ransom. This book revisits the human trafficking crisis that first emerged in the Sinai at the end of 2008 and examines the expansion of human trafficking of Eritrean refugees and other forms of exploitation beyond the Sinai. It focuses on the modus operandi of these practices and on identifying their key facilitators and beneficiaries. The book locates the origin of these practices within Eritrea; it reveals how a deliberate policy of impoverishment and human rights abuses has driven the people out of the country, and how individuals within Eritrea, and particularly within the ruling party, benefit from the smuggling and trafficking of Eritrean refugees. The use of information communication technologies (ICTs) is identified as key to the new modus operandi of this criminal business and is found to further facilitate widespread collective trauma amongst Eritreans, who witness the abuse of their family members and fellow nationals through digital networks. An entire section in this book is dedicated to assessing the extent and effects of individual and collective trauma caused by Sinai trafficking and to examining potential approaches to healing. Other sections discuss the vulnerabilities of Eritrean minors and women, and the connections between human trafficking, terrorism and organ trafficking. The last section of the book raises the question of accountability. It examines and evaluates international responses to this forgotten crisis, and discusses the need for policies that tackle the problem where it emerges: in Eritrea.

Mobile Africa: Human Trafficking and the Digital Divide

Mobile Africa: Human Trafficking and the Digital Divide
Author: Mirjam Van Reisen
Publisher: African Books Collective
Total Pages: 764
Release: 2019-10-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9956551619

What happens at the nexus of the digital divide and human trafficking? This book examines the impact of the introduction of new digital information and communication technology (ICT) as well as lack of access to digital connectivity on human trafficking. The different studies presented in the chapters show the realities for people moving along the Central Mediterranean route from the Horn of Africa through Libya to Europe. The authors warn against an over-optimistic view of innovation as a solution and highlight the relationship between technology and the crimes committed against vulnerable people in search of protection. In this volume, the third in a four-part series Connected and Mobile: Migration and Human Trafficking in Africa, relevant new theories are proposed as tools to understand the dynamics that appear in mobile Africa. Most importantly, the editors identify critical ethical issues in relation to both technology and human trafficking and the nexus between them, helping explore the dimensions of new responsibilities that need to be defined. The chapters in this book represent a collection of well-documented empirical investigations by a young and diverse group of researchers, addressing critical issues in relation to innovation and the perils of our time.

Wounded: Studies in Literary and Cinematic Trauma

Wounded: Studies in Literary and Cinematic Trauma
Author: Gail Finney
Publisher: MDPI
Total Pages: 145
Release: 2018-07-02
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 303842935X

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Wounded: Studies in Literary and Cinematic Trauma" that was published in Humanities

Mental Health of Refugee and Conflict-Affected Populations

Mental Health of Refugee and Conflict-Affected Populations
Author: Nexhmedin Morina
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2018-12-10
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 3319970461

This book provides an overview of theoretical, empirical, and clinical conceptualizations of mental health following exposure to human rights violations (HRV). There are currently hundreds of millions of individuals affected by war and conflict across the globe, and over 68 million people who are forcibly displaced. The field of refugee and post-conflict mental health is growing exponentially, as researchers investigate the factors that impact on psychological disorders in these populations, and design and evaluate new treatments to reduce psychological distress. This volume will be a substantial contribution to the literature on mental health in refugee and post-conflict populations, as it details the state of the evidence regarding the mental health of war survivors living in areas of former conflict as well as refugees and asylum-seekers.

Refuge and Resilience

Refuge and Resilience
Author: Laura Simich
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2014-06-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9400779232

Taking an interdisciplinary approach and focusing on the social and psychological resources that promote resilience among forced migrants, this book presents theory and evidence about what keeps refugees healthy during resettlement. The book draws on contributions from cultural psychiatry, anthropology, ethics, nursing, psychiatric epidemiology, sociology and social work. Concern about immigrant mental health and social integration in resettlement countries has given rise to public debates that challenge scientists and policy makers to assemble facts and solutions to perceived problems. Since the 1980s, refugee mental health research has been productive but arguably overly-focused on mental disorders and problems rather than solutions. Social science perspectives are not well integrated with medical science and treatment, which is at odds with social reality and underlies inadequacy and fragmentation in policy and service delivery. Research and practice that contribute to positive refugee mental health from Canada and the U.S. show that refugee mental health promotion must take into account social and policy contexts of immigration and health care in addition to medical issues. Despite traumatic experiences, most refugees are not mentally ill in a clinical sense and those who do need medical attention often do not receive appropriate care. As recent studies show, social and cultural determinants of health may play a larger role in refugee health and adaptation outcomes than do biological factors or pre-migration experiences. This book’s goal therefore is to broaden the refugee mental health field with social and cultural perspectives on resilience and mental health.

Roaming Africa

Roaming Africa
Author: van Reisen, Mirjam
Publisher: Langaa RPCIG
Total Pages: 628
Release: 2019-10-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9956551015

What happens when digital innovation meets migration? Roaming Africa considers how we understand modern-day mobility in Africa, where age-old routes strengthen the resilience of people roaming the continent for livelihoods and security, assisted by mobile communication. Digital mobility expands connectivity around the world, and also in Africa. In this book, the authors show that mobility, resilience and social protection in the digital age are closely related. Each chapter takes a close look at the migration dynamics in a specific context, using social theory as a lens. This book adopts a critical perspective on approaches in which migration is regarded merely as a hazard. Edited by distinguished scholars from Africa and Europe, this volume, the second in a four-part series Connected and Mobile: Migration and Human Trafficking in Africa, compiles chapters from a diverse group of young and upcoming scholars, making an important contribution to the literature on migration studies, digital science, social protection and governance.