Asylum-seeking Parents’ Reports of Health Deterioration in Their Children since Fleeing Their Home Country

Abstract

Abstract More than 50,000 asylum seekers scattered across Greece were waiting to have their cases processed in February 2016. Using unique survey data collected in six Greek refugee camps at the time, this article explores the health of asylum-seeking children as assessed by their parents. More than half of the parents reported that children’s health had deteriorated considerably or greatly since commencing their flight and the longer the time spent in Greece, the larger the share. The same tendency was found in a logistic regression model adjusting for educational level, sex and origin country. Feeling safe at the current location and access to basic amenities were alleviating factors. The results call for increased attention to the needs of asylum-seeking children in the Greek refugee camps and urgent action to alleviate potentially long-term impacts of the process of seeking asylum on these children.