The BMA and the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture are calling on the government to adopt a “more humane” policy on asylum seekers.
The home secretary, David Blunkett, has promised to announce results of the government's review of its policy on asylum seekers by the end of this month.
In a joint dossier entitled Asylum Seekers and Health the BMA and the Medical Foundation are urging the government to “develop a more humane system.” The dossier states that “the government's system for the handling of asylum-seekers is not focused on helping but on deterring them. Present procedures are not compassionate but punitive.”
“Health care for asylum seekers in Britain is patchy, belated and often inappropriate,” the dossier says. It contains 22 case histories, reported by doctors, that show how Britain is “failing” in its obligations to provide health care for asylum seekers. The dossier states that the cases document “the personal cost of this failure, measured in the suffering of refugees.”
Dr Michael Wilks, chairman of the BMA's Ethics Committee, said: “Asylum seekers have very particular physical and mental health needs because of their traumatic experiences. We are failing some very vulnerable people, whose health is actually deteriorating rather than improving in the safety of the United Kingdom.”
The BMA and the Medical Foundation urge the government to “abolish vouchers and forced dispersal.” They claim that these policies put the health of asylum seekers at risk.
Recognising the problems that arise when asylum seekers are dispersed to areas with insufficient support, Dr Wilks said that “interpreting facilities, specialist training for doctors, and rehabilitation services all need to be in place before asylum seekers arrive in a community.” He criticised the Home Office and Department of Health for not working together to ensure that dispersal programmes are coordinated with local health service provision.
The joint dossier also calls for the scrapping of the voucher system in favour of cash benefits for asylum seekers. It cites cases of mothers who water down baby milk to make their vouchers go further.
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BEN CURTIS/PA
Romanian refugees arrive in Glasgow