The Challenges: Therapeutic intervention with asylum seekers and refugees.

Damien McInerney

9th November 2015

Four Stages of the Journey

• Immigration Detention

• Temporary Protection

• The Application for Citizenship

• The Application for Family Reunion

http://www.unhcr.org/556725e69.html

In 2014, there were 59.5 million people worldwide who were of concern to UNHCR – 8 million more than the previous year.

19.5 million refugees

28.2 million internally displaced people

1.8 million asylum seekers

13.9 million were newly displaced during 2014

42,500 every day

5,000 will flee their homes for safety during this seminar

Where have they come from?

Syria: 3.88 million – nearly 4 million

Afghanistan: 2.59 million

Somalia: 1.11 million

http://www.unhcr.org/556725e69.html

Where are they living today? 86% of them are in developing countries.

The top refugee hosting countries are: Turkey (for the first time) with 1.59 million Pakistan: 1.51 million Lebanon: 1.15 million Iran: 982,000 – nearly 1 million Ethiopia: 659,000 Jordan: 654,000

http://www.unhcr.org/556725e69.html

51% are children under 18 years of age

http://theage.digitaleditions.com.au/olive/ode/online/

Mr Quaedvlieg told the hearing that the Border Force intended to ‘‘increase the number of officers who are [able to] use force, up to and including lethal [force].’’

The hearing was told about 1000 officers have been armed so far, largely with 9mm Glock pistols.

Responding to questions by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, immigration officials revealed that from July to September this year, detention centres at Nauru and Manus Island cost almost $280 million. This includes payments to Transfield Services, the contractor who operates the centres on behalf of the Turnbull government, and capital and refugee resettlement costs.

http://theage.digitaleditions.com.au/olive/ode/online/

http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/11-things-weve-already-heard-from-whistleblowers-on-the-horrors-of-manus-island-and-nauru-20150701-gi31tr.html

"because the system is designed to create a negative mental state. It's designed to produce suffering. If you suffer, then it's punishment. If you suffer, you're more likely to agree to go back to where you came from. By reducing the suffering you're reducing the functioning of the system and the system doesn't want you to do that. Peter Young: Psychiatrist

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-05/psychiatrist-says-treatment-of-asylum-seekers-akin-to-torture/5650992

"If we take the definition of torture to be the deliberate harming of people in order to coerce them into a desired outcome, I think it does fulfil that definition,“ Peter Young, Psychiatrist

REFERENCES Steel Z, Chey T, Silove D et al. Association of Torture and Other Potentially Traumatic Events With Mental Health Outcomes Among Populations Exposed to Mass Conflict and Displacement: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA. 2009;302(5):537-549. Silove D, Austin P, Steel Z. No Refuge from Terror: The Impact of Detention on the Mental Health of Trauma-affected Refugees Seeking Asylum in Australia . Transcultural Psychiatry [Internet]. 2007;44(3):359-393. Available from:SAGE Journals Bull M, Schindeler E, Berkman D et al. Sickness in the System of Long-term Immigration Detention. Journal of Refugee Studies. 22 Jun 2012;26(1):47-68. Silove D, Steel Z, Watters C. Policies of Deterrence and the Mental Health of Asylum Seekers. JAMA [Internet]. 2000;284(5):604-11. Available from: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=192952 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 Journal of Public Health. 2004; 28(6): 527–536. Steel Z. Silove D, Brooks R et al. Impact of immigration detention and temporary protection on the mental health of refugees. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2006; 188, 58-64. Triggs G. Mental Health and Immigration Detention. The Medical Journal of Australia [Internet]. 2013;199(11):721-722. Available from: https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2013/199/11/mental-health-and-immigration-detention Green, J. P., & Eagar, K. (2010). The health of people in Australian immigration detention centres. Medical Journal of Australia, 192(2), 65–70. Dudley M, Steel Z, Mares S et al. Children and young people in immigration detention. Current Opinion in Psychiatry. 2102;25(4):285 – 292. Newman L, Proctor N, Dudley M. Seeking asylum in Australia: immigration detention, human rights and mental health care. Australasian Psychiatry. 2013; 21(4): 316-320. Those who’ve come across the seas: Detention of unauthorised arrivals Report [Internet].Sydney: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission; 1998. Available from: http://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/those-whove-come-across-seas-detention-unauthorised-arrivals Commonwealth Ombudsman. Report of an own motion investigation into the department of immigration and multicultural affairs’ immigration detention centres report under section 35A of the Ombudsman Act 1976. Report, Commonweath Ombudsman. Canberra, Australia, March 2001. Momartin S, Steel Z, Coello M at al. A comparison of the mental health of refugees with temporary versus permanent protection visas. Medical Journal of Australia. 2006; 185 (7): 357-361. Australian Human Rights Commission. Immigration Detention and Offshore Processing on Christmas Island . Report. Sydney; 2009. International Health and Medical Services. Christmas Island Medical Officer’s Letter of Concerns- November 2013. The Guardian. January 2014. Newman, L. K., Procter, N. G., & Dudley, M. J. (2011). Suicide and self-harm in immigration detention. The Medical Journal of Australia, 195(6), 310–311. https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/asylum-seekers-refugees-and-human-rights-snapshot-report http://afram.amsa.org.au/the-effect-of-australias-policy-on-refugee-mental-health/

