Psychological and organizational aspects of migration of a special group of refugees: The example of the special quota project baden-wuerttemberg with yazidi women and children in freiburg

Abstract

After the genocide of Yazidis in August 2014 in Shingal, northern Iraq, the humanitarian admissions program Special Quota Project Baden-Wuerttemberg (Sonderkontingent Baden-Württemberg) was implemented. One thousand one hundred Yazidi women and children were brought to Germany and hosted by different municipalities. The target group is a particularly vulnerable group of persons with a high risk for developing psychological disorders connected to exposure to traumatic events. This chapter gives an overview of the psychological and organizational aspects of the migration process and the concept of care in Freiburg for 205 Yazidi women and children. A stepped-care approach was developed to introduce Yazidi people to the daily life and the health care system in Germany. An outreach of psychological services and interdisciplinary cooperation of all services involved was crucial.