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This video is a transcription of a discussion regarding the experiences of young asylum seekers, particularly from Albania, navigating the UK asylum process. The primary focus is on a research project titled "Lives on Hold, Our Stories Told," which examines the lived experiences of these individuals and how the asylum system impacts their mental health, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key points include:

1. **Trauma**: The research defines trauma as harmful or life-threatening experiences, distinguishing between pre-migration trauma (experienced in the home country), migration journey trauma, and post-migration trauma (experienced in the host country, particularly due to the asylum process).

2. **Impact on Mental Health**: The findings reveal that the asylum process can exacerbate existing trauma and lead to mental health issues, especially among young people. Challenges such as the lack of knowledge regarding rights, legal complexities, delays, uncertainty, language barriers, and social stigma can contribute to feelings of isolation and re-traumatization.

3. **Participatory Methodology**: The research employed a participatory methodology involving peer researchers to gather insights directly from asylum seekers, allowing them to share their experiences and contributing to the development of trauma-informed guidelines for improving the asylum process.

4. **Guidelines and Recommendations**: The recommendations emphasize the need for compassionate and humane treatment of asylum seekers, establishing trust, providing cultural sensitivity, and implementing trauma-informed training for professionals working with vulnerable populations. Organizations should also change their cultures to be more supportive rather than hostile towards asylum seekers.

5. **Broader Implications**: The discussion underscores the harmful trend of anti-immigration sentiment in the UK and Europe, advocating for a better understanding of asylum seekers’ needs and the realities they face.

Overall, the research highlights the importance of trauma-informed practices and the need for systemic change in how asylum seekers are treated within the UK asylum system.

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Our project.

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There were actually two that looked at the, experiences,

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the lived experiences

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of young asylum seeking people from

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Albania, in the uk.

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So how they experienced the asylum

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process, the asylum system.

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And, the first project was called Lives on Hold,

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our Stories told,

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and that was led by my colleague Helen Starford at

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Liverpool University.

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But we were a team of academics.

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And, we looked at how covid in particular

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has impacted the asylum claims of,

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young people seeking asylum in the uk.

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And one of the main findings from

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that project was the mental health dimension.

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So how both covid, but also the whole asylum process.

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The asylum system can, cause trauma

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and can re-traumatize, particularly young people and,

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and unaccompanied migrant children.

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So we work with a group of, miners and,

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and young people aged between 16 to 25.

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And as I said, one of the key findings from that project,

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which was called, lost Lives on Hold, our stories told,

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was that, the asylum process, here

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and the asylum system overall, has significant

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damaging mental health implications for, asylum seekers.

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We continue that research by focusing on, on,

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conducting research, just trying

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to understand which particular aspects

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and processes of the UK asylum system,

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cause trauma, or are we retraumatizing the,

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young people seeking asylum in the uk.

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And trauma refers to an event or series of events

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or circumstances, that are experienced either

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by an individual or a group of people that are described

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as being harmful or life threatening.

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And in our research, we looked at, psychological trauma.

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Okay. So, how, certain events, processes

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are damaging for the mental health of people.

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Um, and, I would say that when we talk about trauma

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and the asylum process or,

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or, asylum seekers more generally, we just need

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to differentiate between different types of trauma.

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So there is trauma that occurred in the country of origin,

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so pre-migration trauma, and that's why they are refugees

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or asylum seekers, particularly

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because they're fleeing persecution,

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war conflicts on so forth.

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Then there can be trauma that occurs

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during the migration journey.

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So as they travel, different countries, obviously,

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seeking sanctuary and, and protection.

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And then the third type of trauma is the one

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that occurs in the, the receiving country

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or the host country.

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And in our case, we looked at, at the uk

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and, so this is called the post migration trauma

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or the post migration stress, mental stress.

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Um, and in our case, what we found was that,

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trauma is particularly caused by

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what happens in the host country or the receiving country.

