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The New Pact on Migration and Asylum: it is time to reconsider the mega-reception centers model in Europe
The Lancet Public Health journal publishes MEDU’s appeal
Huge reception centers like Mineo and Moria have devastating effects on refugees and asylum-seekers’ mental health. Overcrowding; geographical and social isolation; long stay due to lengthy procedures in obtaining a residence permit; difficulties in accessing health care and social services; events of social degradation and violence. These are only some of the characteristics of mega-reception centers. A recent study carried out by MEDU (Medici per i Diritti Umani – Doctors for Human Rights) has proven them to be places favoring the most severe forms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The New Pact on Migration and Asylum, presented last September by the European Commission, could end up fueling the model of large reception centers at the external borders of the European Union. This is what MEDU denounces in a letter published this week in The Lancet Public Health, one of the most distinguished international medical and scientific journals. As the European Parliament and the European Council prepare to examine the New Pact in the coming months, it is essential that policy-makers learn from the failed experiences of the recent past, continues the letter signed by MEDU general coordinator, Alberto Barbieri.
It is absolutely necessary to abandon the Mineo and Moria models and, in return, to adopt reception strategies capable of fostering real inclusion for the benefit of refugees as well as of the societies that welcome them.
Project: Medu Psyche’ Center