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/scott-morrison-being-mean-for-the-hell-of-it-to-asylum-seekers-

labor-20131204-2ypst

Mr Morrison on Wednesday introduced news laws to Parliament to axe laws introduced by the former government for people who are not refugees but who cannot be returned to their home country because they would face cruel or degrading treatment. At an unscheduled press conference on Wednesday, Mr Morrison confirmed that he has imposed a ''cap'' that ensures that ''no further protection visas'' can be issued to asylum seekers, using a legislative instrument under section 85 of the Migration Act. ''This is a non-disallowable instrument,'' Mr Morrison said. ''It has come into effect today . . . I have no intention of lifting any bar so long as in this country the option of temporary protection visas is not available.

For me, the TPV is a prison. Our life is without hope, or purpose. The simplest thing that a person wants in his life is hope. Without hope, life is meaningless. - Iraqi temporary protection visa holder, 2003

This government is cruel to us…When will I see my mother and sisters? My dad is sick and wants his wife and children together in one place with him. He fears that he will die before seeing the rest of the family.

Our future and destiny are unknown. We don’t have any freedom, we are out of detention but it’s like being in an open prison. …every refugee hopes to work, and the

allowance from Centrelink is like an illness, it kills us slowly, makes us reliant on others; we lose the spirit of living, building, and hoping.

http://theconversation.com/back-to-the-future-on-temporary-protection-visas-17316

Article 34, 1951 Refugee Convention

“The Contracting States shall as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of refugees. They shall in particular make every effort to expedite naturalization proceedings and to reduce as far as possible the charges and costs of such proceedings.”

I am satisfied that Damien McInerney is a specialist in the field of your claimed medical condition as there is evidence before me that he is a psychologist who is registered with the Psychology Board of Australia, has a practice endorsement in an area relevant to the problem, and is registered with Medicare for these purposes... I therefore accept the medical diagnosis of severe depressive condition. However I am not satisfied that this information is conclusive evidence that your medical condition is a permanent or enduring incapacity … I am satisfied that DS is a specialist in the field of your claimed medical condition as there is evidence before me that he is a psychiatrist who is registered with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, has a practice endorsement in an area relevant to the problem, and is registered with Medicare for these purposes... I therefore accept the medical diagnosis of PTSD and psychotic depression. However I am not satisfied that this information is conclusive evidence that your medical condition is a permanent or enduring incapacity… have therefore decided to give these reports little weight in my assessment.

Figures calculated from: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa/Fees/previous-versions-

of-visa-pricing-table-and-form-990i

2012 2013 2014 2015

Partner $1750.00 $2680.00 $3085.00 $6865.00

Dependent

>18

$1340.00 $1545.00 $3435.00

Dependent

<18

$ 670.00 $ 770.00 $1720.00