Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
doi:10.1111/jpc.12101
VIEWPOINT
Fig. 1
Correspondence: Associate Professor Karen Zwi, Community Child Health, Sydney Childrens Hospital, CNR Barker and Avoca Streets, Randwick, Sydney, NSW 2090, Australia. Fax: +612 9382 8188; email: Karen.Zwi@sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au Declaration of conict of interest: None declared. Accepted for publication 30 December 2012.
Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 49 (2013) 8793 2013 The Authors Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians)
Fig. 2 Refugee program by category 19771998 to 20092010. (Source: DIAC. Australias Humanitarian Program. Information paper. April 2011. Available at http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/pdf/hp-client-info-paper.pdf). Note 1: Over the last 30 years, there have been waves of people who have arrived by boat in Australia in response to humanitarian crisis. These include the 19761981 arrivals mainly from Vietnam; the 19891998 arrivals mainly from Cambodia, Vietnam and Southern China; the 19992001 arrivals mainly from Afghanistan and Iraq. Note 2: Special Assistance Category refers to visa subclasses Emergency Rescue (where there are urgent and compelling reasons for resettlement) and Woman at Risk (for women living outside their home country where they are subject to persecution, without the protection of a male relative and in danger of gender-based victimisation, harassment or serious abuse). , Onshore; , Special Assistance Category; , Offshore special humanitarian; , Refugee.
around 280 000, 210 000 and 156 000 asylum claims respectively from 20072011.6 Australias global ranking in terms of hosting both asylum seekers and refugees is 46th with around 22 000 people, as compared with host countries such as Pakistan, Iran and Syria, with over a million such people each.7 There have been a number of highly publicised strategies to stop the boats in the last decade. These include the Pacic Solution introduced in 2001 (which moved processing outside Australia to Nauru and Manus Island, Papua New Guinea); Temporary Protection Visas and the 2012 Malaysian people swap deal (which proposed to take 1000 UN-certied refugees awaiting placement in Malaysia in exchange for sending 800 boat arrivals to Malaysia, but was declared invalid by the High Court of Australia).8 In response to the Report of the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers,9 the Federal Government has recently passed legislation reinstating the Pacic Solution, as well as increasing the quota to 20 000 places. Children and unaccompanied minors are not excluded from offshore processing and have been transferred to these sites. The UNHCR have stated that they do not support the legislation and advocacy groups have concerns about the likely negative impact of this offshore processing, including the lack of a guardian for unaccompanied minors, extremely harsh conditions and potentially unlimited detention.10 These strategies have reduced the refugees right to appeal and to family re-unication and have made it easier for Aus88
tralia to return people to their country of origin or another country, which is against the fundamental principle of nonrefoulement (non-return) espoused by the Refugee Convention (Article 33). Although mandatory detention is cited as a deterrent to asylum seekers, its deterrent effectiveness has been questioned by government ofcials.11 Although difcult to prove, boat arrivals on our shores apparently correlate better with global migration than with any local policies. The increase in recent applications in Australia since 2009 correlates with the highest level of global asylum applications in industrialised countries since 2003.6
Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 49 (2013) 8793 2013 The Authors Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians)
facilities, described by Professor Patrick McGorry as factories for producing mental illness, have suicide and self harm rates 41 times the national average (with over 110 incidents and 6 completed suicides in 20102011).17,20,21 These rates are the subject of a current Ombudsman Inquiry.
Children in Detention
The 2004 Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention identied synergistic risk factors for the high rates of psychiatric disorder and developmental delay seen in detained children. These factors included parental hopelessness, mental illness and reduced parental autonomy, lack of a safe predictable environment with child-friendly play and educational facilities, and exposure to repeated traumatic events, and have been seen in other national and international studies.1719 They were subsequently acknowledged by the Australian Government, with a policy shift in 2005 that children would no longer be housed in Immigration Detention Centres, but in Community Detention, APODs and IRH. The APODs and IRH facilities currently in use are highly restrictive lock-up facilities, though possibly with family rather than dormitory accommodation. No legislative change has been enacted and the Immigration Departments own value of children shall be detained only as a last resort has never been enforced, with mandatory detention remaining the default for children.20 There has been a recent increase in placement of families with children in Community Detention. The Minister for Immigration announced in 2011 that by the end of June that year, more than half of all children would be in Community Detention because protracted detention can have negative impact on their development and mental health.12 Families are generally processed within APODs by 3 months and then placed in residential housing, supported by the Red Cross, slightly reduced Centrelink payments and privately contracted health services. There have been minimal issues with non-compliance with these conditions. Unfortunately the proportion in Community Detention has decreased since June 2011. On 31 October 2012, 1555 children were in immigration detention, with under half (49%) in Community Detention and the remainder in other immigration facilities including 415 on the highly inaccessible Christmas Island.12 Children within the detention network have no clear child protection system governing their safety. Staff members working in the detention network have limited understanding of child protection issues and are not required to undertake Working with Children Checks, unless there is local state legislation.8
Fig. 3 One of several repeated images drawn by a 6-year-old detainee in which the detention centre fence dominates. The childs description: Theyre crying. Theyre all scared. Scared of the ofcers all of them (reproduced with permission from: Zwi K, Herzberg B, Dossetor D, Field J. A child in detention: dilemmas faced by health professionals. Med. J. Aust. 2003; 179: 31922).
