Covert study finds mental illness among kids in Australia's asylum camps. (General).

SYDNEY -- A covert study by Australian and New Zealand researchers indicates that children of asylum seekers held in Australian detention centers for more than two years have high rates of mental illness. The study was "covert" because the authorities would not permit the researchers to enter the camps.

The conditions of detention, the researchers reported, are a major factor because symptoms of mental illness had not been seen in other rejected asylum seekers who were awaiting deportation outside the detention centers.

The researchers, Clinical psychologists Zachary Steel and Louise Newman interviewed twenty youths, as young as age 3.

All were diagnosed with at least one psychiatric disorder, and more than half suffered from major depression or post-traumatic disorder, the report indicates. Some children reported having nightmares about being hit by security officers and waking up screaming.

Most of the children arrived in Australia "in pretty good shape" but psychiatric disorders among them increased tenfold in two years according to the authors. "Essentially, the number of disorders increased from rive to 52 over this period," Steel said.

The children, along with 14 adults, were assessed by the researchers from September 2002 through February 2003 in a series of covert telephone interviews.

The study followed a demand by an alliance of physicians and health professionals for the Australian government to release children from detention.

Human rights groups and the United Nations have criticized Australia over the way children at the camps are treated.

The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights accused Australia of violating key rights treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention Against Torture, and said the conditions for detained asylum seekers in the country were cause for concern.

Louise Newman, said she and others have long argued against the imprisonment of the asylum seekers. "What we've argued consistently is that there's no need to adopt a penal model and we should adopt a health, welfare and support model in terms of assisting refugee populations," she said.

Australia has said it made many improvements to the detention centers last year, including setting up a residential area outside one center designed specifically for children.

Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said psychiatric care and counseling are available to detainees. The research "will really help us understand the damage that's being done to people," said Newman who points out that 20 million people are displaced worldwide and the treatment of refugees was a global concern. About 1,100 people remain in Australia's six mainland detention centers, with another 500 held in two camps in neighboring Pacific Island countries. Among them, Steel said, are about 250 children.