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| Founded | 1999 |
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| Location |
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| Fields | Refugees, Asylum seekers, Victims of Torture |
| Website | spirasi |
Spirasi (Spiritan Asylum Services Initiative) is the Irish national independent centre for the rehabilitation of victims of torture.
| | |
| Founded | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Location |
|
| Fields | Refugees, Asylum seekers, Victims of Torture |
| Website | spirasi |
Spirasi (Spiritan Asylum Services Initiative) is the Irish national independent centre for the rehabilitation of victims of torture.
Spirasi, the Spiritan Asylum Services Initiative, was founded in 1999 as an English language centre by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. From 2001, the organisation began to provide victims of torture in Ireland with legal, medical, psychological, and psychosocial support. [1] The first director of the torture-survivors' programme was Father Michael Begley. [2]
The group's central goals are:
Spirasi was one of the organisations which attempted to aid Ms Y as she sought an abortion in Ireland in 2013. [4] Spirasi celebrated its 20-year anniversary with a reception at the President of Ireland's residence, Áras an Uachtaráin on 26 March 2019. [5] [6]
Spirasi utilise a multidisciplinary approach for initial assessments of victims of torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment which incorporates medical, therapeutic and psychosocial elements.
They provide:
Alongside 8 other organisations, including Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland, Spirasi called on the Irish government to speed up the processing of vulnerable asylum seekers to get them out of direct provision centres as quickly as possible. [7] Spirasi are one of the organisations included in the Asylum Archive, a project which documents the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland including direct provision. [8] [9]
Freedom from Torture is a British registered charity which provides therapeutic care for survivors of torture who seek protection in the UK. Since it was established in 1985, over 57,000 survivors of torture have been referred to the organisation for help and it is one of the world’s largest torture treatment centres.
Migrant Help is a United Kingdom-based national charity that has been supporting migrants since 1963.
The International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) is a unit of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. It is responsible for the provision of accommodation and related services to people in the international protection process, being those applying for refugee status or subsidiary protection.
Helen Rae Bamber OBE, néeHelen Balmuth, was a British psychotherapist and human rights activist. She worked with Holocaust survivors in Germany after the concentration camps were liberated in 1945. In 1947, she returned to Britain and continued her work, helping to establish Amnesty International and later co-founding the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. In 2005, she created the Helen Bamber Foundation to help survivors of human rights violations.
The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) is an independent, international health professional organization that promotes and supports the rehabilitation of torture victims and works for the prevention of torture worldwide. Based in Denmark, the IRCT is the umbrella organization for over 160 independent torture rehabilitation organizations in 76 countries that treat and assist torture survivors and their families. They advocate for holistic rehabilitation for all victims of torture, which can include access to justice, reparations, and medical, psychological, and psycho-social counseling. The IRCT does this through strengthening the capacity of their membership, enabling an improved policy environment for torture victims, and generating and share knowledge on issues related to the rehabilitation of torture victims. Professionals at the IRCT rehabilitation centers and programs provide treatment for an estimated 100,000 survivors of torture every year. Victims receive multidisciplinary support including medical and psychological care and legal aid. The aim of the rehabilitation process is to empower torture survivors to resume as full a life as possible. In 1988, IRCT, along with founder Inge Genefke, was given the Right Livelihood Award "for helping those whose lives have been shattered by torture to regain their health and personality."
José Quiroga Fuentealba is a cardiologist who served as a physician to Chilean president Salvador Allende. During the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, Quiroga witnessed the Chilean Army assault the government palace. He was detained and beaten until his release was ordered by a Chilean military general.
The United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is an international observance held annually on 26 June to speak out against the crime of torture and to honour and support victims and survivors throughout the world.
This is a day on which we pay our respects to those who have endured the unimaginable. This is an occasion for the world to speak up against the unspeakable. It is long overdue that a day be dedicated to remembering and supporting the many victims and survivors of torture around the world.
On this International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, we express our solidarity with, and support for, the hundreds of thousands of victims of torture and their family members throughout the world who endure such suffering. We also note the obligation of States not only to prevent torture but to provide all torture victims with effective and prompt redress, compensation and appropriate social, psychological, medical and other forms of rehabilitation. Both the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council have now strongly urged States to establish and support rehabilitation centers or facilities.