Since 2009, the numbers in detention have increased dramatically as a result of arrivals, suspended processing of selected visa applicants (from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan), applicants awaiting judicial review and inability to meet the demand for processing.8 Processing time as of 31st October 2012 was over 3 months for 32% of applicants and over 2 years for 5%.12 During 2011, the average processing time for a child <18 years was 364 days.2 Length in detention correlates signicantly with new mental health diagnoses in adults.13 Detention centres are mostly in remote locations, with implications for access to specialist health care, education, lawyers, interpreters, and case managers, and contributes to long processing times.1417 Most detention centres are harsh lock-up facilities with institutional routines including regular head counts, removal of personal autonomy and little meaningful activity.14 The resulting inevitable despair and depression, well described in the mental health literature, is punctuated by a sense of injustice and frustration.15,16 This takes the form of riots, protests and hunger strikes, as well as highly symbolic acts of despair such as lip sewing and grave digging. Males in detention
Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 49 (2013) 8793 2013 The Authors Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians)
Fig. 4 Refugee children line up for a meagre handout of rice at their refugee camp in Monrovia. Photographer Carolyn Cole. Reprinted with permission of the Los Angeles Times.
Fig. 5 Cartoon by Bill Leak, published in The Australian, Jan 26, 2004, reproduced with permission Newspix / News Ltd.
The most signicant human rights issue specic to unaccompanied minors, highlighted in multiple inquiries and reviews, is that the legal guardian for unaccompanied children is the Minister for Immigration.8 An important question is: Can someone act as a guardian, in the childs best interests, and also be responsible for implementing the policy of mandatory detention, which effectively denies the childs rights to protection from arbitrary detention, provision of appropriate services and participation in decisions affecting him/her?
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Another concern regarding unaccompanied minors is placement. Currently, once in Community Detention, contracted providers place unaccompanied minors in residential housing with a full time carer in a group home arrangement. A report from the USA describes good functional outcomes in 304 Sudanese unaccompanied minors, the lost boys of Sudan, placed in foster care.21 They and their foster families were given extensive support, with group activities facilitating access to USA peers and connections with Sudanese peers with similar experiences.
Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 49 (2013) 8793 2013 The Authors Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians)
After 1218 months, 95% were attending school and felt supported, despite extreme exposure to war related violence and displacement.21 Several consultations conducted by the Refugee Council of Australia have highlighted that refugee youth are often highly motivated, driven to pursue higher education and perceive education as a source of hope for the future, but have become despondent at the practical difculties encountered in trying to cope with prior disrupted education, family stress, trauma effects on concentration and limited opportunities for skills training.22 To optimise the potential of the youth we resettle, we need youth-specic resilience building programs, access to learning vocational skills and support to integrate into the mainstream school system.
ous journeys or experienced disappearance of family members.30 Prevalence of mental health conditions varies so widely in the studies that have been done (396% for anxiety; 375% for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) that they provide more questions than answers in relation to measurement methodology and appropriate cross-cultural tools.30 Nonetheless, what we do know is that service utilisation is low and, although access issues may play a role, it appears that refugee children display high levels of resilience and low levels of dysfunction.27,28 Highquality evidence on mental health, development and long term health outcomes is critical to appropriate service development. An important issue that affects refugee child health is the requirement for national consensus on testing and treatment for latent tuberculosis, in order to provide optimal screening in children and management that will continue across State boundaries.29 Also Hepatitis B immunisation in refugee camps prior to departure could prevent the 510% of children who develop chronic infection, with concomitant risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, liver failure and cirrhosis, but this is unlikely to occur in the absence of cost effectiveness and feasibility studies.31 On the positive side, refugee children have very low rates of allergic disease and low rates of overweight/obesity on arrival (although this approximates Australian population levels with duration of stay).32,33 Studies in Australia and Canada suggest refugees display the healthy migrant effect, with some health parameters, such as preterm births, low birth weight, perinatal mortality, cancer mortality (excluding liver cancer) and rate of chronic conditions lower than host populations.34,35 Similarly some education and employment parameters are favourable amongst refugees. The refugee-like population has higher rates of current TAFE, technical or tertiary study (17.4% vs. 7.8%) than the Victorian population although a higher proportion have had no previous education (7.8% vs. 1.1%).30,36 Workforce participation is higher than Australian born citizens for rstgeneration humanitarian migrants educated in Australia and all second-generation humanitarian migrants.37
Successes in Advocacy
Professional bodies (including RACP) have had some advocacy successes, including coordinated advocacy against childrens detention in the 2000s that contributed to the shift away from housing children in detention centres.26 The Paediatrics and Child Health Division of RACP launched an ofcial policy document on the health of refugee children at the College Conference in 2007.24 Medications commonly used in refugee populations (such as vitamin D, some antimalarials, praziquantel for schistosomiasis, ivermectin for Strongyloides and terbinane for fungal scalp infection) were included on the Pharmaceutical Benets Scheme after concerted advocacy. In 2009, free health care access for asylum seekers was announced by NSW Health, bringing it in line with Victoria. In 2010 the RACP nominated one of the authors (KZ) to represent the College in the federal governments Detention Health Advisory Group (DeHAG), which seeks to provide independent expert advice on the health of people in detention. This has increased the child health expertise within DeHAG and has resulted in some key recommendations affecting the health of children in detention (although this was disbanded
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Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 49 (2013) 8793 2013 The Authors Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians)
in August 2012 to be reconstituted with new terms of reference in 2013). In January 2012, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) accepted as ofcial government policy the Health screening policy for minors in immigration detention proposed by an expert group of Fellows via DeHAG. Yet to be implemented across the detention network, this seeks to ensure that the time children spend within the detention system is used to optimise their health, including access to growth monitoring, developmental surveillance, early intervention, pathology screening and treatment, and provision of child friendly health and education services.
