The European Parliament adopted by a very large majority (682 votes in favour, three against and 10 abstentions) on Wednesday 8 July a resolution on the rights of people with intellectual disabilities in the context of the Covid-19 crisis.
First, the MEPs point out that containment measures and isolation are “particularly negative” to anyone with a intellectual disability or mental illness.
They therefore call on the Commission and the Member States to establish common protocols for future crises and advocate that people with disabilities and their representative organisations be involved from the outset in the adoption of such measures in the future.
Parliament also calls for data to be collected in each Member State on the treatment and mortality rate of people with intellectual disabilities in care institutions, so that an assessment can be made of the quality of protection afforded to them during the crisis.
Stressing that this crisis has revealed “major flaws in support systems for a number of at-risk groups”, MEPs call for more resources to be mobilised for health services and demand the removal of barriers faced by people with disabilities in accessing these services.
The organisation Inclusion Europe, which initiated a petition that led to the adoption of this resolution, has indeed pointed out that, throughout the crisis, cases of discrimination and violation of the rights of people with intellectual disabilities have been reported to them. Some people, for example, have been denied ambulance services or medical care in hospitals.
Finally, MEPs say the Commission should ensure that its future strategy on the rights of people with disabilities (see EUROPE 12522/21) is “comprehensive, ambitious and long-term” and that it takes into account the lessons of the crisis.
Read the resolution: https://bit.ly/2BN7nbc (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)