Humans who are forced to leave their homes because of urgent need or political persecution constitute a group of special importance for psychotherapy and psychotherapists because of the frequency and degree of traumatic experiences encountered. In addition, the access of refugees to social, economic, medical and psychotherapeutic resources is very often highly restricted.

Work with refugees, displaced persons and migrants will be of increasing importance because of growing social pressures and migration in and to Europe. The psychotherapeutic treatment or counselling of many refugees requires special transcultural and professional skills. Resource-orientation, continuity, active outreach to community, the avoidance of any stigmatization and the close observance of the mutual dynamic of physical and psychological needs during recovery and adaptation phases is, in our opinion, central to prevention and therapy.

Professional psychotherapy is also a setting where special knowledge is acquired in regard to the personal situation and traumatic experiences, which is usually not the case in most other social situations. Because of this there is a special obligation of psychotherapists to speak in support of refugees and migrants in a general climate of intolerance and fear of dealing with culturally and socially "different" groups.

We therefore ask the EAP general assembly to adopt the following principles as part of its general policy:

1. - The EAP will take steps to increase the quality and availability of psychotherapy for refugees and displaced persons.

2. - Ethnic, cultural and social openness should be a basic principle in all psychotherapy, especially with refugees and displaced persons.

3. - The special skills, especially for transcultural therapy and the needs of seriously traumatised patient should be made a part of all training curricula in the European psychotherapeutic organisations. The EAP will also help to organise qualified advanced training programs for health professional working with refugees.

4. - To further this co-operation and facilitate the every day work of psychotherapists in all European countries measures will be taken by the EAP to help exchange information about cultures and ongoing events like training programs in all countries, especially also for countries with lower economic capacity and in war areas. This aim will also be supported by the setting up of a data base including information on this subjects with contributions by all member organisations.

5. - The EAP will be active in all international organisations, especially the countries and organisations of the European Community, to work against the increasing marginalization and persecution of humans seeking asylum from situations of violence. Most European countries do seriously neglect the needs of people who have survived extremely traumatizating situations like continuos persecution, Torture and war.

6. - In this aspect we want to confirm the importance of the final document of the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, 1993, which stresses the need to support and rehabilitate survivors of torture and other violent human rights violations.

The EAP Work Group on "Psychotherapy for Refugees and Displaced Persons" will set up sub - work groups to develop programs to realise the issues mentioned above.

Dr.med.Thomas Wenzel

Chair of the Working Group: "Psychotherapy for Refugees and Displaced Persons"