BELGIUM

Residence permit for medical reasons

The ‘Foreigners Office’, whenever it handles ‘residence permit for medical reasons’ claims has to take into consideration the risk of interruption of continuity of care in Belgium, says the Appeals Council for foreigners disputes in a recent judgment.

Source: VMC medical newsletter, issue 13.

GREECE

EU asylum policy flaws leave refugees trapped in Greece

Individuals returned to Greece under the Dublin Regulation are facing multiple violations of their human rights. “The Dublin II trap – Transfers of asylum-seekers to Greece” demonstrates the failure of the Greek authorities to provide a fair asylum procedure. The insufficient provision of accommodation and inadequate access to health care exacerbate the precariousness of asylum seekers’ situation even further.

Sources:

- ECRE Weekly Bulletin 26 March 2010

- Amnesty International, 'Flaws in EU's asylum policy leave refugees trapped in Greece without protection'

SWEDEN

Sweden to build reception facilities for children returned to Afghanistan

The Swedish government has announced plans to build specially-designed care centres in Afghanistan where unaccompanied children seeking asylum in Sweden can be returned to. The Swedish Migration Minister insisted that: “The most important thing is to enable the child to be reunited with his parents. If the only basis for a child to stay in Sweden is because they are alone, then it is better that they live in their home country while a search is conducted for their parents”. Sweden is not the only country to announce such plans in response to an increase in the number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum. The Danish government has recently made public similar plans while the Netherlands has been funding reception facilities in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo for several years now.

Sources:

- ECRE Weekly Bulletin 26 March 2010

- The Local, ‘Sweden plans Afghanistan orphanages'

FRANCE

‘The right to health violated in Mayotte’

The High authority to fight discrimination and promote equality (HALDE) denounces discriminations and important breaches to the right to health in Mayotte. It concludes that claims of discriminations of undocumented migrants and their children, or of unaccompanied children, when accessing health care, are well-founded. It asks the authorities to put ‘State medical aid’ or an equivalent medical coverage in place in Mayotte and also, considering the obvious violation of provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children (UNCRC), that children of undocumented migrants and unaccompanied children can be directly affiliated to social security.

Source: migrants outre-mer

• Living in Limbo. Forced migrant destitution in Europe

Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Europe released a report on destitution of forced migrants in twelve EU Member States (Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom) and Ukraine. The report shows that “it is not fate but policies of states that completely exclude certain groups of migrants from any official assistance and leave them in distress and penury. Access to housing, health care, education, welfare and work are especially worrisome. The policies across the different states are not coherent: But they are violating the human rights of the affected migrants and cause severe social problems. The EU must develop laws that ensure respect of human rights for everybody regardless of status”. JRS appeals to governments of EU Member States to immediately change their policies in order to ensure that everyone has access to basic social rights. The European Union, in turn, must develop stricter regulations forcing governments to guarantee access to those rights. In particular, the European Parliament is encouraged to set up an investigation into the situation of destitute forced migrants in the EU Member States and publicly take a firm stance on this issue.

• In-depth report on the situation in detention centres for foreigners (in Spanish)

The CEAR report published in December 2009 on conditions of detention in CIEs focused on those in Aluche, Malaga and Valencia. The report reviews profiles of the people detained, the situation of refugees and asylum seekers, legal and judicial aspects, conditions within the centres, the medical care provided, the possibility of communicating with the outside world, the treatment of detainees with a special emphasis on cases and allegations of ill-treatment, special care provided to members of vulnerable groups and the impact of detention on detainees physical and mental health.

• “The Exploitation of Undocumented Migrant Women in the Workplace"

This report was issued by PICUM and the United Methodist Women Immigrant/Civil Rights Initiative and relates the experiences of migrant women in Europe, the US, and the Middle East, as well as organizing strategies. Despite the many positive experiences of female migration, significantly fewer paths are available for women to legally migrate for employment and as a result, migrant women may find themselves trapped in exploitative and coercive conditions. Once in an irregular situation, migrant women are dramatically overrepresented in gender-defined jobs with precarious working conditions, low pay and exposure to violence. Adopting a global perspective, the report explores specific vulnerabilities facing undocumented women in the labour market as well as strategies which have successfully served to protect and empower undocumented female workers. The report is available at picum.org and www.umwmission.org

• WHO Global Consultation on Migrant Health

Following a Resolution on the health of migrants by the World Health Assembly in January 2008, WHO, IOM and the Ministry of Health of Spain organized a consultation on Migrant Health in Madrid on 3-5 March 2010. The 2 year old Resolution asks Member States for migrant sensitive health policies and practices and requests WHO to promote migrant health, in collaboration with other relevant organizations; to encourage interregional and international cooperation and the exchange of information and dialogue among its Member States, with particular attention to strengthening health system, etc. HUMA network was invited in this Global consultation, during which sensitive issues were clearly raised, such as undocumented migrants’ right to access health care, detention, entry restriction measures, return of seriously ill migrants. The same openness was observed during the discussions in the plenary sessions and breakout groups. A certain degree of consensus could be reached on the need to be consistent with public health principles and thus protect the right to health of all human beings, irrespective of their administrative status.

• Undocumented Immigrants and the Stockholm Programme: Assuring Access to Rights?

This Conference was organized on 9 March 2010 by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) together with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) and EUROCITIES. The event focused on the status of undocumented migrants in the EU and aimed at structuring a pluralistic dialogue on their fundamental rights in light of the implementation of the Stockholm Programme by the Spanish Presidency and the adoption of the implementation plans by the Commission. The discussions taking place at the conference were structured around the specific themes (health, education, housing, fair working conditions) addressed in the final report and set of policy recommendations conducted by the CEPS on the status of undocumented migrants in Europe and their access to rights. HUMA participated in this conference, highlighting the main findings of European Observatory on access to health care’s 2^nd report and of HUMA network’s report.

• ‘Women, migration, marginality, and violence: What is needed for empowerment?’

This conference, in which HUMA will participate, will be held in Madrid on 23 April 2010 and hosted by PICUM. It will focus on the policies and practices that tend to push female migrants into the margins and limit their autonomy, and will enable civil society actors from across Europe to share experiences and strategies for empowerment.

• "First of all they are children. Basic needs of foreign minors in Europe"

The challenge to give minors unrestricted access to public health care and to free basic compulsory education irrespective of their origin and residency status still has to be met by many members of the European Union. Consequently, a move is needed to adapt and modify national legislations in order to guarantee public and compulsory coverage of the aforementioned basic needs amongst foreign minors. This is a matter of general public interest but also of human rights obligations and relates to the fight against child poverty and the transmission of intergenerational poverty. This Conference will take place on 27 April, 2010, in Madrid and is part of the 2010 activities calendar in Spain during the European year for combating poverty and social exclusion.