Posted: Friday 3 December 2004
New research commissioned by Mind released today, finds the general public unsure of the legitimacy of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK (*1). Despite recognition that refugees can arrive distressed and fleeing danger or persecution, the public is unsupportive of society’s duty to support their mental health needs.
Findings show that:
The charity responded to the findings by calling upon the Government to clear up public confusion over asylum and to present clear policy on how they propose to increase support for traumatised people in exile coming to the UK, and for the media to report on asylum issues with more compassion.
The results coincide with a national conference in London – Reaching for Sanctuary – hosted by Mind which will explore how mental health services for refugees seeking asylum in the UK can be improved.
Refugees seeking asylum in the UK are protected by the 1951 Geneva Convention and are entitled to free NHS treatment and care for as long as their application is under consideration. However, an increasing body of evidence suggests that current mental health service provision is desperately inadequate for this vulnerable group, with many refugees seeking asylum in the UK denied access to the full range and standard of mental health services available to UK residents.
Reports by advocacy groups working in detention centres and the Home Office indicate that mental health services are rarely of good quality and that referrals to specialist services are limited leading to many mental health problems going unaddressed despite evidence that many refugees are clearly distressed (*2).
Speaking today Mind’s Chief Executive Richard Brook said:
"Refugees seeking asylum are often fleeing terrible persecution or torture and many arrive in the UK traumatised and vulnerable yet it seems often their mental health needs are virtually ignored.
Today’s research reveals public confusion on asylum exacerbated by conflicting messages from both the politicians and the media. This is compounded by an asylum system which itself creates anxiety and depression due to the uncertainty and length of the process and which fails to provide adequate mental health services for those in need. We have a situation where refugees are in danger of being left as a forgotten community.
In order for us to call ourselves a caring society that is willing to help some of the World’s most persecuted individuals, the Government needs to address the unfolding mental health crisis faced by the many refugees seeking asylum. But policy makers and the media also have a responsibility to challenge public perceptions that asylum seekers are a threat to our economy, when the truth is they are likely to need access to essential health services including those to meet their mental health needs."
*** Ends ***(*1) npf synergy questioned 1,000 members of the public on behalf of Mind in September 2004.
(*2) A report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons in 2003 into Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre found: "In spite of an average of one self-harm incident a week, suicide, self-harm and anti-bullying procedures were not effectively managed. Nor was there sufficient mental health support for detainees held in the inpatient ward."