MERCY Malaysia or Malaysian Medical Relief Society is a non-profit organisation focusing on providing medical relief, sustainable health related development and risk reduction activities for vulnerable communities in both crisis and non-crisis situations. As a non-profit organisation, MERCY Malaysia relies solely on funding and donations from organisations and generous individuals to continue their services to provide humanitarian assistance to beneficiaries, both in Malaysia and internationally. The organisation is a registered society according to the Societies Act 1966 in Malaysia, and the headquarters is in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.
The Program for Torture Victims (PTV) is a non-profit organization that provides medical, psychological, case management and legal services to torture survivors. PTV serves more than 300 victims of state-sponsored torture from over 65 countries annually.
Direct provision is a system of asylum seeker accommodation used in the Republic of Ireland. The system has been criticised by human rights organisations as illegal, inhuman and degrading. The system, operated by the International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, provides international protection applicants with accommodation and a small allowance. International protection applicants in direct provision are usually entitled to state-funded medical care, and children have full mainstream access to the education system.
Fedasil is a Belgian institution that is responsible for the reception of asylum seekers. The organisation is further responsible for the observation and orientation of unaccompanied minor foreign nationals (UMFNs). The reception of asylum seekers is provided at individual reception locations or collective reception centres.
Launched in 2014, Justice Centre Hong Kong is an independent, non-profit human rights organisation that focuses on the protection of refugees and asylum seekers in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has long been a hub of migration and refuge due to wars in the region and Hong Kong’s historical role as a trading and transit entrepôt. There were estimated to be 14,000 refugees in the territory in 2017, and these refugees are in need of extensive legal assistance as the 0.8 substantiation rate is extremely low compared to rates of 25-62% per cent in other developed jurisdictions. Before early 2014 the organisation was known as the Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre (HKRAC), which in 2007 had grown out of the Refugee Advice Unit from another local organisation working with refugees, Christian Action. And spun off by human rights lawyers Jennifer Stone and Raquel Amador, who were the first Directors. In 2012 Aleta Miller became Executive Director, helping HKRAC win the Clifford Chance Foundation Access to Justice Award in 2012, and relaunching the organisation as Justice Centre Hong Kong in 2014. From 2015 the Executive Director was Piya Muqit, who was previously head of policy and advocacy at UNICEF UK. In November 2020 Melanie McLaren was appointed Executive Director.
The Bellevue Program for Survivors of Torture (PSOT) was established in 1995 as joint project of Bellevue Hospital Center and the New York University School of Medicine to address the complex needs of torture survivors residing in the New York Metropolitan area. Since its founding, the Program continues to operate from Bellevue Hospital Center, located at 462 First Avenue CD723, New York City, NY 10016. The Program is the first and largest torture treatment center in the New York City area, providing multidisciplinary and comprehensive medical, mental health, legal, and social services to victims of torture and their families. PSOT's mission is to assist individuals subjected to torture and other human rights abuses to rebuild healthy, self-sufficient lives, and contribute to global efforts to end torture. Since its inception in 1995, PSOT has provided care to help rebuild the lives of more than 5,000 men, women, and children from over 100 countries.
The Hotline for Refugees and Migrants (Hotline) is a human rights organization that utilizes direct service provision, litigation, and advocacy to uphold the rights of refugees, migrant workers, and survivors of human trafficking in Israel. In Hebrew, the organization is known as המוקד לפליטים ולמהגרים (hamoked l'plitim v l'mehagrim).
The Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland (MASI) is an Irish advocacy group for those seeking international protection in Ireland, with the goals of ending direct provision and deportation.
The Irish Refugee Council (IRC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental organisation that protects the rights of people affected by displacement.
The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) is a non-governmental organisation and independent law centre based in Ireland which advises migrants on their rights while advocating for increased migrant protections.
Doras is an Irish independent, non-governmental organisation advocating for the rights of migrants in Ireland based in Limerick.
Bulelani Mfaco is a South African former asylum seeker and activist in Ireland, and spokesperson for the Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland.
Nasc is an Irish independent, non-governmental migrant rights centre in Ireland, based in Cork.