Short Guide on the Support and Care of Asylum Seeking Torture Victims

This short guide offers a framework to enable various professionals working in the context of asylum and refugee assistance to better respond to the unique needs of asylum seekers who are suffering from trauma or are torture victims. EU law requires all Member States to ensure that there are early identification procedures and adequate reception conditions for responding to torture victims or traumatized asylum-seekers (among other safeguards). As a majority of the asylum seekers entering the EU are fleeing armed conflicts, it’s increasingly important that professionals not only understand their role, but also have some familiarity with the roles of other asylum professionals in order to create a network of assistance. The compact guide is not meant to be comprehensive. Rather, it should serve as a useful introduction for professionals offering assistance to asylum seeking torture victims in various fields of work.

The publication is available in English, Hungarian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Greek and Georgian. The Georgian version was translated in the context of the Rehabilitation, Assistance and Identification with Sustainable Expertise – The RAISE Project in 2024 supported by the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.

The publication is part of the ACESO project, co-financed by the European Commission. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee led the initiative on which it worked together with the Cordelia Foundation, the Croatian Law Centre, the Foundation for Access to Rights, the Assistance Centre for Torture Survivors and the Greek Council for Refugees.