Brussels, 13/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - MEPs and NGO representatives have urged EU member states to fight against inequalities of access to health care for children and pregnant women who fall into the category of irregular migrants. This appeal was launched during a public EP hearing on 8 December in Brussels, as part of the World Human Rights Day.
Edite Estrela (S&D, Portugal), the rapporteur on “Reducing health inequalities in the EU” stated that “it is unacceptable that out of 16 European countries, nine of them were failing to respect the International Convention on Children's Rights”. These countries are Germany, Cyprus, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. A new study by Médecins du Monde confirmed that these countries are not guaranteeing access to healthcare facilities for the children of irregular migrants or pregnant women among this community. Médecins du Monde (MdM) indicates that: - in the United Kingdom, women must pay all of the costs when they give birth in hospital; - in Germany, neither these children nor pregnant women from this community were able to access the healthcare system because of the requirements for hospital administrations to report illegal immigrants (except in emergencies); - in Poland, the children of illegal immigrants can only access health care at school and in Sweden they can only access health care by paying the full cost.
In her comments on these results, Ludovica Banfi (the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights - AFR -) noted that in 11 European countries “there are no specific mechanisms for the children of irregular migrants: they do not have any particular protection and are treated as adults without papers”. She added that, for example, pregnant women among this community in Austria and Greece, according to the law, only have access to health care in the event of complications when giving birth. Policies that restrict the fundamental rights of irregular migrants are aimed at turning these people into beggars, she concluded.
Philippe Juvin (EPP, France), a doctor, underlined the necessity of “avoiding those in the care profession being turned into people responsible for regulating immigration policy”. Hélène Flautre (Greens/EFA, France) asserted that “these restrictive policies are themselves harmful, they put those without papers into intolerable situations and go against the idea of public health”. Finally, Dr Hans Wolff, an expert on public health at the University of Geneva, declared that “it is necessary to ensure fair access to health care for all in Europe. If this system is not based on this principle, it will lead to the excessive use of emergency services and big problems in terms of costs”. (Com-G.B./transl.fl)