ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ: ΕΞΕΛΙΞΕΙΣ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΦΥΓΙΚΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟΚΛΗΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ

Ntina Tzavara 223 the re-emerge of the feelings a person experienced when the original event took place 16 . Detained asylum seekers who have been victims of torture, often display the fol- lowing common psychological and behavioral patterns during their interview: de- nial (as a coping mechanism due to the stress being caused by the narration of the events), memory and concentration difficulties (usually caused by augmented stress; the narration appears to be vague, inconsistent or without details), fear or/and lack of trust (especially when past tortures were conducted by authorities, hence the person conducting the interview or the interpreter is identified with the perpetrator of the torment in the mind of the applicant) and lack of predict- able reactions (for example laughter while narrating of a particularly horrifying event) 17 . Memory problems may also be an outcome of the torture itself, in cases where a person experienced dissociation or emotional numbness, while he has tortured. Dissociation is an internal self-protecting mechanism that causes a disconnection into the ‘usual sense of self, causing discontinuities is conscious awareness, such as memory, identity or perception malfunctions 18 ’. Even as a secondary chain re- action related to past traumatic experiences, during their asylum interview, thus being in a context related to high levels of stress, most of applicants seem to ex- perience dissociation, experts say 19 . Another important factor affecting how/the way torture victims experience ad- ministrative detention is the fact that closed facilities probably share similari- ties to the places where their torture took place, which, along with the loss of freedom and self-determination, revive the feelings experienced during being tortured, thus causing unnecessary suffering 20 . Contemporary theories about trau- matic memories conclude that a damaging experience is not similar to an every- day event. Autobiographical memory is characterized by remembrances located 16. Herlihy J. / Turner S. , The Psychology of Seeking Protection’, Int. Jour. Refug. Law, 2009. 17. For a more detail presentation of the subject, see ‘Training Manual On Victims Of Torture’ Refugee Protection Division Professional Development Branch-Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, available at http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/Eng/RefClaDem/ Pages/ Guide Torture aspx. 18. International Society for the study of Trauma and Dissociation, available at isst-d.org. 19. Study of UK Home Office interviews (Bogner, Herlihy & Brewin, ‘Impact of sexual violence on disclosure during Home Office interviews’ (2007) 191 British Journal of Psychiatry 75- 81. The study was conducted to a group of 28 refugees and asylum seekers, in order to register among others, if any of the participants experienced dissociation during their asylum interview. The outcome showed that dissociation scored 46 out of the maximum score of 50 and had the higher rate of predictor in terms of the registered difficulties that an individual faces with during his interview. 20. Cleveland J., Psychological harm and the case for alternatives, FRM ibid.