Notes of Conference by Hanna, aditus

ASSISTING RESIDENTS OF CLOSED AND OPEN CENTRES WITH WELFARE

COMPONENTS
(ERF 12/03)
Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers AWAS
CLOSING CONFERENCE ROUND-TABLE MEETING
Corinthia Hotel, St. Georges Bay
St. Georges Road,
St. Julians, STJ 3301
Wednesday 18th June, 2014
Programme:
08.30 09.00: Registration
09.00 09.20: Introductions & tour de table
09.20 10.00: Overview and conclusions from the project, Assisting Residents of Closed and
Open Centres with Welfare Components (ERF 2012/03)
Ms Nighat Urpani Project Manager, AWAS
10.00 10.30: Vulnerable Adults Assessment procedures
Ms Sarah Borda Bondin Service Manager, AWAS
10.30 11.00: Coffee break
11.00 12.15: Round-table input:
The Commissioners emerging role in the field of migration
Dr John Cachia Commissioner for Mental Health and Older Persons
Concerns from the point of view of medical professionals
Dr Rachel Taylor East Mount Carmel Hospital
International guidelines and standards mental health
Mr Jon Hoisaeter UNHCR
Identification of vulnerable adults current good practices and way forward
Kristina Zammit JRS
12.15 13.00: Round-table discussion
13.00 14:00: Lunch

General Programme Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows 2007 2013

This project is part-financed by the European Union
European Refugee Fund (ERF)
Co-financing rate: 75% EU Funds; 25% Beneficiary Funds
Sustainable Management of Migration Flows

Notes:
Ms Nighat Urpani Project Manager, AWAS
About project:
Budget: 152,139.34 (75% EU funds, 25% national funds)
Project from September 2013 June 2014
Aim: improving quality of life in CC and OC with particular attention on vulnearble persons
Issues: language barrier, sensitivity. How to ask questions, how to react as a professional?
500 members of target group were interviewed carried out by welfare team who
identified vulnearble persons within this group of 500
Intervieweed were referred to professionals to adress their problems
Question: How to identify them?
Infos were gathered individually in the Closed Centres
September 2013: Working in Closed Centres (some intervieweed were already gone a few
weeks later, the team tried to reach them nevertheless)
September 2013: Working with NGO's
November 2013: Working in Open Centres (5 Open Centres: Safi, Hal Far Anger, Hal Far
OC, Dare I-Litna, Dares Liem)
March 2014: Age Assessment
Project is based on previous projects, in which AWAS has learned about needs and
experiences. Previous projects: coordination and provision of Welfare Centre (COPE),
SPARCLET 200_, Assisting Residents of CC & OC 2012/13
Profiling Tool based on SPARKLET's tool: information was gathered, general report was
made, basic information was summarized, report was profilied
Gathered infos were send to the Centres Coordinatiors, some info was confidential
Referrals were made individually (eg. to JRS, psychological service, etc...)
The data base was open within AWAS it could be seen and completed by the social
workers team
Phases of interviews
Phase 1: education, level of education, background
Phase 2: experiences, journey, roots of nationalities
2014 1st boat: 92 people, 64 claimed to be minors shows importance of finding input
about UAMs issues
Findings statistics indicators of interviews were:
1. gender
2. age group
3. nationality, language, interpreter
4. reason for leaving
5. countries travelled before Malta
6. current concerns
7. education, skills, experiences
8. family abroad
9. countries, number of relatives living abroad

988 Asylum Seekers came to Malta (Sept 13 June 14)

of these: Somalis 59%, Eritrea 13%, Gambia 8,3%, Nigera 6%, Malians 3%
540 of them were (assessed) between 18-25

Reasons for leaving: fundamentalist religious groups: 31%, general country problems
(economical, etc.) 16%, forced military conscription 8% (mostly Eritreans)
Education/employment: prisoners education 33%, no education 27%, to Koranic schools
25%, others: driving, shop keeping, construction,car washing, farm work
Referrals made to the intervieweed: AAT, VAAT, JRS, other NGOs
Recommendations found during project:
- councelling and social work services accessable in closed centres, there is the need to
speak and follow up
- educational authoritie must provide structured language skills and more information
Information Sessions to Residents of OC project

Ms Sarah Borda Bondin Service Manager, AWAS

Vulnerable Adults Assessment procedures:
VAAT procedure government 2005 policy
The 2003 Reception Conditions Directive (old Directive)
Malta is 1 out of 7 Member States with a specific, seperate procedure
Seperate procedure does not cover UAMs
likert scale of mental condition of asylum seeker: vulnearbility <-----------------> resilience
VAAT procedure administered by AWAS (they got list by the police)
Profiling, gathering infos
Importent to have a broad understanding of vulnearbility
Referrals on various grounds (mental, psychological,...) Assisting service users to know
which referrals they have to make, referrals may take place at any point in asylum
procedure, having a good liasion with referring entities
Assessment has different components: family; education, employment; journey (abuse,
imprisonment, needs fulfilled); health, emotional well being; accomodation; social ralations,
network; safety
There is a link between the VAAT procedure and asylum procedure
New EU policy: Reception Conditions Directive (2013/33 EU)
meeting those needs within the context of reception arrangements provides means
assessment of vulnearbility beyond detention
Experience shows that most asylum seekers want resettlement
Malta must work on integration policy
Many asylum seekers have helplessness regarding to their future
Possible solutions:
1) resettlement
2) integration
3) return to home country ->> stakeholders are often afraid of saying this