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So these populations, they already arrive

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with a certain amount of trauma and, and,

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and mental distress,

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but how they are received in, in the, in,

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in the country that should provide them with, sanctuary

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and protection makes it even worse.

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So it, it further compounds their, their,

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their mental trauma, their psychological trauma.

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In our case, we looked at how trauma

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is experienced within the asylum process, the asylum system.

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And, what I would say is that one of the key findings,

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particularly that we work with a group

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of Albanian asylum seekers, is that

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how someone experiences trauma is very much

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culturally shaped and influenced, mainly

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because people, obviously,

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they were brought up in different places,

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non-Western context, let's say.

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Um, and the experience of trauma

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and how they talk about trauma is very much shaped by their,

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the cultural norms

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and practices from their, home country as it were.

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So, for instance, we know that in the Albanian culture,

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people don't talk about mental health

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because a sign of weakness.

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And, and, particularly men, they, they, they,

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if, if they talk about trauma, they are perceived

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as being, as being weak.

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And, and, given

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that they have this macho culture type of approach,

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we researched, this topic.

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So how the asylum, process can cause trauma, by

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engaging directly with the main beneficiaries

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that is asylum seekers,

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and particularly one of them, he worked with us

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as a peer researcher.

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So he was a research assistant on the, on the project.

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He was a former asylum seeker.

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He got a status, and then, he worked

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with us on the project.

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So again, here the focus,

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or the main objective is to capture that lived experience.

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So how they experienced, and,

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and by engaging them directly in research,

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we gave them voice and

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and agency just to share with them their own experience,

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in terms of how we work.

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So our research assistant, as I said,

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a former asylum seeker, he collected the data

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From a group of, Albanian asylum seekers.

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Uh, he did interviews,

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but we also used, workshops where we,

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brought together, both the asylum seekers,

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but also the, the, some of the stakeholders

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and practitioners to also, get their views about,

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the asylum process

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and those instances that can be traumatic.

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So the lived experience according to practitioners and,

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and social workers, for instance,

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but also the lived experience of, of the main beneficiaries

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that is the, the asylum seekers, themselves.

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Um, and I would just mention here the,

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the participatory methodology is very, rewarding

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and, and, provides very

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insightful data.

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However, you need to factor in the time

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to build that trust relationship,

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particularly given the fact that these populations,

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they suffered, trauma.

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So they're still, some of them suffered with, PTSD,

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and they, they don't trust anyone, I mean,

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but, but again, when you conduct research

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with them about them, for them, they know

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that their inputs can really make a difference in practice.

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And, and obviously to change the policy, we found out,

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first of all, that there are specific, factors

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and processes that cause trauma,

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and they can re-traumatize, asylum seekers.

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So for instance, when they arrive, the lack

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of knowledge about their rights, access to support

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and guidance, secondly, the legal complexities

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that are part of the asylum system.

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And given that they're already traumatized

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and in a very vulnerable, situation, they,

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they need someone to help them navigate the system.

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And, these are unaccompanied migrant

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children or, or young people.

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So, the fact that they're unaccompanied obviously

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compounds their situation.

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Thirdly, we also found out that, the delays

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and the uncertainty, underpinning

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that the UK asylum system,

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makes their situation even worse, mainly

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because they're stuck in limbo.

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They're just waiting for a decision.

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Um, and I would say finally,

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there is obviously the language barrier,

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so their English is not good.

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Obviously, if you don't speak the language,

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how are you supposed to, seek help and find help,

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and then social and cultural barriers

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that can cause stigma and isolation.

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And here I'm referring to the whole asylum system.

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So both in terms of, the home office of the, the,

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the immigration, system,

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but also access to social services, support,

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housing, so on and so forth.

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So we came up with a set of guidelines, a trauma informed

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practice guidelines for the asylum process.

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And these guidelines were co-developed

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with the young people themselves.

