A study of health status and grade of traumatization of newly arrived asylum seekers

Abstract Background: An unknown number of asylum seek-ers arriving in Denmark have been exposed to torture or have experienced other traumatising events in their country of origin. The health of traumatised asylum seekers, both physically and mentally, is affected upon arrival to Denmark, and time in asylum centres leads to further deteriora-tion in health. Methods: One hundred forty-two (N=142) newly arrived asylum seekers were examined at Center Sandholm by Amnesty International Dan-ish Medical Group from the 1st of September until the 31st of December 2007. Findings: The asylum seekers came from 33 different countries, primarily representing Af-ghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Chechnya. Of the asylum seekers, 45% had been exposed to torture – approximately one-third within the year of ar-rival to Denmark. Unsystematic blows, personal threats or threats to family, degrading treatment, isol ation, and witnessing torture of others were the main torture methods reported. The majority of the asylum seekers had witnessed armed conflict, persecution, and imprisonment. The study showed that physical symptoms were approximately twice as frequent and psychological symptoms were ap-proximately two to three times as frequent among torture survivors as among non-tortured asylum seekers. However, even the health of non-tortured asylum seekers was affected. Among the torture survivors, 63% fulfilled the criteria for post-trau-matic stress disorder, and 30-40% of the torture survivors were depressed, in anguish, anxious, and tearful in comparison to 5-10% of the non-tortured asylum seekers. Further, 42% of torture survivors had torture-related scars.