Child and adolescent refugees and asylum seekers in Australia: the ethics of exposing children to suffering to achieve social outcomes

Sarah Mares and Jon Jureidini review the impact of harsh policies of deterrence, and in particular indefinite mandatory detention, on asylum seekers including children arriving in Australia from 2000 until late 2007. They consider the ethical and human rights implications of policies which wilfully exposed children to abuse and neglect and negative developmental and mental health outcomes. They undertake an examination of various consequentialist arguments that seek to justify indefinite mandatory detention or contest it. They also consider the ethical demands on health professionals who assess and attempt to treat children and their families who are harmed by immigration policy and practice.