Syria: UN research indicates high levels of trauma among Iraqi refugees

[Barrett808]

Source: IRIN

DAMASCUS, 22 January 2008 (IRIN) - Iraqi refugees in Syria are suffering from extreme levels of trauma, far higher than among refugees elsewhere from other recent conflicts, according to new figures released on 22 January by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The figures, based on interviews with 754 refugees and analysed by the US Center for Disease Control using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSC) and the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ), reveal that 89.5 percent are suffering from depression, 81.6 percent from anxiety and 67.6 percent from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

"We are shocked by the statistics, but at the same time we are not surprised because every hour of the day there is somebody who reports torture, there is someone who reports the devastating effects of the violence," said Sybella Wilkes, spokesperson for the UNHCR in Syria.

Compared to similar studies conducted during and after conflicts in Kosovo and Afghanistan, the figures demonstrate the depth of emotional despair felt by Iraqi refugees in Syria.

A study conducted in Kosovo in 2003, four years after the end of the war against Serb forces, showed a PTSD level of 25 percent, while an Afghanistan study from 2004 conducted during a Taliban-led insurgency showed a PTSD level of 42.1 percent - both dramatically lower than the Iraqi level.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/71e1310f30d49df0dc8fa9061e3486c6.htm

---

Trauma survey in Syria
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/6a40a96126e20ee42aea7be4d00b095c.htm