Mental Health of Asylum Seekers Essays

Mental Health of Asylum Seekers Essays Mental Health of Asylum Seekers Paper Mental Health of Asylum Seekers Paper In the past, most refugees who permanently resettled in the traditional recipient countries of North America, Europe, and Australasia were screened prior to arrival in a host country. In the last decade, increasing numbers of unauthorized refugees or asylum seekers, those who formally lodge application for refugee status in the country in which they are residing, have applied for protection after crossing the borders of these countries. Concerns about uncontrolled migration have encouraged host countries to adopt policies of deterrence in which increasingly restrictive measures are being imposed on persons seeking asylum. These measures include, variously, confinement in detention centers, enforced dispersal within the community, the implementation of more stringent refugee determination procedures, and temporary forms of asylum. In several countries, asylum seekers living in the community face restricted access to work, education, housing, welfare, and, in some situations, to basic health care services. Allegations of abuse, untreated medical and psychiatric illnesses, suicidal behavior, hunger strikes, and outbreaks of violence among asylum seekers in detention centers have been reported. Although systematic research into the mental health of asylum seekers is in its infancy, and methods are limited by sampling difficulties, there is growing evidence that salient postmigration stress facing asylum seekers adds to the effect of previous trauma in creating risk of ongoing posttraumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric symptoms. The medical profession has a role in educating governments and the public about the potential risks of imposing excessively harsh policies of deterrence on the mental health of asylum seekers. Riots The escape followed riots involving about 150 detainees at the facility last week. The violence was begun by four men who had had refugee applications rejected and were told they would be deported. One man tried to sew his lips together and two others cut themselves with glass during the riots, officials said. Thousands of would-be immigrants are caught each year trying to enter Australia illegally, often after perilous voyages from Asia in decrepit boats owned by people-smuggling gangs. More than 4,000 such immigrants arrived during 1999, sparking a controversial deterrence campaign from the Australian Government highlighting the dangers of making the journey to Australia. The illegal arrivals are held in detention centers while authorities process their applications for refugee status. This policy of mandatory detention has sparked an outcry by church and human rights groups. Detainees at the three biggest camps Port Hedland, Curtin and Woomera have staged peaceful breakouts and hunger strikes and unleashed bursts of violence to protest being held and denied rights afforded to those refugees who arrive legally. The Government says the bulk of the rioting and disturbances at the detention centers is caused by long-term inmates who realize their refugee status will be denied and believe that rioting will pressure the Government to release them. Critics of the camps protest the outsourcing of their management to the U. S. -owned prison management firm Australasian Correctional Management, saying it is wrong for a private firm seeking to seek profit from managing refugees. Detainees have said children were sprayed with tear gas during a recent riot at one of the centers. They also complain that staff taunt and beat detainees and say people are sent away without adequate clothing and medication when their refugee claims are finally accepted. But camp officials and the Government deny mistreatment and point to well-stocked facilities with nutritional menus as well as education and recreation programs. Letter to His Excellency Michael Thawley, Embassy of Australia, Concerning Detention of Asylum Seekers His Excellency Michael Thawley Embassy of Australia 1601 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, D. C. 20036 Dear Ambassador Thawley: I write on behalf of the U. S. Committee for Refugees (USCR), a non-governmental organization concerned with refugee protection worldwide, to urge you to refrain from detaining asylum seekers except in exceptional circumstances and to examine more closely conditions within your refugee detention centers. In the past two years, Australia has seen a significant increase in the number of asylum seekers, particularly from the Middle East. It is appropriate for you to consider ways to best respond to this increase. However, legitimate immigration concerns must be carefully balanced with your obligations under the UN Refugee Convention. We are concerned that recent actions of your government aimed at discouraging undocumented immigration may prevent genuine refugees from seeking and obtaining asylum in Australia. Moreover, conditions at the Woomera Detention Center in South Australia- which led to a riot by detainees on August 29- have drawn condemnation from UN committees and human rights organizations. We join them in urging you to grant UN monitors greater access to evaluate living conditions at this and other centers. The detention policy ignores the physical and psychological trauma that many asylum seekers have experienced before arriving in Australia. Australias mandatory imprisonment policy confines asylum seekers arriving without official documentation to isolated, wire-fenced enclosures for lengthy periods marked by the absence of information about their future. Since the opening of the Woomera detention center in November of last year, tensions have been simmering, although Immigration Minister Ruddock has denied that conditions are inhumane. Given the recent riot and the breakout in June of this year, where 750 illegal immigrants at three detention centers protested the delays in processing their asylum applications, your government should carefully re-evaluate its detention policies as well as the standards within these facilities. We firmly believe that asylum seekers should not be detained except under exceptional circumstances. However, adequate facilities must exist for all persons placed in immigration detention. While Mr. Ruddock has acknowledged the difficulty in gaining approvals for the building of detention centers in urban areas, the recent problems should highlight the need for a more humane reception of asylum seekers. We urge you to adopt alternative models of detention, as proposed by the Refugee Council of Australia. Recently, Mr. Ruddock, Foreign Affairs Minister Downer, and Attorney General Williams issued a joint statement calling for a reform of the UN human rights system by restricting the capacity of certain UN committees that have criticized some of your governments policies. This is the outcome of previous high-profile incidents in 1998 and 2000, such as when the Committee Against Torture was instrumental in preventing the deportation of two asylum seekers who risked physical harm in their home country. The joint statement of your government suggests a fundamental failure to recognize that many asylum seekers who enter without documents are legitimate refugees. Throughout history, many persecuted individuals have had to rely on irregular documents and methods of escape in order to seek refuge in other countries. Australia has a long and proud tradition to providing protection to those fleeing persecution. We urge you to maintain this tradition and honor both the letter and the spirit of the UN Refugee Convention.