In the fifth article of a six-part PLoS Medicine series on migration & health, Zachary Steel from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia and colleagues discuss the health risks associated with "interception strategies" that are used by governments to control and order international migration, especially in terms of halting the movement of irregular migrants, including asylum seekers. Some strategies like immigration detention, the authors argue, pose a serious threat to health and mental health, while others like visa restrictions have a potentially large impact on migrants' health and welfare by forcing people to remain in settings where they face the chance of persecution.
The authors argue that "health professionals must remain engaged in discussions about migration and humanitarian protection to ensure a broader consideration of the health impact of these practices."
Funding: No specific funding was received for this article.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Steel Z, Liddell BJ, Bateman-Steel CR, Zwi AB (2011) Global Protection and the Health Impact of Migration Interception. PLoS Med 8(6): e1001038. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001038
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CONTACT: Dr. Zachary Steel
School of Psychiatry
University of New South Wales
Sydney
Australia
z.steel@unsw.edu.au
Journal
PLoS Medicine