Conseil de l'Europe

Les victimes d’une fusillade qui a eu lieu récemment dans une plantation de fraises dans le sud de la Grèce craignent encore pour leurs moyens de subsistance et pour leur vie, a déclaré Amnesty International après s’être rendue sur place. Le 17 avril 2013, plusieurs responsables de cette exploitation agricole ont tiré sur 33 travailleurs bangladais, qui n’ont pas été payés depuis sept mois, lorsque ceux-ci ont rejoint un mouvement de protestation pour réclamer leur salaire. Huit d’entre eux ont été grièvement blessés.

« Ils nous ont frappé et nous ont dit "on va vous tuer". Trois d’entre eux nous tiraient dessus pendant que les autres nous frappaient avec des bâtons. Les coups de feu ont duré pendant plus de 20 minutes », a raconté un des travailleurs à une délégation d’Amnesty International restée quelques jours sur place après les faits. […]

Our latest report presents some of the results of comparative data collected in 2012 in 14 cities across seven European countries. This report covers a sample of 8,412 patients, 19,302 consultations (including 10,968 medical consultations) and 11,921 diagnoses reported by our volunteer health professionals.

In order to capture the context in which this data collection took place, a concise update on the national legislations of these seven countries has been included. We also added to the quantitative data a number of qualitative reports from our field teams on the most important European trends identified by our network.

The crisis has generated austerity measures that have had a deep impact on all social safety nets, including healthcare provision. Groups who were already facing numerous vulnerability factors before the crisis, such as migrants, drug users, destitute European citizens and homeless people, have seen a reduction in or a termination of social safety nets and networks which provide them with basic help. Whilst all levels of the population must cope with increasing poverty, we are witnessing a significant increase in xenophobic actions and declarations against migrants, who have become the scapegoats of a situation which is making them even more vulnerable. […]

Migrant workers from Tajikistan, hundreds of thousands of whom reside in the RF, had placed high hopes on the agreement signed between the immigration services of both countries on February 8, 2013, which they had hoped would simplify the process of migrant registration and extend the length of time they would be permitted to work in the RF to three years. It is evident that the agreements governing migrant workers arose in the context of the ratification of Russian-Tajik agreements regarding the Russian military base in the Republic of Tajikistan.

However, despite what would seem to be mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, the actions on the ground directly contradict the interests of Tajik migration policies and the agreements achieved in this sphere - on the very day that the agreement was signed, a special operations raid was conducted in St. Petersburg which rounded up almost a thousand migrant workers, many of whom were Tajik. […]

Cette enquête, faite en 2008, est basée sur 1 218 entretiens dans 11 pays européens : Allemagne, Belgique, Espagne, France, Grèce, Italie, Pays-Bas, Portugal Royaume-Uni, Suède et Suisse. Elle constitue un témoignage inédit sur les conditions de vie, l’état de santé et l’accès aux soins et à une prise en charge des soins des personnes parmi les plus pauvres et les plus discriminées : les sans-papiers. Parmi ses résultats, elle montre que l’accès aux soins est inégal selon les pays européens mais qu’il est partout très restreint. 72% des pathologies des sans-papiers enquêtés sont peu ou pas du tout suivies. […]

Médecins du Monde (MdM) has been since its creation particularly sensitive to the issue of migrants , who are some of the most vulnerable groups throughout the world, especially in terms of the right to health and of effective access to health care. In this respect, Europe is no exception. Even though the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights reaffirms the right of everyone to access to preventive health care and the right to benefit from medical treatment (article 35), it is limited by the conditions established by national laws and practices. There is therefore a wide gap between the general principle of access to health care and its application in each country.

As a result, in most European Union (EU) countries, foreigners (especially undocumented migrants’) access to health care is much more restricted than it is for nationals. In some countries, they have access only to vital emergency health care; in others, even if access to health care is in the law, its effectiveness is limited by complex procedures. […]