200 doctors forced into asylum limbo

THE NATIONAL Health Service has been accused of turning its back on more than 200 qualified doctors, an entire medical school, because they are living in Britain as asylum-seekers.

Instead the doctors are working as cleaners, community workers and auxiliary nurses, according to research by the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (J-Core).

The refugees - most of them living in poverty - must pay fees running to thousands of pounds to pass the exams necessary for them to practise in Britain.

Edie Friedman, director of J-Core, said: "It's tragic that these people with such skills to offer the country are not able to use them. We need the Government to co-ordinate efforts so that we can get these people to work for the benefit of all of us."

At a briefing at the Jewish Chronicle last week, Dr Richard Stone, chairman of J-Core, raised the issue with the Immigration minister Mike O'Brien, who has promised to discuss the matter with health officials.

Mohammed Koker is currently working as an auxiliary nurse at Lewisham Hospital, south London, despite having two medical degrees and 15 years of study behind him.

He came to Britain from war-ravaged Sierra Leone in 1991, having just finished a degree in medicine in the former Soviet Union. He has since acquired a further degree, in infectious diseases, from the University of East London but has found it almost impossible to develop his career while a refugee.

He said he felt "frustrated" at working in a hospital while being unable to fully use his knowledge. "I have to make sure I don't get involved because that would get me into trouble. But you see some of the newly qualified staff and you know you could do things better," he said.

At 39, he spends his evenings studying for a pounds 1,000 exam which will allow him to work as a doctor in a teaching hospital.He has been required to take a test in English, a language he learnt at his mother's knee.

"I do not have any alternative," he said. "At this stage, if I were to change to any other profession I would have to start from scratch."

He needs to send money to his 15-year-old son, trapped in Sierra Leone with his grandfather, but Jobcentres have told him he is "over-qualified" for other work. So Mr Koker continues to study, in the hope that he will one day become a physician again.

To practise in Britain, doctors who qualified overseas must first gain limited registration with the General Medical Council. This can be done through sponsorship, membership of a royal college, passing the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) test or "requalifying" through the United Examining Board. Most opt for the PLAB, which can cost more than pounds 1,000.

Legal talent is also going to waste. One of the country's leading human rights lawyers last night called on firms of solicitors to hire some of the outstanding lawyers who have fled the war in Sierra Leone to seek asylum in Britain.

Michael Birnbaum QC said the upsurge in fighting in the West African state at the turn of the year had turned many senior members of the Bar and the judiciary into refugees.

Mr Birnbaum said many could be employed as legal clerks or para-legals while they were in this country.

"Although they have not been exposed to the high-technology of our society, they would be very valuable," he said. "Successful advocates in Sierra Leone would be willing to take jobs as clerks and would have ability and experience far beyond that of the average clerk."