bodies and practitioners need to engage in widespread public campaigns supported by the media.
References
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Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 49 (2013) 8793 2013 The Authors Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health 2013 Paediatrics and Child Health Division (Royal Australasian College of Physicians)
5 DIAC. Asylum Trends Australia. 20102011 Annual Publication. 2012. Available from: http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/ trends-in-migration/trends-in-migration-2010-2011.pdf [accessed 21 December 2012]. 6 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Asylum levels and trends in industrialised countries 2011. UNHCR, 2011. Available from: http://www.unhcr.org/4e9beaa19.html [accessed 21 December 2012]. 7 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Global trends 2010. UNHCR, 2010. Available from: http://www. unhcr.org/4dfa11499.html [accessed 21 December 2012]. 8 Commonwealth Government of Australia. Joint Select Committee on Australias Immigration Detention Network March 2012. Senate Printing Unit, Canberra. 2012. Available from: http://www.minister. immi.gov.au/media/cb/2012/cb184703.htm [accessed 21 December 2012]. 9 Houston A, Aristotle P, LStrange M. The Report of the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers. Australian Govenrment. August 2012. Available from: http://expertpanelonasylumseekers.dpmc.gov.au/report [accessed 21 December 2012]. 10 Chilout. The new legislation unpacked: what about the children? 2012. Available from: http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/ ?u=bb59f5fd3221b4a4c85473c02&id=d0d0d3ed9d&e=a25e4861e6 [accessed 21 December 2012]. 11 Metcalfe A. Opening Statement to the Joint Select Committee on Australias Immigration Detention Network. August 2011. Available from: http://www.immi.gov.au/about/speeches-pres/ [accessed 21 December 2012]. 12 DIAC. Immigration Detention Statistics Summary 31st October 2012. Available from: http://www.immi.gov.au/managing-australiasborders/detention/_pdf/immigration-detention-statistics-20121031.pdf [accessed 21 December 2012]. 13 Green J, Eagar K. The health of people in immigration detention centres. Med. J. Aust. 2010; 192: 6570. 14 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Immigration detention report: summary of observations following visits to Australias immigration detention facilities. 2008. Sydney, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Available from: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/immigration/idc2008.html [accessed 21 December 2012]. 15 Steel Z, Momartin S, Bateman C et al. Psychiatric status of asylum seeker families held for a protracted period in a remote detention centre in Australia. Australian & New Zealand. J. Public Health 2004; 28: 52736. 16 Sultan A, OSullivan K. Psychological disturbances in asylum seekers held in long term detention: a participant-observer account. Med. J. Aust. 2001; 175: 5936. 17 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. A last resort? National Inquiry into Children in Immigration Detention. 2004. Sydney, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Available from: http://www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/children_detention_report/ index.html [accessed 21 December 2012]. 18 Newman L, Steel Z. The child asylum seeker: psychological and developmental impact of immigration detention. Child Adolesc. Psychiatr. Clin. N. Am. 2008; 17: 66583. 19 Lorek A, Ehntholt K, Nesbitt A, Wey E, Githinji C, Rossor E, Rush Wickramasinghe R. The mental and physical health difculties of children held within a British immigration detention center: a pilot study. Child Abuse Negl. 2009; 33: 57385. 20 DIAC. Key Immigration Detention Values. 2008. Available from: http://www.immi.gov.au/managing-australias-borders/detention/ about/key-values.htm [accessed 21 December 2012]. 21 Geltman PL, Grant-Knight W, Ellis H, Landgraf JM. The Lost Boys of Sudan: use of health services and functional health outcomes of
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