Consequences of the Flight About one third of the refugee children are mentally disturbed

"Welcoming culture"? - Refugee children in Germany further discriminated
Up to one million refugees are expected in Germany for the entire year. Once they have reached war and expulsion behind them and after a life-threatening trip to Germany, they are often not sufficiently cared for here. Especially refugee children suffer from the consequences of the flight.

One third of the children are psychologically stressed
According to a new study, refugee children suffer particularly as a result of an escape. As reported by the news agency dpa, an investigation of 100 Syrian children in the Bayernkaserne in Munich revealed that around a third was psychologically stressed. Every fifth child suffered from a post-traumatic stress disorder. "This is the first representative study to be conducted on this scale in Germany," said Volker Mall, professor of social pediatrics at the Technische Universität München, on Tuesday.

Mental strains of refugee children. Image: kmiragaya - fotolia

Refugees experience discrimination in Germany
According to the information, each child was examined twice for three hours by native-speaking physicians and psychologists. "Especially post-traumatic stress disorder is a big challenge for us," said Mall. The experiences of war and torture in their home countries and the months-long flight to Europe were a heavy burden on the children. But the situation in Germany also contributes to the psychological burden of many children. They experienced social isolation and discrimination in this country. "There is a lack of a welcoming culture in Germany," Mall emphasized. "A big problem is the long stay in Erstaufnahmeeinrichtungen. Many children stay in these accommodations for 200 days - and that must change! "

Asylum seekers are second-class patients
In addition, the current study shows that refugee children suffer more from physical illnesses such as tooth decay and respiratory diseases than other children in Germany. Once here, they only have a claim to minimal health care, as experts have been criticizing for years. Medical associations, charities, churches and refugee organizations have in the past pushed for asylum seekers to be included in statutory health insurance. Refugees were referred to as second-class patients. In addition, refugee children often miss important vaccinations. This was also evident in the large measles outbreak in Berlin a few months ago. At the time, health experts had pointed out that, among other things, many Syrian children were no longer vaccinated because of the civil war in their former home. For safety reasons, some paediatricians in Berlin had advised that babies should be left home for measles.

Medical care of refugee children
Professor Mall now pledged to pay more attention to the refugee children: "Children fall through the nets in many places. We demand a higher priority of care for families with children. "It is not about intensive psychotherapeutic care for the children. It would be much more an easily accessible counseling service for families to inform them to whom they can turn to appropriate problems. The medical care of refugee children will also be the topic of the annual meeting of the German Society for Paediatrics and Youth, the This Wednesday starts in Munich. There, 3,000 physicians are advised on new research results and therapeutic options for children and adolescents. (Ad)