Newsletter - September 2010 - Issue n°19

"Protecting the rights of irregular migrants is not only a legal obligation, it is also a matter of public interest" says Global Migration Group

The GMG (comprising 12 UN agencies, the World Bank, and the IOM) is an inter-agency group bringing together heads of agencies to promote the wider application of all relevant international and regional instruments and norms relating to migration, and to encourage the adoption of more coherent, comprehensive and better coordinated approaches to the issue of international migration. It warned on 30^th of September that all countries must protect the human rights of the tens of millions of migrants worldwide who lack proper legal status and are thus more likely to face abuse, prolonged detention and ill-treatment, enslavement, rape or even murder. It stressed that everybody, regardless of migration status, enjoys the fundamental rights to life, liberty and security, freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention, asylum from persecution, and protection from discrimination based on race, sex, language, religion, national or social origin, or other status. Other fundamental rights include i.a. the rights to a fair trial and legal redress, to health, an adequate standard of living, social security, adequate housing, education, and just and favourable conditions of work.

"Protecting these rights is not only a legal obligation, it is also a matter of public interest and intrinsically linked to human development," the GMG said, calling on States to review the situation of migrants in an irregular situation within their territories and ensure that their laws and regulations conform with applicable international human rights standards. It stressed that children, especially those unaccompanied and separated, are particularly at risk, being banned from classrooms or denied their fundamental rights, even as their parents work and contribute to the economies of host countries and thus help raise standards of living.

Source: the UN News Centre

WHO Regional Office for Europe

 

Towards greater health equity in Europe: a new European health policy, 'Health 2020'

Plans to develop a new European health policy, 'Health 2020' were agreed at the WHO Regional Office for Europe's annual Regional Committee meeting which took place from 13 to 16 September 2010 in Moscow, Russian Federation with representatives from 53 Member States of the European Region, international organizations, health experts and representatives from the non-governmental sector.

 

'Health 2020' aims to confirm the underlying values and principles, and provide for an integrated and consistent framework to address the recent challenges to health and health equity in Europe. A study on health inequalities in Europe will provide a basis for this health policy, which will analyze the social determinants of health, in particular as they affect the health divide in Europe, as well as the social gradient in societies, vulnerable population groups, gender and the impact of all these aspects on health policies and actions by governments. The policy will promote health as a governmental responsibility and emphasize the need for inter-sectoral collaboration, while maintaining the important and critical role played by the health minister. A draft policy framework is expected to be presented in 2011, and finalized in 2012.

 

Source:

http://www.euro.who.int/en/who-we-are/governance/regional-committee-for-europe

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

 

CYPRUS

Asylum seeker dies after benefits cut

A DIABETIC Congolese asylum seeker died in his Nicosia hostel room after it emerged welfare services had cut his benefits denying him vital regular meals.

His tragic death comes after a five and half year struggle for refugee status, which has exposed numerous shortcomings and even possible discrimination in the asylum and welfare system. After leaving behind a wife and children in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, he arrived in Cyprus through the north in April 2005 and immediately sought asylum at Paphos Gate Police station in Nicosia. Apparently, policemen refused to process his application on several occasions. For most migrants who are escaping persecution, this rejection means remaining illegal and facing deportation if found trying to earn money. In this case however, this rejection could have been fatal because without asylum seeker status, he could not obtain insulin to treat his diabetes. Unfortunately, after having gained asylum seeker status in May 2005, he remained in this limbo state for several years while authorities dawdled on his application.

 

Source :

- Cyprus Mail

 

FRANCE

Draft immigration bill under fire

Debates on the proposal for a new French immigration bill started on 28 September at the "Assemblée Nationale". The proposal has been strongly criticised by the diverse organizations working on migration issues. These argue that the bill is likely to violate the fundamental rights of migrants and refugees, and that the proposal reduces the power of the judges in favor of administrative authorities. Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner, has also showed his concern. Two amendments were proposed directly concerning health rights. One amendment restricts the scope of the AME (health coverage for undocumented migrants). The other amendment, concerning seriously ill migrants applying for a renewable one-year residence permit on the basis of lack of effective access to the treatment they need in their country of origin, replaces the lack of effective access to the treatment they need by the simple existence of such a treatment, which would very significantly impact this protection against expulsion mechanism. The text passed refers to the "availability" of the needed treatment, which will also clearly impact the protection of seriously ill migrants. As regards the AME, no changes were voted; the discussion will continue during the debates on the budget as a part of the members of parliament are willing to reduce dramatically its scope.

Sources:

- ECRE weekly bulletin, 1 October 2010

- ODSE, « Peut-on accepter de renvoyer des malades mourir dans leur pays d'origine ? »

 

 

UK

New free health clinic for refugees and asylum seekers opens in Central London

Doctors of the World UK will run a nurse-led weekly clinic at Notre Dame Refugee Centre (NDRC) on Leicester Square. This clinic will be an extension of its Project: London outreach activities, which provide advice, support and interim healthcare to vulnerable people who are unable to access healthcare. It will specialise in work with Francophone patients but will be open to all refugees and asylum seekers.

