Health alert on asylum seekers

By ANGELA GREGORY and FRANCESCA MOLD

One in three asylum seekers in Auckland is likely to have mental health problems, researchers have found.

A study published today in the New Zealand Medical Journal showed 38 per cent of 900 asylum seekers screened in Auckland in 1999 and 2000 had symptoms of psychological illness.

The study found asylum seekers had far higher rates of infectious illnesses such as tuberculosis than New Zealanders.

They also accounted for one in six of the new cases of HIV reported here in 2000.

The Auckland District Health Board says treating mental health illnesses among asylum seekers is adding pressure to already stretched resources.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who campaigned on refugee health issues during the election, said the Medical Journal figures backed his call for asylum seekers to be screened for infectious diseases at the border.

Any asylum seeker returning a positive test for an infectious disease should be denied entry.

"The first duty of a government is to protect the health of the people of our nation." Mr Peters said.

"This Government's behaviour, as with the previous one, with respect to these matters to do with immigration and asylum seekers verges on treason."

Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel last night acknowledged that mental health illnesses among asylum seekers were a concern.

The Medical Journal study found asylum seekers' psychological illnesses may relate to uncertainty about their future and worries about family members left behind.

Asylum seekers can voluntarily attend health screening clinics at Green Lane Hospital.

The Journal said Iranian men were most likely to have mental health problems.

It also found that while just 1 per cent of asylum seekers were HIV positive, they made up 21.1 per cent of new HIV diagnoses in 1999 and 17.4 per cent in 2000.

The tuberculosis rate among the 900 screened was the equivalent of 1333 cases per 100,000 compared with an active TB rate in New Zealand of 12 per 100,000.

The study also found:

* Of 3349 asylum seekers in 1999 and 2000, 900 volunteered for screening at Green Lane.

* Of those, most were men aged under 40. About half were from the Middle East.

* Almost one-fifth of those seen were referred to counselling services.

* Those not referred were helped by public health and community mental health workers.

* The immunisation status of one in three asylum seekers was not known.

Mr Peters said sick asylum seekers were a huge burden on the taxpayer.

But Refugee Health Education Programme director Nikki Denholm said she was surprised more asylum seekers did not have mental illnesses.

Many had fled countries where their lives were in danger, or where they had seen rapes, tortures and killings, possibly of family members.

"It is not until they arrive here that they come up for air.

"Many suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome."

Auckland District Health Board spokeswoman Brenda Saunders said the board had allowed for the cost of treating asylum seekers.

"Obviously it adds demand to our services."

Mental Health Foundation clinical spokesman Dr Peter McGeorge said there was an obligation to help asylum seekers.

"The system is already strained, but one needs to weigh that up against human rights issues.

"We do have a responsibility to take some of these people."

New Zealand takes 750 quota refugees a year, but between 1500 and 1800 other applications for refugee status are made annually.

Feature: Immigration