Worry about the psychiatric diseases in asylum applicants in Danish asylum camps.

Essential subjects.

1. During the last 18 months 245 refused asylum applicants have received temporary residencepermit due to severe psychiatric diseases, developed while they lived in the Danish asylum camps.Most often they had diagnosis of depression and / or psychoses.From my experience the asylum applicants must have invalidating psychiatric diseases, before theauthorities accept it to “be enough”.Even invalidating and chronic states of PTSD – post traumatic stress disorder – are usually notaccepted by the Ministry.The temporary residence permit will usually be donated for 6 or 12 months, and then the asylumapplicant once again has to apply for a residence permit, documenting that his health situation hasnot become better. This situation further stresses and disables him and his family.2. Since 2001 the frequency of attempted suicide has tripled – being today six times the frequencyin the Danish population. Many children have experienced suicide attempts in their close family.3. The adult asylum applicants develop psychiatric diseases of a severity and complexity that is notwell known among professionals outside the asylum camps. The consequence is, that the refugeewill not receive proper multidisciplinary treatment inside the camps – or later when they havereceived the temporary residence permit and try to integrate themselves in the society.4. Concerning the children and adolescents their normal development is influenced in a destructive– and possibly irreparably - degree. No follow up has been established on that.The ordinary professional knowledge about important and necessary environmental conditions forthe development of children is not taken into consideration in planning the daily life for thosechildren. The children do not receive sufficient training in language, neither in their native languagenor in the Danish. The internal schools of the camps are more suitable for excluding the kids fromthe Danish society then to offer them supportive education in a normal setting. Our neighbouringcountries show how it is possible to give asylum children a well planned and rehabilitatingeducating in the public school system, where the knowledge about the special needs of thesechildren exists and develops further.In Denmark asylum children become more and more disabled in their cognitive and emotionaldevelopment the longer, they have to stay in the camps.From a child and adolescent psychiatric point of view, the situation for children and parents withPTSD is locked in a very destructive dynamic, where they try to keep control on the adults in thefamily without managing it. But they loose the childhood, which should be the basis for thedevelopment to a healthy and competent citizen.The children suffer from the chaotic depressive mood in the camps, anxiety that constantlyinfluences their lives – and severe nightmares, which make them extremely exhausted. That againinfluences their capacity for learning.