Study: Guatemalans Suffer 20 Years After Fleeing War

Two decades ago, roughly 200,000 Mayan refugees fled the long civil war in their native Guatemala to live as refugees in Mexico. A University of Georgia-led research team has found many of the refugees are still suffering from mental illnesses, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. The UGA study, published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, attributed this to a variety of factors, including human rights violations.

“ There are 40 million refugees and displaced persons worldwide,” said Larry Nackerud, interim dean at UGA’s School of Social Work and co-author of the study. “The results of this survey are particularly important now since the [United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] is phasing out programs.