A Report on the Impact of Immigration Detention on the Health and Well-being of Refugees & Asylum Seekers

Abstract

The extended periods that some asylum seekers experience in immigration detention potentially compromise their mental health and physical well-being. This compromise is associated with the prevailing culture and conditions within some immigration detention facilities in Western countries, such as Australia, Canada and Germany. This review aims to synthesise the findings of studies that report on the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers while they have been held in immigration detention. A meta-ethnographic approach guided the synthesis following the eMERGe meta-ethnography reporting guidance structure. Three common storyline metaphors were identified from the synthesis of findings of seven qualitative studies: (1) treating like criminals, jail-like, prison-like, and treated like animals; (2) killing your mind and torturing your mind; and (3) feelings of hopelessness, worry, despair and fear. The findings of this review suggest that the culture and the practices of immigration detention that impact refugees and asylum seekers who are detained for sometimes extended periods need to be transformed. The time that people are held in detention and the context for that detention needs urgent review. While immigration detention is legislated and enacted differently in the countries where the included studies were located, Government policies should consider alternative approaches such as community detention. Regular monitoring of immigration detention practices by external bodies should be mandated, and ongoing staff training for workers in detention facilities should be instituted to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers are treated fairly and with dignity when detained.