engleski

EXPERIENCE WITH MIGRANT CRISIS – CHALLENGE FOR SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE AND EDUCATION

According to the Croatian Ministry of Interior, 658, 068 refugees and migrants entered Croatia during the migrant crises on the so called Balkan route. During the refugee crisis from September 2015 to March 2016 about 340, 000 have passed through the transit center in Slavonski Brod. In Croatia there are two shelters for accommodation of applicants for international protection: in Kutina, with the capacity for 100 people, and in Zagreb (former hotel Porin) with accommodation capacity for 600 people. In addition, the Reception Centre for Foreigners was established in Ježevo and the order crossing point in Bajakovo on the Croatian- Serbian border, where refugees met with the police administration and the Border Police Directorate of the Ministry of Interior. Besides legal registration, medical care, psychosocial support for refugees and asylum seekers, education for their children, as one of the issues that Croatian government was facing with at that period of time was provided. The real challenge in this situation was how to meet basic needs of immigrants and refugees and to provide adequate help for people who went through the experience of war and came from different cultures and speak different languages. How to organize constructive and sufficient care for the needy and how to provide a humane response on many levels is a challenge in itself. In the 1990s, Croatia and neighbor countries went through the four year war period and have experience with providing different services for this group in need, and some knowledge and practice were useful in facing with this situation. Social work as a profession has always been directed to the needs and interests of the most vulnerable groups, such as immigrants and refugees. Experience in work with refugees and immigrants who are traumatized, sick, vulnerable, and belong to different age groups (from infants to the elderly) is a very stressful and challenging task for professional helpers. Professional knowledge and skills, personal and professional attitudes, ethical principles and other competences are important in order to provide a complete service to people in this situation. The question is how professionals should be prepared in order to achieve these professional goals, and how to provide professional help for them. The main goal of this presentation will be focused on suggestions concerning ways to improve social work curricula in order to prepare social work students for work with this group of clients on individual, group and local community levels. The second aim of this presentation is to examine current social work curricula in order to highlight the content that should be implemented in the curricula and enhance professional competences in this area, as well as to provide suggestions for designing national policy agendas pertaining to this issue.

migrations, practice, higher education

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