Prevalence of victims of torture in the health screening of quota refugees in New Zealand during 2007-2008 and implications for follow-up care.

New Zealand annually accepts approximately 750 quota refugees from around the world for resettlement in New Zealand. The humanitarian nature of the quota composition consists of those who are determined by the United Nations refugee agency to be in high need of immediate protection, a large proportion of medical and disability cases, and women and children at risk. Quota refugees arrive in group intakes and participate in assessment and orientation for the first 6 weeks at the national Mangere Refugee Resettlement Centre in South Auckland. This paper describes the findings of screening for refugees with a history of torture during 2007-2008. There were 144 refugees or 19.2% of the new arrivals found to have histories of torture during this period. The implications for future research, and follow-up care of people who have survived torture are discussed.