» Published on
20. Juli 2020
How refugees live
The kind of accommodation given to refugees may impact on their health. But it is not just housing conditions that are important, says public health scientist Oliver Razum, it is also freedom of movement and being able to make one's own decisions. Excessive controls, in contrast, could turn the time spent in the host country into a torment and a health risk. Oliver Razum repeatedly returns to one pivotal sentence: ‘Refugees must have the chance to shape their lives themselves.’ Any assistance that is ultimately a disempowerment is not really help at all: it paralyses and frustrates. The scientist also calls for refugees to be granted the same access to healthcare as the majority population.
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