UNHCR Releases Trauma Study

UNHCR has just released results of a trauma study carried out among Iraqi refugees in Syria. The results speak for themselves. 754 people were interviewed. Every single person interviewed reported experiencing at least one traumatic event before they fled Iraq. UNHCR worked with the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and used the Harvard Trauma Survey and the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist to make their assessments.

Seventy-seven percent of the Iraqi refugees who were interviewed reported being
affected by air bombardments and shelling or rocket attacks. Eighty percent
reported witnessing a shooting. Sixty-eight percent said they experienced
interrogation or harassment by militias or other groups, including receiving
death threats, while sixteen percent have been tortured. Seventy-two percent
were eye witnesses to a car bombing and seventy-five percent know someone who
has been killed.

The report highlighted the many forms of torture endured by
Iraqi refugees, including beatings, electric shocks, objects being placed under
fingernails, burns and rape. Most instances of torture were perpetrated by
militias (sixty-nine percent). The survey conclusions call for increased
advocacy among all groups within Iraq to end torture and for programmes to
address mental health issues among Iraqi refugees and displaced persons.

To read the full survey click here. The trauma results appear at the end, pages 12-14.
A UNICEF official I met in Jordan in September described the situation of Iraqi refugees as “a state of prolonged trauma.” Although they have escaped immediate physical danger by fleeing Iraq, the majority of refugee families are unable to resume a normal daily routine of work and school. Without some semblance of normalcy and stability, he said, it is extremely difficult for them to recover from the violence they experience in Iraq.