Abstract

This paper aims to shed light on clinical-anthropological experience gained at Rome’s INMP during the treatment of forced migrants. The expressions of distress exhibited by these people can frequently be attributed to the difficult conditions of reception they are exposed to in Italy or to episodes of violence in their countries of origin or during their journey through transit countries. For the asylum seeker the clinical setting can become a space that recognises his subjectivity during the process of recognition of international protection. At this stage, the body, too often perceived as “suspect” or “ill” by the receiving context, takes on a prominent role through its expressions of suffering and becomes a “trace” of past, present and possible future existence. Through the presentation of clinical cases, the project will illustrate the ways in which the body that is denied rights and politics overlap in the stories and biographies told by forced migrants.