National budget resources need to be considered

Questions that need to be considered: Is this an asylum seeker with mental health
problems? Is the faimliy involved? How does it work out?
AWAS does not have resources in CC, if there are issues they refer to dictors etc.
There are no resources for social workers at OC
VAAT assessment of mental health types and details
In 2013: 17 cases of mental health cases
Professionals working on care team 50 care workers, counselling
Not allowed to publish VAAT datas
Cases of vulnerable people: eg. Somone with diabetic and a mother of 2 year old child in
contact of care team social worker
Name diabetics, call conditions by name Also necessary to say that vulnerable, stuff
needs to be more professional in identifying vulnearbility

 word contribution Bernadette, Marsa OC Social Worker: Receiving new residents by

detention officers. Case example: The day of moving from CC to OC transfer from
detention to OC was problematic because person had broken arm, had appointment at
Mater Dei that day. Better if each transfer has care professional

Determination of:
Transcultural psychiatry: issue of language, cultural differences
Social determinates: poverty, gender, conflict, marginilisation, socioeconomic status
Inequalities: mertality, merbidity affected by living standards
Psychiological problems
Canada 1998 refugees conditions: Seperation from farm, Unwelcoming host community,
being elderly, don't know language,
Risk factors, health disparities, care, prognosis
As professionals need strong understanding, public health awareness, Where does
he/she come from?, What did he/she experienced?

Dr John Cachia Commissioner for Mental Health and Older Persons

The Commissioners emerging role in the field of migration

Not everybody has mental disorder Everybody who comes in contact with migrants must
see the possibility that he/she might be vulnearble, have a trauma, disorder and also
might have resilience

Cultural sensitive, psychological support

Risk issue, assessment of risk, mostly the quiet people who won't talk about it are
vulnerable

Quality treatment, treat equal to rest

Professionals should more risk sensitive approaches

Professionals should start from assessing vulnearbility

Low education poverty, vulnearbility

Males are more often patients of psychologists

Looking at gender, sex, education (m/f)

Reasons for leaving: economic, lack of education

Integration: on arrival, mental health consideration

Give people task in detention less risk of mental health issues, use of time

Need to look at skills, feeling usefull, mentality

Need to think how mainstream is

Mental health prevention, achieve programm from arrival in Malta, strategy in approach

3 specific groups: pregnangt woman, youngsters under 15, people over 18

Not just strategy in mental health perspective, also push in education, skills, culture,
language

Integration will lead to less issues of mental health

Jon Hoisaeter, UNHCR
International guidelines and standards mental health

Global perspective of UNHCR mental health issues

Last decade mental health became high priority for UNHCR

Mental health definition by UNHCR: Foundation of individual well-being

MHPSS Mental Health psychosocial support

Psychosocial problems

before emergency

after emergency

common mental disorders

10%
15%
severe mental health dosorders
2-3%
3-4%
psychological issue
non
a lot
Inter Agency Standards Guidelines (IASG), 2007 (online available at UNHCR homepage)
- 6 pronciples: rights perspective, participation, research issues,
- UNHCR recommendations: UNHCR should frame mental health, UNHCR should
integrate these, ...
MHPSS approach: monitor, advocacy impact of UNHCR presence, effectivness
MHPSS interventions: activities

clinical individual services

social services

Detention increases mental health avoid detention/ make the time in detention usefull
Refugee children need stable environment
Not simply inevitable posttraumatic consequences of acute stress
See central factors
Support government and humanitarian agencies
Use own resilience of people
Tools are available

Kristina Zammit, JRS

Identification of vulnerable adults current good practices and way forward

JRS has general outreach in detention

Psychosocial team

Vulnearbility term needs to be discussed

Data: 2013/2014 84 VAAT assumed, over 60 of these with mental health problems,
depression; 12 people initial issues like Asthma, 8 medical issues , also lgbti issues (not
lgbti as vulnearbility, but issus related to that bullying)

JRS works in the centres, they are allowed to go in the centres and are able to identify
vulnearble people

Cultural mediators are always together with JRS in detention

Sessions with psychologists, some are group sessions, they need to adopt culturally

VAAT JRS works together with AWAS and mental health agencies

Best practice: best interest of people, JRS is serving

Referring, following up

Group meetings

Vulnearbility assessment assessment of needs

Not only aim to get to OC because mental problems increase in OC

Conditions

Services, interpreter, cultural mediator

Not justyfing peoples actions like drinking shampoo, hanging theirselve ask WHY is this
being done, need to distinguish

Impression of discussion

Need of statistics, force government to collect mental health data

So much talking about interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, collaboration, etc. really do
it, work across organisations
Use the resources available, have effective system (not 5 different psychologists in different
topics for one person)
ETC education department They should have been invited to this conference, their topic
as well partnership principles/ partnership agreements necessary: government, buisness,
NGO's work together need to bottom up!
strategic approach encourage TCN