Despite known links between alcohol abuse and issues of health, poverty, and violence, little concentrated action has been directed towards vulnerable migrant populations. This is not due to a lack of capability. An inexhaustible list of NGOs and agencies have long been working with migrant groups on related issues, yet remarkably few organizations include alcohol education or rehabilitation among their list of programs. This gap represents an unfortunate missed opportunity.
Also published recently, although not in full-text, was the following journal article: "Drinking and Displacement: A Systematic Review of the Influence of Forced Displacement on Harmful Alcohol Use" (Substance Use & Misuse, vol. 45, no. 13, Nov. 2010). The authors conclude that "There is a significant need to improve the quality and quantity of research on harmful alcohol use by forcibly displaced persons in order to better understand the scale and nature of the problem and inform appropriate response strategies" (p. 235). (Note: Other literature reviews that have focused on the issue of substance abuse among displaced populations are available via my forced migration research guide.)The latest issue of Intervention: International Journal of Mental Health, Psychosocial Work and Counselling in Areas of Armed Conflict (vol. 8, no. 3, Nov. 2010) includes a focus on substance abuse in refugee settings, with the following articles: "Screening and brief intervention for high-risk alcohol use in Mae La refugee camp, Thailand: a pilot project on the feasibility of training and implementation," "Perspectives on alcohol and substance abuse in refugee settings: lessons from the field," and "The hunting of the snark: detecting and managing abusers of alcohol and other drugs in refugee camps – a commentary on Ezard et al. and Streel & Schilperoord."
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