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So we, drew on their lived experience,

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and we drafted the guidelines, together w

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with this young people, we worked with, so for instance,

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the importance of building, trust relations.

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So in the uk there is a significant culture of,

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disbelief.

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So asylum seekers are not believed

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to be genuine asylum seekers.

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Uh, and obviously this has significant,

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negative consequences for someone's trust on whether they

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trust authorities, they trust,

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social workers, so and so forth.

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Um, secondly, promoting a humane approach

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based on compassion and empathy towards asylum.

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So treating these people as individuals

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with a story and,

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and with,

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having rights rather than just numbers in a system,

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giving voice agency and choice.

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So making sure that when, certain issues are decided

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for them, they are also consulted.

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Um, so the, the issue of, of agency, it's so important.

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Um, then we also know that, having

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cultural sensitivity

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and gender sensitivity as part

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of the asylum processes is so important.

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And this is linked to what I was saying earlier,

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how people experience mental health is very much culturally

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shaped culturally, influenced gender sensitivity,

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understanding that, female asylum seekers,

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they might have different needs, compared to say,

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male asylum seekers.

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And, finally, the awareness of mental health

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and trauma of, of asylum seekers.

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So if you are, an immigration officer,

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conducting an asylum interview with someone, if their

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account is not coherent, that may not be

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because they are lying, but that may be

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because of their mental health situation.

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Because we know, according to research,

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people suffering from PTSD, usually they are not in,

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they are incoherent in, in, in the way they tell stories.

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So if, if all the relevant professionals,

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particularly immigration officers, they know

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that those in front

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of them suffer from mental health issues, then that,

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that they should consider that in,

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in how they approach them. And then we

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Produce a set of specific recommendations that we think,

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all those relevant, institutions and,

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and organizations engaging

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with asylum seekers should consider.

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First of all, they should embed, trauma-informed,

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practice training in their processes.

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So if you work with vulnerable populations

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that suffer from mental health issues,

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so all those, professionals should get trauma informed

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training just to prepare them in terms of how to engage

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with, traumatized populations.

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Um, then once you have the training, secondly,

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there should be mechanism

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and structures put in place in order to monitor the,

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the extent to which this trauma informed

12:47.125 --> 12:48.845
practice is being pursued in practice.

12:49.235 --> 12:52.885
Okay, so how they are implementing this in practice.

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Um, thirdly, we think that, the trainers,

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those who provide trauma informed practice training

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should be those with a lived experience,

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so potentially asylum seekers who become trainers.

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So that lived experience is very important in,

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informing the training, how it is delivered and,

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and the content of the training.

13:18.505 --> 13:19.565
And I think finally,

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and this is I guess the, the very challenging one,

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organizations that work with vulnerable populations

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that suffer from, trauma traumatic experiences

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should change their culture, in order

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to obviously implement a trauma informed approach,

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to asylum and so on, so forth.

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Uh, because we know at the moment in the UK there is this,

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hostile environment that is being promoted,

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top down, anti-immigration policies,

13:56.495 --> 14:01.325
deterrence and certain, institutions,

14:01.525 --> 14:04.725
I mean, the home office being the main one,

14:04.875 --> 14:09.445
they have a very, it's, well, according to research,

14:09.505 --> 14:13.405
but also to our findings, they have a very hostile approach

14:13.915 --> 14:15.965
towards asylum seekers.

14:16.785 --> 14:21.645
Um, and what we recommend is that some

14:21.805 --> 14:24.445
of these institutions such as the home office,

14:25.075 --> 14:29.085
they should try and change their, their culture,

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the organizational culture in terms of how they engage

14:32.835 --> 14:34.845
with this, populations.

