The Child Asylum Seeker: Psychological and Developmental Impact of Immigration Detention

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2008.02.009Get rights and content

Asylum-seeking children are one of the most vulnerable groups of displaced persons. The experience of being a detainee, with limited ways of communicating one's plight, shapes the expression of distress. Clinicians need to see the distress and symptoms of mental disorder as emerging in the context of the detention environment rather than within a traditional medical model. The use of diagnostic labels without elaboration does not provide an adequate account of the child's difficulties. The clinician has an important role in bearing witness to the harm done to detainees as well as trying to prevent harm in whatever way possible.

Section snippets

Child asylum seekers and policies of deterrence

The late twentieth century has witnessed an increase in the number of persons affected by war, persecution, and displacement. Significant numbers of adults and children have been exposed to trauma and violence during recent decades [1]. Children constitute a significant proportion of asylum-seeking and refugee populations worldwide and are particularly vulnerable to the effects of trauma, displacement, and loss.

At the end of 2005, of the 19 million persons of concern to the Office of the United

Children and immigration detention: an international overview

Perhaps the most controversial policy in recent years has been the administrative application of immigration detention to certain categories of asylum seekers, including children, for all or part of the refugee determination process. The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and, until recently, Australia detain significant numbers of children for immigration-related matters [16], [17]. The routine practice of detaining children, either alone or as part of a family group, seems to

The Australian experience of mandatory detention

Australia was the first developed nation to introduce a policy of mandatory detention of all unauthorized arrivals coming by boat or without a valid entry visa. In 1994 an original 273-day time limit on detention was removed, allowing indefinite detention with no exemptions made for children or unaccompanied minors. The Australian High Court confirmed the power of the state to detain unlawful noncitizens indefinitely for the purposes of immigration control and ruled that immigration law took

Psychological impact of detention on children

As indicated previously, the bulk of evidence regarding the psychological impact of detention on children has emerged from inquiries and research undertaken into the operation of the mandatory detention policy in Australia. Data from a variety of sources, including several Commissions of Inquiry evaluating detention centers and observations of health professionals working in the centers, raise serious concerns about the negative effect of detention on child development and mental health.

Children and exposure to trauma in detention

Among asylum seekers, children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of both premigration trauma and their experiences in seeking asylum. The capacity of children to cope with the asylum-seeking experience is complex and depends on the severity of premigration experiences, the child's developmental stage, and the responses of adult caretakers. The predicament of the asylum-seeking child is compounded by the high rates of trauma and distress in parents who essentially are emotionally

Advocacy, ethics, and dilemmas for clinicians

Many clinicians involved in work with detained asylum seekers have commented on the inherent difficulties of providing meaningful intervention in this setting. A fundamental dilemma emerges when the nature of the environment itself is seen as contributing in a major way to detainees' mental health issues. For children, this situation is even more acute when their overall development is compromised by environmental neglect and the impact of detention on family functioning. These issues affect

Summary

An understanding of and response to the high rates of mental disorder among asylum seekers needs to include an understanding of the circumstances of their flight, past trauma, and current situation. This understanding includes an evaluation of current stressors, such as being held indefinitely in detention, being subject to incomprehensible legal and administrative processes, and having little control over daily life. The experience of being a detainee, with limited ways of communicating one's

References (56)

  • Z. Steel et al.

    Psychiatric status of asylum seeker families held for a protracted period in a remote detention centre in Australia

    Aust N Z J Public Health

    (2004)
  • G. Koutroulis

    Detained asylum seekers, health care, and questions of human(e)ness

    Aust N Z J Public Health

    (2003)
  • T. Kushner et al.

    Refugees in an age of genocide

    (1999)
  • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

    The state of the worlds refugees: in search of solutions

    (1995)
  • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. State of world's refugees: human displacement in the new millennium....
  • D. Silove et al.

    Policies of deterrence and the mental health of asylum seekers in Western Countries

    JAMA

    (2000)
  • M.S. Malloch et al.

    The detention of asylum seekers in the UK—representing risk, managing the dangerous

    Punishment & Society-International Journal of Penology

    (2005)
  • N. Klocker et al.

    Who's driving the asylum debate? Newspaper and government representations of asylum seekers

    Media International Australia Incorporating Culture and Policy

    (2003)
  • R. Wilkinson

    Everyone wants to help children. So why are so many millions still suffering?

    Refugees

    (2001)
  • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

    Trends in unaccompanied and separated children seeking asylum in industrialized countries, 2001–2003

    (2004)
  • D. Silove et al.

    Anxiety, depression and PTSD in asylum seekers: associations with pre-migration trauma and post-migration stressors

    Br J Psychiatry

    (1997)
  • D. Silove et al.

    Torture, mental health status and the outcomes of refugee applications among recently arrived asylum seekers in Australia

    International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care

    (2006)
  • C.J. Laban et al.

    Postmigration living problems and common psychiatric disorders in Iraqi asylum seekers in the Netherlands

    J Nerv Ment Dis

    (2005)
  • Z. Steel et al.

    Pathways from war trauma to posttraumatic stress symptoms among Tamil asylum seekers, refugees, and immigrants

    J Trauma Stress

    (1999)
  • R. Iredale et al.

    Ambivalent welcome: the settlement experiences of humanitarian entrant families in Australia

    (1996)
  • D. Silove et al.

    No refuge from terror: the impact of detention on the mental health of trauma-affected refugees seeking asylum in Australia

    Transcult Psychiatry

    (2007)
  • Women' Commission for Refugee Women and Children. Locking up family values: the detention of immigrant families. 2007....
  • Amnesty International

    Italy: temporary stay—permanent rights: the treatment of foreign nationals detained in ‘temporary stay and assistance centres’ (CPTAs)

    (2005)
  • International Detention Coalition. Children in immigration detention position paper. 2007. Available at:...
  • Home Office. Control of immigration: statistics United Kingdom 2006; 2007. Report No.: CM...
  • Home Office. Control of immigration: statistics United Kingdom 2005; 2006. Report No.: CM...
  • Immigration and Naturalization Service Office of Juvenile Affairs. Fact sheet. 2002. Available at:...
  • J. Bhabha et al.

    Seeking asylum alone: unaccompanied and separated children and refugee protection in the U.S. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

    (2006)
  • US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The ICE T. Don Hutto Family Residential Facility: maintaining family unity,...
  • Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission

    A last resort? National inquiry into children in immigration detention

    (2004)
  • M. Dudley

    Contradictory Australian national policies on self-harm and suicide: the case of asylum seekers in mandatory detention

    Australas Psychiatry

    (2003)
  • R. Becker et al.

    Psychological and psychosocial effects of prolonged detention

  • Cited by (0)

    View full text