The crisis of Bosnian refugees in Australia: the challenge for psychiatry
Abstract
The crisis of Bosnian refugees in Australia: the challenge for psychiatry Derrick Silove Refugee mental health: the need for services The mental health needs of refugee survivors of torture and trauma have attracted increasing attention in recent times'. The extent of the problem is awesome. Approximately 140 million people have suffered displacement from their countries as a result of social upheaval this century'. The problem has escalated over recent decades with between 2 0 and 30 million people currently facing the problems of forcible dislocation as a result of war and persecution3. In general, refugees are a highrisk group, with psychiatric morbidity being particularly prominent amongst those who have suffered torture or related trauma'. As a signatory to international conventions and agreements, Australia admits approximately 10,000 refugees every year. A conservative estimate5 suggests that at least 10 percent of these newly arrived refugees are suffering from the psychiatric consequences of torture and trauma. If that is the case, then a minimum of 1000 new cases of psychiatric disorders related to organized violence are entering the country each year. It is estimated that approximately 50 percent (or 500) of these traumatized people settle in New South Wales, yet the