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Psychiatric Ethics and a Politics of Compassion

The Case of Detained Asylum Seekers in Australia

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Abstract

Australia has one of the harshest regimes for the processing of asylum seekers, people who have applied for refugee status but are still awaiting an answer. It has received sharp rebuke for its policies from international human rights bodies but continues to exercise its resolve to protect its borders from those seeking protection. One means of doing so is the detention of asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat. Health care providers who care for asylum seekers in these conditions experience a conflict of “dual loyalty,” whereby their role in preserving and maintaining the health of patients can run counter to their employment in detention facilities. Many psychiatrists who have worked in the detention setting engage in forms of political activism in order to change the process of seeking refuge.

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Notes

  1. Although the “Pacific Solution” was abolished by the Labor government, it next introduced the “Malaysia Solution” whereby new boat arrivals would have been sent to Malaysia for processing, raising a new raft of concerns about their rights, including the right to health. This proposal, however, was defeated in a High Court challenge.

  2. The People’s Inquiry into Asylum Seeker Detention was convened by the Australian Council of Heads of Schools of Social Work. It resulted in the book Human Rights Overboard (Briskman et al. 2008) and several other reports.

  3. The current detention provider is Serco and health provision is now subcontracted through IHMS, which allows clinicians to be employees of a medical services provider. Nonetheless, contractual arrangements are with the Immigration Department, which still raises ethical issues for those delivering health services.

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Interviews

  • Anne (pseud). 2006. Interviewed by Deborah Zion. For Australian Research Council Grant, Caring for Asylum Seekers in Australia. Melbourne: School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University.

  • Bruce (pseud). 2007. Interviewed by Deborah Zion. For Australian Research Council Grant, Caring for Asylum Seekers in Australia. Melbourne: School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University.

  • Barry (pseud.) 2008. Interviewed by Deborah Zion. For Australian Research Council Grant, Caring for Asylum Seekers in Australia. Melbourne: School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant.

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Correspondence to Deborah Zion.

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Zion, D., Briskman, L. & Loff, B. Psychiatric Ethics and a Politics of Compassion. Bioethical Inquiry 9, 67–75 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-011-9346-7

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