Fighting with the Lernean Hydra: Greek Humanitarian Crisis Enters Worst-Case Scenario. Comment on: Joseph, L.; Ismail, S.A.; Gunst, M.; Jarman, K.; Prior, D.; Harris, M.; Abbara, A. A Qualitative Research Study Which Explores Humanitarian Stakeholders’ Views on Healthcare Access for Refugees in G... (original) (raw)
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International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2018
Greece is the country of "Xenios Zeus", the Ancient Greek god of foreigners and hospitality; however, it is also the main point of entry to Europe. Since the beginning of 2014, 1,112,332 refugees crossed the borders of Greece. Overall, 33,677 children and adolescent refugees sought asylum in Greece from 2013 to 2017, while 57,042 refugees are currently being hosted. The rapid entry of refugees into Greece raised the critical issue of health policy. The Greek National Health Service (NHS) faces many challenges. Adequate economic and human support is essential if this situation is to be managed successfully. However, Greece still bears the burden of the economic downturn since 2009. In fact, the crisis led to shortages in crucial equipment, and unmet health needs for both locals and refugees. The NHS deals with traumatic experiences, as well as cultural and linguistic differences. Overcrowded reception centers and hotspots are highly demanding and are associated with severe disease burden. This highlights the importance of guidelines for medical screening, healthcare provision, and a well-managed transition to definitive medical facilities. Furthermore, non-governmental organizations make an essential contribution by ensuring appropriate support to refugee minors, especially when they experience poor access to the NHS.
Global Public Health, 2020
The influx of 1.5 million Syrians into Lebanon has created an increased demand for health services, which is largely unmet, due to cost, a highly fragmented and privatised system, and crises around legal documentation and refugee status. The aim of this study was to use a constant comparison analysis of qualitative data to explore how Syrian refugees living in Lebanon describe their experiences accessing healthcare (N = 351 individuals within 46 families). Pervasive fear, lack of confidence in the medical system, and high costs all hinder access to healthcare for Syrians in Lebanon. Findings demonstrate the need for attention to the costs and accessibility of care, and for stronger coordination of care within a centrally led comprehensive emergency plan. While we attend to understanding and alleviating the barriers surrounding refugee healthcare, we must also address the underlying cause of health crisis: the brutal realities caused by armed conflict. ARTICLE HISTORY
Health Services in Humanitarian Crises
ESAM [Ekonomik ve Sosyal Araştırmalar Merkezi], 2018
This workshop report was examined in terms of health problems in humanitarian crises, organizational studies, health services and the relational dimensions between them in different ways and it was concluded with the sample of Bangladesh. We hope that our workshop of “Health Services at Humanitarian Crises: Bangladesh Sample” and our report which we believe that it will help increase the quality of activities made for refugees will be beneficial for the health organizations in the first place, all the organizations, official institutions and department serving for the refugees in different regions of the world. Bu rapor, insani krizlerde sağlık sorunları, örgütsel çalışmalar, sağlık hizmetleri ve aralarındaki ilişkisel boyutlar farklı açılarla irdelenerek Bangladeş örneği ile hitama erdirilmiştir. Mültecilere yönelik yapılacak faaliyetlerin niteliğinin artmasına yardımcı olacağını düşündüğümüz “İnsani Krizlerde Sağlık Hizmetleri: Bangladeş Örneği” raporumuzun başta sağlık örgütleri olmak üzere dünyanın farklı bölgelerinde mültecilere yönelik hizmet sunan bütün örgüt, resmi kurum ve kuruluşlara fayda sağlamasını umuyoruz.
International Journal of Political Science and Governance, 2021
Background: Since the beginning of the Coronavirus outbreak in Lebanon, discriminatory practices against the country's refugee population have been prevalent. These practices have included imposing curfews when curfews are lifted for citizens, restricting movement even when lockdowns are suspended, disregarding international legal frameworks and leaving international organizations to assist refugees without government support throughout this pandemic. Aim: The aim of this commentary is to highlight Lebanon's legal obligations towards refugees in times of crisis as they intersect with their obligations at the international level. Objectives: 1. Highlight Lebanon's overall approach to Coronavirus within the refugee community; 2. Discuss their obligations towards the refugee community in times of crisis in compliance with international frameworks; 3. Provide recommendations for cooperative approaches and ways forward. Methodology: This commentary undertook an extensive desk review as well as Key Informant Interviews to validate the data extracted.
Medicine Anthropology Theory, 2021
Despite a surge in initiatives to integrate foreign-trained physicians into local health systems and a drive to learn from localised humanitarian initiatives under the COVID-19 pandemic, we still know little about the on-the-ground strategies developed by refugee doctors to meet the needs of refugee patients. In Lebanon, displaced Syrian health professionals have mounted informal, local responses to care for displaced Syrian patients. Drawing on ethnographic work shadowing these healthcare providers across their medical and non-medical activities, we explore how clinical encounters characterised by shared histories of displacement can inform humanitarian medicine. Our findings shed light on the creation of breathing spaces in crises. In particular, our study reveals how displaced healthcare workers cope with uncertainty, documents how displaced healthcare workers expand the category of ‘appropriate care’ to take into account the economic and safety challenges faced by patients, and ...
