FXB Center Reports and Policy Briefs

Ensuring the Highest Attainable Standard of Health for Children Deprived of their Liberty 

Study Contributors: Kelly, T., Campbell A., Young, J., McLeod, K., Bhabha, J., Pearce, L., Southalan, L., Borschmann, R., Ratnam Raman, V., Kinner, S., 2024. Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Justice Health Group at Curtin University, François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University.

A team of researchers from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne, Australia, the Justice Health Group at Curtin University, and the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University collaborated on identifying, critiquing, and synthesizing current standards for healthcare for children deprived of their liberty in order to shine a light on one of the most neglected areas in the protection of children. 

Children who experience deprivation of liberty are distinguished by complex health problems that typically precede and contribute to their detention, and that may be further compounded by experiences of detention, particularly when the quality of healthcare in detention is suboptimal. With more than seven million children experiencing deprivation of liberty globally each year, the health of these children is important to global health and to efforts to reduce health inequalities. Despite this, remarkably little is known about either the health status of children deprived of liberty, or the health services available to them in these settings. Similarly, very little is known about children’s health outcomes after being deprived of liberty. The available evidence suggests that health services in places of detention are often inadequate, although the bulk of the evidence comes from a handful of high income, mostly Western countries. 

The aim of this report is to identify gaps in the system and assist the United Nations Task Force (UNTF) in its efforts to support the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and ensure that all children, including those deprived of their liberty in all settings, achieve the highest attainable standard of health. Setting and implementing minimum standards for healthcare in detention can help to drive improvements in the quality of care, and thereby improve health outcomes for children who experience deprivation of liberty. Read the report.

Building Inclusion, Sustaining Solidarity Towards Migrants in Frontline Local Communities: The case of Poland during the Ukrainian refugee crisis 

Study Contributors: Digidiki, V., Bhabha, J., Markowska-Manista, U. & Dobkowska, J., 2024. FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, Boston, USA.

The availability and persistence of local community solidarity are crucial resources for distress migrants, as they cope with the consequences of ruptured lives. However, this solidarity is neither inherent nor permanent. It is rather a fragile and finite resource that can erode if not properly sustained and reinforced. Anecdotal data from the field shows that when states fail to accompany and support their citizens in their spontaneous expression of solidarity toward distress migrants, solidarity rapidly dissipates and is replaced by fatigue, resentment and eventually outright hostility.

This preliminary empirical study’s goals are to document the factors that generate local solidarity and examine whether generous, well implemented state policies fueled by state actors’ preemptive attention to predictable needs can protect local communities from fatigue, and instead sustain solidarity and social inclusion of distress migrants over time.

To achieve this goal, the FXB Center conducted exploratory, qualitative research in 5 frontline local communities in Poland. Poland was chosen because of its state-driven vigorous and welcoming response to the very sizeable numbers of fleeing Ukrainians crossing into Poland after the Russian invasion in February, 2022. The dramatic asymmetry in the Polish response to Ukrainians arriving at Poland’s eastern border (with Ukraine) compared to all other recent refugee arrivals provides an additional lens for examining the impact of the different types of state engagement on local responses to distress migrants, responses that range from solidarity to virulent anti-migrant sentiment. Read the report.

Child Migrants in Family Immigration Detention in the US: An Examination of Current Pediatric Care Standards and Practices

Study Contributors: Sridhar, S., Digidiki, V., Kunichoff D., Bhabha, J., Sullivan, M., Gartland, MG., 2024. FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, Boston and MGH Asylum Clinic at the Center for Global Health.

Between 2017 and 2021, more than half a million children were detained in immigration detention, with more than 200,000 of these children being held for more than 72 hours. Violating basic children’s rights, the US continues to detain children for lengthy and arbitrary periods of time, placing them in detention facilities unsuitable for child health and safety. Furthermore, reporting and oversight from governmental and non-governmental agencies has documented devastatingly harmful conditions for children in family immigration detention including separation from parents, the use of prison facilities inappropriate for housing children, and limited access to qualified medical professionals leading to grave physical and mental health consequences. Medical studies have documented long-term consequences of detention on children in the US and around the world; however, to our knowledge there are no systematic studies describing the quality of pediatric health care based on primary medical documentation within the US family immigration detention system.

The Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES), the Child Health Immigration Research Team based out of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Asylum Clinic at the MGH Center for Global Health, and the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, collaborated to analyze the medical records of 165 children, between 6 months and 18 years old, detained at Karnes County Family Residential Center (KCFRC) ​​between June 2018 and October 2020.

Broadly, we found that existing health issues and care needs relating to physical and mental health were under-identified due to poor screening and minimal documentation of medical care, resulting in fragmentated and inadequate medical care. During prolonged detention the children in the study had limited access to basic healthcare, including key screenings and management of acute medical and mental health issues. Read the report.

From Evidence to Action: Twenty years of IOM child trafficking data to inform policy and programming

Study Contributors: Digidiki, V., Bhabha J., Connors K., Cook H., Galez-Davis C., Hansen C., Lane M., Laursen S., and Wong L., 2023. FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, Boston and International Organization for Migration (IOM), Geneva.

In July 2023, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University (FXB) published “From Evidence to Action: Twenty years of IOM child trafficking data to inform policy and programming.”

This report, a first of its kind, is based on analysis of extensive, globally sourced data, using the IOM Victims of Trafficking Database (VoTD), the largest available international database of individual victims of trafficking which contains primary data collected from approximately 69,000 victims of human trafficking of 156 nationalities, trafficked in 186 countries, who registered with IOM in 113 countries where IOM operates.

The study assessed the factors that drive vulnerability to trafficking, and revealed trends for the trafficking were mostly gendered, informed by education and income levels of the victims (and their families). For instance, boys were almost twice as likely to be trafficked as children than girls and had 39 per cent less likelihood of being trafficked internationally than domestically, as compared to girls. Victims with little or no education were more than 20 times more likely to be trafficked than victims who had attended high school while children from low-income countries were five times more likely to be trafficked as a child (rather than as an adult) when compared to victims from high-income countries. Read the report.

The Roma Holocaust/Roma Genocide in Southeastern Europe Report

Study Contributors: Margareta Matache, Gabriela Ghindea, Matei Demetrescu, Bogdan Chiriac, Mirko Đuković, Ram Hadroj, Hikmet Karčić, Eleni Argiro Kouki, Vjollca Krasniqi, Hristo Kyuchukov, David Dragoljub Orlović, Milovan Pisarri, Deniz Selmani, Alenka Janko Spreizer, and Serioja Bocsok

In June 2022, the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities and the Roma Program at the François Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights published “The Roma Holocaust/Roma Genocide in Southeastern Europe,” which provides synoptic knowledge that can be used to understand the place of Southeast Europe Roma in the Holocaust and WWII history, to examine practices of acknowledgment, memorialization, and commemoration, and to identify patterns of Roma Holocaust/Roma Genocide denial and distortion in eleven Southeast Europe countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia. Read the report.

Making the Public Health Case for Reparations: Landscape Report

In February 2022, the FXB Center released “Making the Public Health Case for Reparations: Landscape Report,” a first-of-its-kind report on reparations for Black Americans. The report considers whether longstanding racial health inequities could be mitigated by reparations efforts with the goal of engaging more health scholars in this conversation. Read the report.

Frontier Dialogue Consultations on Addressing Structural, Racial and Ethnicity-Based Discrimination

Frontier Dialogue consultations were led by WHO and UNESCO with support by OHCHR, IOM, UNDCO & UNDESA, under the umbrella of the UNSDG Task Team on Leaving No One Behind, Human Rights and the Normative Agenda, October 2020 to February 2021. With oversight from and co-authorship by a dedicated project steering group, this report was commissioned to the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University. The objective of this report is to provide United Nations country and humanitarian teams with a package of interventions, for adaptation to specific country contexts, to support rebuilding from the COVID-19 tragedy in a way that results in more just, equal and resilient societies.

See Migration Like Water: An Analysis of IOM Flow Monitoring Survey Data on Migration Flows in West and Central Africa

Vasileia Digidiki, Jacqueline Bhabha, Abhishek Bhatia, Samuel Peisch and the International Organization for Migration: Verena Sattler, Benedetta Cordaro, Harry Cook

This FXB Center and International Organization for Migration (IOM) report analyzes intersecting aspects of migrant vulnerability across the most popular West and Central African migration routes – examining risk and protective factors at the individual, household, community, and structural level – and provides recommendations to protect migrants. Watch the FXB Center’s Professor Jacqueline Bhabha and Dr. Vasileia Digidiki discuss the report’s findings with IOM researchers here, and read the report in English and French.

