Guest blogger Alan Goldfarb writes about barriers to refugees and asylum-seekers due to far-reaching definitions of terrorism.

Refuge: Caring for Survivors of Torture is an insightful one-hour documentary about the experiences of torture survivors and those who provide care to them. It highlights the need for appropriate, sensitive care for all survivors who seek refuge in the United States. Interviews with a number of survivors as well as professionals working at torture rehabilitation centers – including CVT – humanize and demystify the process of healing after extreme violence.Producer/director Ben Achtenberg spoke to us about his film. Ben is the owner and project director of the Refuge Media Project, in Boston, Massachusetts.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently announced a new five-year global strategy, Beyond Detention, to assist countries to move away from the detention of asylum seekers, refugees, and stateless people worldwide. According to UNHCR, the practice of detaining asylum seekers and refugees has become routine in several countries.

The New York Times recently reported on migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and the hardship to those seeking asylum in the United States caused by the backlog of cases pending before the immigration courts.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today released a report on the number of asylum claims in 44 industrialized countries.