Refugees: towards better access to health-care services
The Lancet, 2016
The migration crisis is one of the most pressing global challenges, as worldwide displacement is now at the highest level ever recorded. Latest global estimates by the UN Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) show that 59•5 million people are forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, generalised violence, or human rights violations.1 The estimated refugee population reached an unprecedented 19•6 million individuals worldwide in 2015-half of them being children-and the number is steadily increasing, with Syria as the leading country of origin of refugees.1,2 A lengthy drought preceded the Syrian crisis that led to a large movement of people into cities and contributed to instability. Recent evidence suggests that risks of such droughts in the region are more than doubled as a result of climate change.3 More than a million refugees and migrants arrived in the European Union in 2015.4 The growing influx of vulnerable populations poses many challenges to host countries, not least with regard to preparedness and resilience of health systems and access to health-care services. Furthermore, increasing numbers of refugees are likely in future as a result of a complex combination of driving forces, such as faltering and unequal economic growth, population increases, conflicts and environmental change. The need to develop more effective approaches that respond to the health needs of displaced populations and address the root causes of displacement is therefore imperative. A refugee is someone who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to
This report aims to explore the fragmented organisation of healthcare services in Lebanon, for Syrian refugees. Although it is not an assessment of the Lebanese healthcare system, this report does nevertheless reflect on the challenges and underlying dynamics of the current Lebanese system, which are reproduced in the healthcare provision for Syrian refugees. In this sense, the report highlights the privatised, rather ad hoc, and irregular provision of healthcare in Lebanon, notably for Syrian refugees, which tends to take on a more curative rather than preventive approach, resulting in significant costs on the patients. Consequently, a great number of vulnerable Lebanese and non-Lebanese residing in Lebanon, notably Syrian refugees, are unable to access health services.
Refugee Crisis Management in Greece 2015-2018: The Case of Syrian Refugees and Asylum Seekers
2018
This dissertation was written as part of the MA in Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Studies at the International Hellenic University. It is a study of the migrant crisis management in Greece between 2015-2018, with a special focus on Syrian refugees and asylum seekers. The dissertation deals with migratory flows and analyzes terms such as asylum seekers and economic migrants. It delves into the case of Syrian asylum seekers by referring to the roots of the Syrian crisis and the chronology of the displacement of the Syrian people, including background to the Syrian crisis. It describes briefly their current living conditions in refugee centers in Turkey and Jordan and makes special mention of the EU-Turkey Agreement and its impact on asylum seekers in Greece. The thesis goes on to present the Greek case of managing the migrant crisis, including reception and hosting conditions, as well as, the changing legislative framework related to refugee asylum granting. The study concludes by presenting original qualitative empirical research data collected through interviews conducted with police officers in an attempt to map migrant crisis management in a host center for third-country nationals in Chios, as a case study. The main results of the survey are that migrants and asylum seekers are housed in the reception center under poor living conditions, and this is mainly due to the large volume of human inputs. The asylum requests, since most them are from asylum seekers, cannot be dealt with in a short period of time to decongest the situation. Non-governmental organizations on their part offer the most at the level of mainly medical and psychological support. The incidents in which the law is broken, and the controversies are on a daily basis. By completing my diploma thesis, I would like to thank people who have contributed positively to this goal. Firstly, my family and my supervisor, Dr. Alexandra Prodromidou for the support, constant feedback and collaboration we had. Particularly, I would like to refer to the help of my colleagues who, with much willingness, cooperated with me, and offered their thoughts and views.
International Health, 2018
Background: In 2015-2016, more than a million refugees entered Greece. Along with other organizations, PRAKSIS, a local non-governmental organization, deployed mobile medical units on three islands and in temporary settlements in Athens. Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study aimed at analysing the demographic and clinical characteristics of the population (n=6688) that received services from PRAKSIS between October 2015 and June 2016 in different locations (islands of Samos, Kos and Leros in the southeastern Aegean Sea and on the mainland at Athens-Piraeus Port Gate E) before and after the closure of European borders in March 2016. Results: The majority (88%) of the population came from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Among them, 53% were women and children. Infectious diseases decreased as the population moved from the islands to the Athens-Piraeus Port, while all other disease categories increased in relative frequency, the difference being statistically significant (p<0.05). Among all consultations, dental and oral cavity health complaints also increased in the Athens-Piraeus Port, but failed to reach statistical significance (p=0.11). Referrals from the mobile health units to specialist care rose from 4.2% of all patients clinically examined on the islands to 9.9% in the Athens-Piraeus Port, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusions: More research and systematic data collection are needed to inform appropriate policies for the humanitarian challenges posed by the recent refugee and migrant waves in Europe.