From the War on Drugs to Harm Reduction: Imagining a Just Response to the Overdose Crisis

In Spring 2020, the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, First Focus on Children, and Open Society Foundations convened a group of experts in public health, harm reduction, drug policy, and child welfare. The experts shared ideas on how to direct the opioid litigation settlement funds toward structural and policy reform that advances public health and health equity. “From the War on Drugs to Harm Reduction: Imagining a Just Response to the Overdose Crisis,” released December 16, 2020, reflects the views of these leading experts and contains specific recommendations for policy makers and advocates. Read the report here and view the infographic.

Romani Realities in the United States: Breaking the Silence, Challenging the Stereotypes

Margareta Matache, Jacqueline Bhabha, Ian Alley, Murphy Barney, Samuel Francis Peisch, Veronica Lewin and Voice of Roma: Carol Silverman, Kristin Day

This FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University report explores the social and economic conditions of Romani people in the United States. The research project was undertaken to improve the understanding of Romani Americans and generate an empirical base to challenge widely inaccurate characterizations relating to them. The FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard and Voice of Roma collaborated on this research project. Read the report here and view the infographic.

FXB Short Papers

Reflections on the current war in Palestine (as of November 12, 2023)

Jennifer Leaning, MD, SMH, Senior Research Fellow, Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University; Professor of Health and Human Rights, retired, Harvard School of Public Health; former Director of the Harvard FXB Center; and former Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

FXB Center Newsletters

December 2023 FXB Newsletter

Our December 2023 newsletter marked the 75th year since the UN General Assembly approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights  on December 10, 1948, thenceforth marked as Human Rights Day. FXB Director, Mary Bassett, and Director of Research, Jacqueline Bhabha, reflect on this occasion. The newsletter also provides an update on recent writings and publications and an overview of open application calls for our summer programs, doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships, and recordings of past events. Read it here and sign up to subscribe here.

September 2023 FXB Center Newsletter

Our September 2023 newsletter welcomes everyone back after the summer break, introduces new members of the FXB community, and serves as an overview of recent work and activity as FXB celebrates 30 years, from the completion of our intensive summer courses on migration and refugee studies in Greece and social medicine in Palestine, to the publication of the FXB-IOM report on child trafficking and awards received by members of our team for their outstanding work. Read it here and sign up to subscribe here.

April 2023 FXB Center Newsletter

Our April 2023 newsletter provides an update on various upcoming events, including the 11th annual Roma Conference marking International Roma Day, and an overview of recent press and publications. It also highlights new members of the FXB team and student cohort and the accomplishments by FXB affiliates and. Read it here and sign up to subscribe here.

December 2022 FXB Center Newsletter

Our December 2022 newsletter provides an update on the return of Dr. Bassett as FXB Center Director in January 2023 and highlights the important work of FXB Center scholars. This work is particularly relevant to the 2023 Human Rights Day theme of “Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All.” It also summarizes recent events, publications and media coverage from FXB Center faculty, staff and affiliates and the latest issue of the Health and Human Rights Journal. Read it here and sign up to subscribe here.

September 2022 FXB Center Newsletter

Our September 2022 newsletter provides an update on the Center’s ongoing work, including recent and upcoming events, publications and media coverage from FXB Center faculty, staff and affiliates. It also highlights the new Palestine Program page as well as an overview of the inaugural intensive summer course on migration and refugee studies in Greece. Read it here and sign up to subscribe here.

May 2022 FXB Center Newsletter

Our May 2022 newsletter provides an update and message from Acting Director Dr. Natalia Linos on current events and their impact of oppression on health and health equity. The newsletter also provides a summary of upcoming and past events, a round up of publications and media coverage, and a statement from Director of Research Professor Jaqueline Bhabha regarding the invasion of Ukraine. Read it here and sign up to subscribe here.

February 2022 FXB Center Newsletter

Our February 2022 newsletter provides an update from Acting Director Dr. Natalia Linos. The newsletter also includes a summary of FXB Center events, and publications and media coverage from Center faculty, staff, fellows, students and affiliates. Read it here and sign up to subscribe here.

More newsletters and reports can be found below in the FXB Center Publication Archives.

FXB Center Publication Archives

2021
2020

2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014