Sources:

- Migrants rights network

- http://ndrefugeecentre.canalblog.com/

 

 

'State sponsored cruelty - Children in immigration detention'

Medical Justice, which sends doctors to the centres, said more than half of the children in the 141 cases it had looked at since April 2004 suffered psychological harm, with symptoms including bed wetting, loss of bowel control, heightened anxiety and food refusal.

Source:

http://www.medicaljustice.org.uk/content/view/1420/89/

 

 

UK suspends return of asylum seekers to Greece

The UK Border Agency has announced today the suspension of the return of asylum seekers to Greece under the Dublin Regulation. With immediate effect, the backlog of approximately 1300 cases and all new cases will have their applications heard in the UK, and not Greece.

This will come as a great relief to all those facing return to the "broken asylum system" of Greece. The decision-making process in the UK leaves a lot to be desired but at least we have legal aid (for now, and only just) and the initial success rate is more than Greece's 1%.

The decision comes as a result of the Court of Appeal's decision to refer the case of NS (formerly known as Saeedi) to the Court of Justice of the European Union. It appears that this process could take up to two years, so the UK Government has decided to use its powers to assess asylum claims in the UK during this period, rather than have the applicants wait for the outcome. The UK Border Agency has stressed that this decision is purely pragmatic, and is in no way related to the multiple human rights abuses and the near impossibility of claiming asylum in Greece, as highlighted time and again by i.a. the United Nations refugee agency, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International.

PUBLICATIONS

• "Greece: Irregular migrants and asylum-seekers routinely detained in substandard conditions", documents their treatment, many of whom are held in poor conditions in borderguard stations and immigration detention centres with no or limited access to legal, social and medical aid.

 

• "The Atlas of human migration, global patterns of people on the move", Russel King, Richard Black, Mickael Collyer, Anthony Fielding, Ronald Skeldon, publisher Earthscan.

 

• 'Detention of third country nationals in return procedures'

The Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) published a new report on "Detention of third country nationals in return procedures". In examining law and practice in the EU 27 member states, the report strongly underlines that established safeguards to prevent unlawful and arbitrary detention must be respected. The study aims to provide evidence-based recommendations to ensure the respect of fundamental rights in the implementation of the Return Directive, which needs to be incorporated into Member States' national legislations by the end of 2010.

 

• How health systems can address inequities in priority public health conditions: the example of tuberculosis.

"...The Priority Public Health Conditions Knowledge Network of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health identified TB as a priority public health condition because it represents a large aggregate burden of disease, exhibits significant disparities across and within populations and affects certain groups disproportionately. Current patterns of inequity also favor the continued prevalence of TB.

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Unaccompanied children: What protection at the European level?

ECRE member France Terre d'Asile (FTDA) organises, in partnership with the Council of Europe and the French association 'Themis', a conference on the protection of unaccompanied children at the European level. The conference will take place on 20 October 2010 in Strasbourg. During the conference, the Institute for Rights, Equality and Diversity (Greece) will present the conclusions of a comparative study on the reception and care for unaccompanied children. EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström will present the European Commission Action plan on unaccompanied children. The full agenda and the registration form are available on FTDA's website.

 

• MDM Belgium organises a Conference on 21 October 2010 on "Access to health care for vulnerable children and pregnant women" during which a legislative proposal prepared by MDM Belgium will be discussed. On the same day, the exhibition "Exil, exit" will start, lasting until 31 October. The photo exhibition "Exil, Exit" bears witness on the living conditions, health status, access to healthcare facing undocumented migrants in Europe - people among the poorest, most excluded and most discriminated against. This exhibition aims to question the visitors on concepts such as exile, wandering, survival.

 

• Regions for health network conference : "Reducing Health Inequalities from a regional perspective - what works, what does not?"

The conference aims to examine how regional policy and stakeholding sectors can efficiently eliminate disparities in health by addressing the social determinants of health. The following questions arise: Which measures work? Which initiatives do not produce any results (and why)? And how can research outcomes be translated into policy and practice? The HUMA network submitted a poster for this conference on the experience of MdM Germany (with Munich municipality).

 

• 3^rd European public health conference, 10-13 November in Amsterdam

This conference's main theme is 'Integrated public health'. One of the transversal themes of the conference is "migrants' health", and many workshops will focus on this theme, such as: Migration and health in the European Union; Mental Health Care for Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Irregular Migrants in Europe; Health care for migrant and ethnic minorities; Closing the health gap: addressing health inequalities and inequity faced by Roma in health care, ... One representative from HUMA will be present at the conference.