Thursday, July 31, 2014

Australia urged to come clean on asylum-seekers' mental health

Sri Lankan asylum seekers sent back by Australia stand outside the magistrate's court in Galle on July 8, 2014 Australia's human rights commissioner said Thursday the government must come clean about conditions at offshore asylum-seeker camps after an inquiry heard of an alleged cover-up of mental health problems. The facilities have been under the spotlight in recent weeks following reports that up to a dozen mothers had attempted suicide at a detention centre on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean. The women did so under the belief that their babies would have a better chance of being settled in Australia if they were orphans, reports said. A leading psychiatrist alleged at a national inquiry into the mandatory detention of children seeking asylum that figures showing the extent of mental health issues had been covered up by the immigration department.








via Health News Headlines - Yahoo News http://ift.tt/1rKbzI3

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