Understanding the Impact of the UK Asylum System on the Mental Health of Albanian Asylum Seekers**

00:00:00 - Our project. There were actually two that looked at the, experiences, the lived experiences of young asylum seeking people from Albania, in the uk. So how they experienced the asylum process, the asylum system. And, the first project was called Lives on Hold, our Stories told, and that was led by my colleague Helen Starford at Liverpool University. But we were a team of academics. And, we looked at how covid in particular has impacted the asylum claims of, young people seeking asylum in the uk. And one of the main findings from that project was the mental health dimension.
00:00:46 - The asylum system can, cause trauma and can re-traumatize, particularly young people and, and unaccompanied migrant children. So we work with a group of, miners and, and young people aged between 16 to 25. And as I said, one of the key findings from that project, which was called, lost Lives on Hold, our stories told, was that, the asylum process, here and the asylum system overall, has significant damaging mental health implications for, asylum seekers.
00:01:29 - conducting research, just trying to understand which particular aspects and processes of the UK asylum system, cause trauma, or are we retraumatizing the, young people seeking asylum in the uk. And trauma refers to an event or series of events or circumstances, that are experienced either by an individual or a group of people that are described as being harmful or life threatening. And in our research, we looked at, psychological trauma.
00:02:11 - are damaging for the mental health of people. and, I would say that when we talk about trauma and the asylum process or, or, asylum seekers more generally, we just need to differentiate between different types of trauma. So there is trauma that occurred in the country of origin, so pre-migration trauma, and that's why they are refugees or asylum seekers, particularly because they're fleeing persecution, war conflicts on so forth. Then there can be trauma that occurs during the migration journey.
00:02:51 - seeking sanctuary and, and protection. And then the third type of trauma is the one that occurs in the, the receiving country or the host country. And in our case, we looked at, at the uk and, so this is called the post migration trauma or the post migration stress, mental stress. and in our case, what we found was that, trauma is particularly caused by what happens in the host country or the receiving country. So these populations, they already arrive with a certain amount of trauma and, and,
00:03:31 - but how they are received in, in the, in, in the country that should provide them with, sanctuary and protection makes it even worse. So it, it further compounds their, their, their mental trauma, their psychological trauma. In our case, we looked at how trauma is experienced within the asylum process, the asylum system. And, what I would say is that one of the key findings, particularly that we work with a group of Albanian asylum seekers, is that how someone experiences trauma is very much

"Cultural Influences on Trauma Perception Among Albanian Asylum Seekers"

00:04:15 - because people, obviously, they were brought up in different places, non-Western context, let's say. and the experience of trauma and how they talk about trauma is very much shaped by their, the cultural norms and practices from their, home country as it were. So, for instance, we know that in the Albanian culture, people don't talk about mental health because a sign of weakness. And, and, particularly men, they, they, they, if, if they talk about trauma, they are perceived as being, as being weak.
00:04:55 - that they have this macho culture type of approach, we researched, this topic. So how the asylum, process can cause trauma, by engaging directly with the main beneficiaries that is asylum seekers, and particularly one of them, he worked with us as a peer researcher. So he was a research assistant on the, on the project. He was a former asylum seeker. He got a status, and then, he worked with us on the project. So again, here the focus, or the main objective is to capture that lived experience. So how they experienced, and,
00:05:40 - we gave them voice and and agency just to share with them their own experience, in terms of how we work. So our research assistant, as I said, a former asylum seeker, he collected the data From a group of, Albanian asylum seekers. he did interviews, but we also used, workshops where we, brought together, both the asylum seekers, but also the, the, some of the stakeholders and practitioners to also, get their views about,
00:06:19 - and those instances that can be traumatic. So the lived experience according to practitioners and, and social workers, for instance, but also the lived experience of, of the main beneficiaries that is the, the asylum seekers, themselves. and I would just mention here the, the participatory methodology is very, rewarding and, and, provides very insightful data. However, you need to factor in the time to build that trust relationship, particularly given the fact that these populations,
00:07:04 - So they're still, some of them suffered with, PTSD, and they, they don't trust anyone, I mean, but, but again, when you conduct research with them about them, for them, they know that their inputs can really make a difference in practice. And, and obviously to change the policy, we found out, first of all, that there are specific, factors and processes that cause trauma, and they can re-traumatize, asylum seekers. So for instance, when they arrive, the lack
00:07:46 - and guidance, secondly, the legal complexities that are part of the asylum system. And given that they're already traumatized and in a very vulnerable, situation, they, they need someone to help them navigate the system. And, these are unaccompanied migrant children or, or young people. So, the fact that they're unaccompanied obviously compounds their situation. Thirdly, we also found out that, the delays and the uncertainty, underpinning that the UK asylum system,

