‘Mental illness epidemic hits asylum seekers in Scotland’
The head of a leading charity has accused the Government of deliberately ignoring an epidemic of poor mental health among asylum seekers, because admitting it would mean allowing greater numbers to stay in the country.
Lesley Benzie, chief executive of Lifelink, was speaking a week after three Russian asylum seekers leapt to their deaths from a tower block in Glasgow’s Red Road.
Ms Benzie fears the level of desperation among asylum seekers in Glasgow is such that services would be overwhelmed if the problem was acknowledged.
Life Link was set up in 1992 to tackle suicide rates in North Glasgow, after they were found to be 70% higher than the national average.
Ms Benzie said increasing numbers of asylum seekers were contacting the charity. From Thursday, Life Link will offer drop-in counselling sessions in the Red Road Family Centre for asylum seekers and refugees in the area.
“We have had very traumatised people who are having waking flashbacks from some of the stuff they’ve experienced in their own country. We’ve had boy soldiers and people who have watched their families being macheted. But we don’t have the resources to seek them out. If we addressed the number who need support we would be overwhelmed.”
Ms Benzie said it was surprising that Serguei Serykh and his wife and stepson had not been referred for mental health support, and said: “Obviously there was a build-up to this situation and people noticed there were issues. Why wasn’t a statutory referral made to community mental health services?”
However, she said she had only once known immigration services to refer a client to the charity for help. “The Home Office doesn’t want to recognise that the way the asylum system is now being implemented is too harsh. Setting up services for the terrible impact of the system would be an acknowledgement that the system is terrible. So health services have to do what they can.”
“There is also a conflict of interest. If someone was involved with statutory mental health services or identified as being high risk that would be a reason for them staying here.”
The UK Border Agency told Mr Serykh and his family that there was no reason for granting them compassionate leave to stay because, among other factors, they were not known to be suffering any serious medical conditions. However, information leaked over the past week has painted the family as deluded, paranoid and mentally ill.
Hundreds of people gathered yesterday at the spot where the Serykh family fell to their deaths last Sunday, before marching in their memory and calling for a fatal accident inquiry into the circumstances of their deaths.
Robina Qureshi, director of Positive Action in Housing, was one of the organisers. She said: “The papers submitted by the Serykhs to the Home Office suggest they had clear psychological issues. In fact they had talked about dying together. Despite knowing this, the Home Office placed them in the community alongside other vulnerable people, knowing they were a clear danger to themselves.”
John Wilkes, chief executive of the Scottish Refugee Council, said more should be done to tackle high rates of mental ill-health among asylum seekers.
“While suicide is not a common occurrence, we certainly feel that the mental health of people who are seeking asylum should be a matter of crucial consideration by the UK Border Agency staff who handle their cases,” he said.
Bron: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/health/mental-illness-epidemic-hits-asylum-seekers-in-scotland-1.1013192
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