Celebrate Refugee Week: June 20 - 26
Refugee Week 2011 will take place 20-26 June. 2011 is the 60th Anniversary of the United Nations Refugee Conventions, and Refugee Week will be offering arts, cultural and educational events across the UK that celebrate refugees’ contributions to British society and promote great cross-community interaction and understanding.
You can find a listing of events in your area on the Refugee Week website.
Refugees and asylum seekers are particularly vulnerable to mental distress due to experiences such as torture, imprisonment or persecution that they may have suffered in their home countries. Once in the UK, this can be compounded by factors like the uncertainly of their legal status in Britain, language and cultural barriers, tenuous financial stability, isolation and separation from loved ones. The Department of Health has identified post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, as the most common problem amongst asylum seekers and refugees and has reported that, because of these mental health issues, the risk of suicide is raised in the long-term.
Click here to read a report that Mind has produced about mental health provision for refugees and asylum seekers in England and Wales.
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