Since 2012, Australia has detained hundreds of children seeking asylum, often for years. Now a review has revealed the lasting physical and mental health impacts of this policy
. These included children accompanied by families and those travelling on their own.
Tosif and his colleagues reviewed the medical records of 239 of these children who were referred to his hospital’s Immigrant Health Service, which provides medical and mental health care to asylum seekers and refugees. The children attended the service between 2012 and 2021, either while they were still in detention, which required them to be brought in by guards, or after they were released.
The children came from 15 countries, the most common being Iran. The average time they spent in detention was seven months for those held in facilities on Australia’s mainland and more than four years for those held in offshore detention centres on Nauru in Micronesia and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.Get the most essential health and fitness news in your inbox every Saturday.Overall, 60 per cent of the children had a nutritional deficiency such as low iron or vitamin D.
Three-quarters of the children had developmental differences, including learning difficulties or autism, and 62 per cent had mental health problems, including anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. This wasthan the rate of mental disorders in Australian children. Many also experienced nightmares and 10 per cent had self-harmed.
This finding is consistent with anecdotal reports from a small number of paediatricians who have been allowed to visit Australia’s immigration detention centres.
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