13/05/2026 Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The Committee on Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation, meeting today in Paris, called on member states’ health authorities to “ensure that migrants and refugees have free access to healthcare from the moment of first arrival”, including mental healthcare, with psychiatric care to respond to symptoms of anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Member states should also guarantee these individuals effective access to vaccination, medicines, and screening for transmissible diseases, chronic diseases and long-term illnesses.
In this context, national legislation should prevent public and private healthcare providers “from reporting migrants who are irregularly present in the country to the immigration authorities”, the committee emphasised.
The report by Pelin Yılık (Türkiye, NR), adopted by the committee, states that a range of factors hinders effective access to healthcare for migrants and refugees, including legal and administrative barriers; insufficient availability or accessibility of health services; inadequate reception conditions and precarious living situations; as well as individual challenges such as limited knowledge of rights, fear of approaching authorities or language barriers.
Furthermore, the committee called on member states to strengthen their domestic legal frameworks to include migrants and refugees in national health insurance schemes, and to move towards a universal healthcare framework for them – in line with the central political commitment of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Finally, the committee recommends strengthening investment in primary and preventive care, particularly in reception and detention centres, in so-called “hotspots” and in hospitals.