The health status, service needs and barriers to accessing care for detention and community-based asylum seekers in Australia

Emily Hadgkiss, André M. N. Renzaho

    Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperChapter

    2 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    According to the UNHCR, of 51.2 million individuals forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of 2013, 1.2 million were asylum seekers (UNHCR, 2014a). Between 2009 and 2013, the USA, Germany, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom received the largest number of new asylum seekers, over one-third (38%) of all requests submitted in industrialised countries (UNHCR, 2014b). In 2013, Australia was ranked seventh of the countries receiving asylum seekers, accounting for about 4% of the share of total applications (UNHCR, 2014b). This chapter will focus on asylum seekers in Australia and not internally displaced people (covered in Chapter 2) or refugees (covered in Chapter 3). For the purpose of this chapter, an asylum seeker is defined as a person outside of their country of origin and is seeking international protection as a refugee but whose refugee status has not yet been determined. It gives a brief historical and migration governance overview followed by more in-depth analysis of the physical and mental health status of asylum seekers with some comparison of immigration detention and community-based arrangements. It concludes by summarising some of the social and health policy responses of government and non-government bodies.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationGlobalisation, Migration and Health: Challenges and Opportunities
    EditorsAndre M. N. Renzaho
    Place of PublicationU.K.
    PublisherImperial College Press
    Pages255-289
    Number of pages35
    ISBN (Electronic)9781783268900
    ISBN (Print)9781783268887
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2016

    Keywords

    • Australia
    • asylum seekers
    • health

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