Editorial

The health risks of the UK's new asylum act

BMJ 2000; 321 doi: 10.1136/bmj.321.7252.5 (Published 1 July 2000)
Cite this as: BMJ 2000;321:5

This article has a correction

Please see: The health risks of the UK's new asylum act

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The health of asylum seekers must be closely monitored by service providers

  1. Jim Connelly, senior lecturer in public health,
  2. Martin Schweiger, consultant in communicable disease control
  1. Nuffield Institute for Health, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9PL
  2. Leeds Health Authority, Leeds LS1 4PL

    Personal view p 59

    A refugee is “any person, who owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his/her nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his/her former habitual residence, is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”1

    The United Nations' 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees (and the 1967 protocol updating it) gave refugees a limited level of protection and support.1 In 1999, the United Kingdom received 71 415 applications from people seeking asylum, second in the European Union only to Germany, which had 95 331. However, in relation to the size of its population the United Kingdom ranks ninth in Europe and Germany ranks 12th. People asking for asylum are seeking recognition as refugees, …

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