36 Part I: Recognition and usage fully taken into account. The Dutch Government is currently (autumn 2008) preparing a proposal on a general review of the Aliens Act 2000. In 2006 a project was launched on psychological reporting of asylum seekers with mental health problems. This so-called “MAPP” project is supported by several Dutch NGOs and advocates for better treatment of asylum seekers within the accelerated asylum procedure. The project devised an “early warning checklist”: a list of signs and symptoms of mental health problems frequently seen among asylum seekers. This tool is used to identify as early as possible asylum seekers with mental health problems. Lawyers and Dutch Council for Refugees volunteers are trained in using this checklist, because they usually meet newly arrived asylum seekers within the first days of arrival and are in the position to do this early identification. The MAPP project also developed a protocol for extended psychological examination, based on the Istanbul Protocol. The MAPP protocol includes a psychiatric interview, a non-verbal concentration test, a questionnaire on PTSD, and a widely used inventory on all psychopathology. In addition, if necessary, a non-verbal test that measures IQ can be included. These examinations are performed by highly qualified psychologists and psychiatrists who voluntarily do this work within the timeframe of the accelerated procedure (48 working hours). The professionals were trained on how to use the protocol and how to write the psychological report. Everyday implementation of the MAPP project is as follows: when a lawyer or a volunteer of the Dutch Council for Refugees, using the early warning checklist, identifies signs of mental health problems that might interfere with the ability of the asylum seeker to deliver an account in a coherent and consistent way, he contacts a staff member of the MAPP. If a psychologist-volunteer is available, an examination is organised within 48 working hours at the reception centre where the asylum procedure starts. This examination usually lasts two hours and results in a report that is sent to the lawyer to be used in the asylum procedure. The examination focuses on the following question: “Are there mental health problems interfering with the applicant’s ability to render a coherent and consistent account in the asylum procedure?”

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