"Addressing the Challenges Faced by Asylum Seekers: Guidelines for Trauma-Informed Practices"

00:08:25 - because they're stuck in limbo. They're just waiting for a decision. and I would say finally, there is obviously the language barrier, so their English is not good. Obviously, if you don't speak the language, how are you supposed to, seek help and find help, and then social and cultural barriers that can cause stigma and isolation. And here I'm referring to the whole asylum system. So both in terms of, the home office of the, the, the immigration, system, but also access to social services, support,
00:09:07 - So we came up with a set of guidelines, a trauma informed practice guidelines for the asylum process. And these guidelines were co-developed with the young people themselves. So we, drew on their lived experience, and we drafted the guidelines, together w with this young people, we worked with, so for instance, the importance of building, trust relations. So in the uk there is a significant culture of, disbelief. So asylum seekers are not believed to be genuine asylum seekers. and obviously this has significant,
00:09:50 - trust authorities, they trust, social workers, so and so forth. secondly, promoting a humane approach based on compassion and empathy towards asylum. So treating these people as individuals with a story and, and with, having rights rather than just numbers in a system, giving voice agency and choice. So making sure that when, certain issues are decided for them, they are also consulted. so the, the issue of, of agency, it's so important.
00:10:38 - cultural sensitivity and gender sensitivity as part of the asylum processes is so important. And this is linked to what I was saying earlier, how people experience mental health is very much culturally shaped culturally, influenced gender sensitivity, understanding that, female asylum seekers, they might have different needs, compared to say, male asylum seekers. And, finally, the awareness of mental health and trauma of, of asylum seekers. So if you are, an immigration officer,
00:11:19 - account is not coherent, that may not be because they are lying, but that may be because of their mental health situation. Because we know, according to research, people suffering from PTSD, usually they are not in, they are incoherent in, in, in the way they tell stories. So if, if all the relevant professionals, particularly immigration officers, they know that those in front of them suffer from mental health issues, then that, that they should consider that in, in how they approach them. And then we Produce a set of specific recommendations that we think,
00:12:02 - and organizations engaging with asylum seekers should consider. First of all, they should embed, trauma-informed, practice training in their processes. So if you work with vulnerable populations that suffer from mental health issues, so all those, professionals should get trauma informed training just to prepare them in terms of how to engage with, traumatized populations. then once you have the training, secondly, there should be mechanism

"Implementing Trauma-Informed Practices: The Role of Lived Experience and Cultural Change in Asylum Support"

00:12:44 - the extent to which this trauma informed practice is being pursued in practice. Okay, so how they are implementing this in practice. thirdly, we think that, the trainers, those who provide trauma informed practice training should be those with a lived experience, so potentially asylum seekers who become trainers. So that lived experience is very important in, informing the training, how it is delivered and, and the content of the training. And I think finally,
00:13:24 - organizations that work with vulnerable populations that suffer from, trauma traumatic experiences should change their culture, in order to obviously implement a trauma informed approach, to asylum and so on, so forth. because we know at the moment in the UK there is this, hostile environment that is being promoted, top down, anti-immigration policies, deterrence and certain, institutions,
00:14:32 - they have a very, it's, well, according to research, but also to our findings, they have a very hostile approach towards asylum seekers. and what we recommend is that some of these institutions such as the home office, they should try and change their, their culture, the organizational culture in terms of how they engage with this, populations.

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