Rehabilitation necessary for the displaced worldwide

Today we commemorate World Refugee Day.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimates that the number of refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced persons has grown in recent years, with the several severe conflicts around the world forcing people from their homes, families and communities. More than 42 million people are currently forcibly displaced.

Ongoing armed conflict, persecution of a particular group or political upheaval can create contexts in which individuals, families, or entire communities feel unprotected and are forced to leave. They may end up in neighbouring regions or countries or even different continents.

Internally displaced persons, or IDPs, constitute by far the largest number of forcibly displaced persons – an estimated 25.4 million have had to leave their homes - but remain within their countries of origin. IDPs, in common with all other displaced people, are at high risk of further human rights abuses, including torture, and they need our attention.

Furthermore, a significant proportion of displaced people have been tortured prior to displacement; they must have access to appropriate rehabilitative treatment.

Rehabilitation is a right of torture victims, and it works. Rehabilitation offers a victim of torture a full life as possible after such a horrific experience as torture. Torture is used to degrade, destroy and harm a person; and rehabilitation may heal. A torture survivor with access to holistic and appropriate rehabilitation may have their physical, mental and psychosocial needs met; they may return to physical and mental health, and may be able to work and become economically sustainable once again for themselves and for their families.

On World Refugee Day, when we commemorate the millions of refugees, IDPs, and asylum-seekers who are so often the victims of torture, the IRCT would like to reiterate why rehabilitation is still at the forefront of our work. While the experience of torture or forced migration is often devastating to a person and perhaps to an entire community; rehabilitation can begin to heal these wounds.

For more information:

Please visit UNHCR