How can Europe be more traumatising than Mosul?

How can Europe be more traumatising than Mosul?

By Monika Gattinger

   I’ve done many assignments providing mental health services to people around

the world. Until now, Mosul earlier this year was the worst I had ever seen. The people I met had  ed for their lives from IS and were traumatised by what they had experienced. But when they arrived at the MSF trauma centre they felt safe, which meant that they responded well to psychological support. The foundation that people need to be able to do that is completely missing in Moria, a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Moria is chaos. It was built to temporarily house 2000 people in 2015, but now holds close to 7000. The people who make it to Moria have o en escaped unimaginable

su ering and survived long, dangerous journeys to get there. They arrive full of hope. Then they  nd themselves stranded in an overcrowded camp where living conditions are inhuman and with no clarity on what will happen to them or if they will ever leave.

The support we provide can only go so far— it’s not a permanent solution. What makes it so hard for me is that all of this is preventable. Moria has been intentionally neglected by European governments in the hope that it will act as a deterrent to others considering making the journey. But Europe has grossly underestimated how desperate people are. Monika Gattinger is a psychologist and psychotherapist who joined MSF in her retirement

Monika Gattinger is a psychologist and psychotherapist who joined MSF in her retirement

From the British Medical Journal