Access of migrants and refugees to healthcare
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 25 June 2026 (25th sitting) (see Doc. 16412, report
of the Committee on Migration, International Protection and Economic
Co-operation, rapporteur: Ms Pelin Yılık; and Doc. 16441, opinion of the Committee
on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, rapporteur:
Ms Yuliia Ovchynnykova). Text adopted by the Assembly on 25 June
2026 (25th sitting). Provisional version subject
to editorial review.
1. The Parliamentary
Assembly affirms the imperative of ensuring that migrants and refugees
have effective access to healthcare, including mental healthcare,
in order to fully realise the fundamental right to health as enshrined
in international human rights law for all persons, and underscores
that such access is also essential from a public health perspective.
2. The importance of applicable international and regional legal
instruments cannot be underestimated, in particular the European
Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) (notably Articles 3 and 8),
as interpreted in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights,
as well as relevant principles of international humanitarian law,
in ensuring the protection of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers,
including with regard to access to healthcare. Moreover, member
States that are Parties to the European Social Charter (ETS No. 35)
and the European Social Charter (revised) (ETS No. 163) undertake
to ensure “the effective exercise of the right to protection of
health” (Article 11) and to uphold the right to social and medical
assistance for anyone without adequate protection (Article 13).
It is furthermore important to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals, in particular those relating to universal health coverage
and the effective management of health emergencies.
3. Recommendation
CM/Rec(2011)13 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on mobility, migration
and access to healthcare underscores the responsibilities of national
and local authorities and the key role of organisations working
to maintain and restore health.
4. The Assembly has repeatedly drawn attention to migrants’ and
refugees’ precarious health and their difficulties in accessing
health and social services, including in
Resolution 2504 (2023) “Health and social protection of undocumented workers
or those in an irregular situation” and
Resolution 2627 (2025) “Promoting universal health coverage”.
5. Migrants face extreme physical and mental precariousness when
arriving on European soil. Their health situation is shaped by a
combination of structural, institutional and individual factors
that may significantly hinder effective access to healthcare and
exacerbate existing conditions. These include, inter alia, legal and administrative
barriers; insufficient availability, accessibility or continuity
of healthcare services, including vaccination; inadequate reception
conditions and precarious living or employment situations; as well
as individual challenges such as limited knowledge of rights, fear
of approaching authorities or services, language and health-literacy
barriers, stigma, distrust and the cumulative impact of perilous
and traumatic migration journeys.
6. Women and girls in migration are disproportionately exposed
to trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence and exploitation,
and face intersectional discrimination based on sex, migration status,
poverty, disability and age. These factors, compounded by legal
and administrative barriers, language obstacles, lack of information
and inadequate screening and referral, limit timely access to essential
services, including sexual and reproductive and maternal healthcare,
mental health support and protection services. There are moreover insufficient
training of professionals and gaps in culturally-appropriate care.
Failure to ensure targeted access exacerbates maternal morbidity,
untreated trauma and intergenerational harms to children, including developmental
and psychiatric disorders. The Assembly therefore underscores the
need for gender-responsive, trauma-informed and accessible healthcare
pathways for women and girls.
7. With regard to migrant children, the Assembly underlines the
necessity to harmonise age-assessment procedures for unaccompanied
children, consistent with
Recommendation
CM/Rec(2022)22 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on human
rights principles and guidelines on age assessment in the context
of migration.
8. The Assembly thus invites Council of Europe member States
as well as States whose parliament enjoys observer status with the
Assembly to:
8.1 avoid relying
on externalised migration and asylum policies, including return
hubs, which systematically curtail healthcare access or shift protection
burdens onto areas lacking the necessary infrastructure and safeguards;
8.2 strengthen their domestic legal framework through stable
national migration legislation, with a view to including migrants
and refugees in national health insurance schemes, emphasising preventive primary
care;
8.3 move towards a universal healthcare framework for migrants,
in line with the European Social Charter and the central political
commitment of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
and the subject of target 3.8 of Sustainable Development Goal 3.
This implies facilitating access to adequate healthcare cover for
all foreign nationals lawfully residing in the country, including improved
access to relevant medicines and in sufficient quantities, and ensuring
the availability of adequate healthcare infrastructure, including
purpose-built premises with fully equipped consultation rooms and
spaces;
8.4 commit to protecting migrants’ and refugees’ health and,
more broadly, public health in the short and long term. This implies
equality and inclusion in healthcare through integrated migrant
health policies and investment in preventive and primary care, including
in reception and detention centres, in so-called “hotspots” culturally
sensitive care and in hospitals;
8.5 ensure, with regard to mental health, access of migrants
and refugees to psychological and psychiatric care and treatment
to respond to symptoms of anxiety, depression or post-traumatic
stress disorder. When appropriate, and as recommended by the European
Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the Assembly recommends
developing strategic plans for the sustained support of persons
fleeing war and other emergencies, with an emphasis on addressing
mental health needs and delivering psychosocial support through
community-based approaches, including in schools and reception settings;
8.6 ensure access of migrants and refugees to information
about their rights. This implies providing effective communication
on services and materials related to health, including through brochures
and other written information available in an appropriate range
of languages. The Assembly also strongly encourages the relevant
authorities to provide interpretation services and cultural mediators
in relevant languages, with appropriate culturally sensitive training;
8.7 collaborate with international health organisations to
develop secure, interoperable and portable digital patient summaries
for refugees and asylum seekers in transit, ensuring that essential
medical history, immunisation records and allergy data travel with
the patient, thereby reducing redundant testing and preventing treatment
interruptions.
9. The Assembly further encourages health authorities to:
9.1 ensure that migrants and refugees
have free access to healthcare from the moment of first arrival, including
emergency and other necessary healthcare (such as maternal and neonatal
care, essential treatment of chronic diseases and urgent mental
health support), as well as access to vaccination and medicines.
In this context, health authorities should prevent public and private
healthcare providers from reporting migrants who are irregularly
present in the country to the immigration authorities. The Assembly
further encourages a systematic comprehensive medical examination
by a healthcare professional to identify vulnerabilities and ensure
appropriate placement, including for vulnerable populations such
as women and unaccompanied children;
9.2 invite healthcare professionals to pay particular attention
to the existence of any injuries. They should also screen for transmissible
diseases – including systematic screening for signs of tuberculosis, and
voluntary testing for HIV, hepatitis B/C –, chronic diseases and
long-term conditions such as diabetes. Such policies help to prevent
and tackle ill-treatment and to protect public health overall. However,
the Assembly underlines that the decision to segregate a person
for health reasons should be limited in duration and grounded in
the principles of necessity, proportionality and respect for human dignity;
9.3 strengthen the capacities and qualifications of healthcare
staff, including general practitioners, nurses and psychosocial
support staff;
9.4 facilitate the recognition of professional qualifications
of refugees and migrants who are trained healthcare professionals,
so that they can contribute to domestic health systems and to delivering culturally
and linguistically appropriate care to migrant populations.
10. The Assembly furthermore encourages Council of Europe member
States concerned to fully implement the European Social Charter
and to make full use of the opportunities provided by the
Council of Europe Development
Bank to strengthen healthcare infrastructure, equipment and
staffing, in particular in reception and detention centres.
11. Finally, the Assembly calls on its own members, in their capacity
both as national lawmakers and as members of the Assembly, to act
at European and domestic levels to promote the relevant Council
of Europe instruments, standards and expertise as well as to align
national legislation and practice with the recommendations set out
above.
