Poor housing conditions hinder rehabilitation of torture survivors
Substandard levels of accommodation are compromising the emotional well-being of torture survivors as they try to engage in rehabilitative work, warn experts at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture (MF).
Clients seen on a daily basis at the MF are reporting living conditions which significantly undermine their sense of safety and security.
As a result, clinicians and welfare officers say that clients' ability to engage in therapeutic work is being hampered by overriding anxieties about housing problems which in some cases, are left in abeyance for unacceptably lengthy periods by the private companies responsible.
Norma McKinnon, manager of the MF's Scotland centre, has intervened in a number of cases where clients have experienced problems with the accommodation allocated to them by the companies contracted by the Government to provide housing to asylum seekers.
She observed a distinct lack of understanding among housing officers about mental health issues and a manner of communication that was insensitive to the visible distress of torture survivors who are at once contending with the trauma of their personal experiences, and the added complications of seeking help with their housing concerns.
"This can have a profound effect on the well-being of torture survivors, who already having suffered multiple trauma and loss, feel that their security and safety are further compromised," said Ms McKinnon.
In the case of one client diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the torture he endured in Sudan, a broken window on his ground floor flat was not fixed for nine days - far longer than the 24-hour response time specified by the UK Border Agency in guidelines issued to the private companies responsible. In a separate incident, when the same client was relocated to alternative accommodation, he was left without his belongings for over a week and was provided with no bedding.
Front doors that do not lock, a lack of heating, yards strewn with litter that attract vermin, insecure mail delivery systems and broken beds are other concerns raised by clients during counselling and welfare advice sessions at the MF.
Ms McKinnon added: "Any contractor tasked with providing support for such a vulnerable client group has a responsibility to meet appropriate standards. Where that support appears to fall short, one has to ask, what is being done by the Government to monitor the situation and what actions are being taken to make the necessary improvements to a service for which they are ultimately accountable?"