ABSTRACT
Forced migration represents a complex and cumulative trauma which is characterised right from the beginning by a state of emergency, exception and stigmatisation, followed by a range of unforeseen additional problems while in exile. Racist harassment was regrettably evident in all the clients' lives in exile including, for example, quite unpleasant incidents during the Gulf war when they themselves came to be seen as representing the muslim enemy by the ignorant man in the street. Man-made trauma should always be seen in the context of the relationship that exists between the individual and his or her society. The human rights organisations fear that the victims are deprived of the possibility of rebuilding their shattered identity by crediting the immoral acts to a sick system of society. When they are of human design, however, those who bear witness are caught up in the conflict between the victim and perpetrator.
