the invisible borders: destitution of migrants in europe

8/6/2019 THE INVISIBLE BORDERS: Destitution of Migrants in Europe

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Jesuit Refugee Service Europe Rue du Progrs 333 / 2 B-1030 Brussels BelgiumTel. +32 (0)2 250 32 21 Fax +32 (0)2 250 32 29 [email protected]

ANDES is funded by: 1 / 29

T H E I N V I S I B L E B O R D E R S :Destitution of Migrants in Europe

A report from the public conference

on 29 March 2011 in Brussels

Contents:1. Introduction.............. ...................... .................... ...................... .................. ...................... ...... 2

2. The media briefing.................... ..................... ...................... ..................... .................... ...... 2

3. Welcome and film .................. ................... ...................... ........................ ................... ......... 3

4. Keynote presentations ...................... .................... ...................... ................... ..................... 3

4.1 Destitution in a political perspective: Jean Lambert MEP ................... ................ 3

4.2 Destitution in a human rights perspective: Dr Nicolas J. Beger (AI)................... 4

5 Input from national events on destitution.............. ...................... ...................... ............... 5

6 Workshops on aspects of destitution.................. ...................... ...................... .................. 6

6.1 Workshop on access to education (Chair: Ms Anna Ranki, European YouthForum) ...................... ...................... ................... ...................... ................... ...................... ......... 7

6.1 Workshop on access to health care (Chair: Mr Benoit Blondel, Mdecins duMonde) ...................... ...................... ................... ...................... ................... ...................... ......... 7

6.2 Workshop on access to housing (Chair: Mr Mauro Striano, FEANTSA) ..........10

6.3 Workshop on access to social services (Chair: Ms Adriana Opromolla,Caritas Europa).......................................................................................................................17

6.4 Workshop on access to work and payment for work (Chair: Mr Benoit Noel,CGSB Syndicat liberal) ...................... .................... ...................... .................. ....................... 20

7 Panel discussion on the results from the workshops .................. ...................... ............. 21

8 Concluding remarks by the Conference Chair, Ms Gabriele Erpenbeck ................ 22

Appendix I: Profiles of the Speakers......................................................................................24

Appendix II: JRS Europes policy position on destitution of migrants................................25


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1. Introduction

Together with Caritas Europa, the European Trade Union Confederation, UNHCR andseveral other partners, Jesuit Refugee Service Europe organised a one-day EuropeanConference on Destitution of Migrants that was held on 29 th March 2011 at the Atel-iers des Tanneurs in Brussels. About 100 persons attended this conference, coming not

only from the refugee and migrant organisations but representing other Civil Societyactors as well, such as Trade Unions, educational or medical professionals. The aim wasproviding a forum for a dialogue among all relevant stakeholders as well as with po-litical decision makers so that concrete steps can be taken to improve the situation ofdestitute migrants. With this the impetus coming from the 2010 European Year AgainstPoverty and Social Exclusion should be used and brought forward.

This report will summarise the main elements and results of the conference. It is, there-fore, not meant to be exhaustive, but rather to give an idea about what has been dis-cussed. JRS Europe will be happy to answer any questions on details.

2. The media briefing

Just before the start of the conference, JRS Europe held a media briefing with aboutten journalists attending. Simon Tesfamichael, an Eritrean refugee now living in Italy,described his experiences: He did not receive any help from the Italian government norcould he get a job. He knew a lot of people living under even much worse conditions inItaly. For Simon the worst aspect of the destitution problem was that people are ca-pable but not being allowed to help themselves. He applied to the Italian governmentto change their policies in order to give migrants a chance. At the moment, I couldntsee any rights for refugees in Italy. Refugees simply do not exist for the Italian authori-ties.

JRS United Kingdom director Louise Zanr pointed out that it is the states policies thatengenders destitution. States are more concerned about immigration control than abouthuman rights of migrants. In the United Kingdom, for instance, asylum seekers are notallowed to work. This disintegrates society, Ms Zanr said, because people are keptseparate and are not allowed to contribute to the public welfare, even if they arehighly skilled. Instead, they are denied to flourish which would be for the benefit ofthemselves and of the society, and forced to be reliant on state support. This situation

has severe consequences for the affected migrants: Destitution leaves people aban-doned, let down and discarded, and it damages peoples health both physically andmentally.

The solution to this pan-European problem, according to Stefan Kessler of JRSEurope, lies with creating networks that can place pressure on EUs institutions andmember states governments. The destitution of migrants concerns all sectors of civilsociety, from employers to educators, doctors and to policy makers. Together we


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agree that human rights should not depend on ones legal status. The EU and its mem-ber states are obligated to care for all persons within their territory.

3. Welcome and film

Welcoming them to the conference, JRS Europes Regional Director Michael Schpf SJalerted the participants to destitution of migrants being a Europe-wide phenomenonon the rise. Especially by denying them the right to work, stateauthorities hinder migrants to become self-sufficient. GoltomYosief Asmelash, the spokesperson of the Eritrean community inMalta and a JRS collabourator, joined Mr Schpf in warning thatpeople were put in a situation where they cannot helpthemselves. Referring to the situation in Malta, where he lives, MrAsmelash added that access to education, health care and thelabour market is the problem: Migrants do not receive anysupport to help themselves and become independent.

Mr Schpf then introduced the Chair of the conference, MsGabriele Erpenbeck who is responsible for integration policies inthe government of the German Land of Niedersachsen, aSpokesperson for Migration of the Central Committee of GermanCatholics, and Advisor to the Migration Commission of theGerman Bishops Conference.

After a short welcome by Ms Erpenbeck, the film SomebodyAmong Us, produced by JRS Europe, was shown.

4. Keynote presentations

4.1 Destitution in a political perspective: Jean Lambert MEP

The first keynote speaker was Jean Lambert, a Green Member of the European Par-liament for London and, inter alia, a full member of the Employment and Social AffairsCommittee and a substitute member of the Civil Liberties and Human Rights committees.Ms Lambert referred to the situation in the United Kingdom as an example for theoverall treatment of destitute migrants in the EU member states and pointed out that

even migrants either with full status or coming from countries to which they clearly can-not go back (such as Zimbabwe, DR Congo, or Iraq) find themselves without any sup-port from the state.

Conference chair Ms Gabriele Erpenbeck


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A study commissioned by the European Parliament 1 confirmed the findings of JRSEuropes ANDES report: Destitution of migrants in Europe is caused by a variety of fac-tors. In Germany and Romania, holders of a toleration status have little to no accessto public housing and healthcare. Asylum seekers in the United Kingdom cannot workwhile they await a decision on their application, which can take many months. Migrants

living in Italy fear seeking medical treatment since medical personnel might reportthem to local authorities.

This is, in Ms Lamberts words, a political system that deliberately makes people desti-tute.

Ms Lambert called on EU member states to stop criminalizing people for wanting tomeet their basic needs. Solutions to stem migrant destitution include amending EU law

to grant asylum seekers means to become more self-sufficient, and monitoring member state legal andsocial practices towards undocumented migrants.

Including migrants within the EUs anti-poverty strat-egy is an absolute necessity. governments ought tounderstand the risks that destitution poses to publicpolicy. It is a pan-European problem, and we haveto do something about it.

Organisations should use all tools available in order to bring the issue onto the Euro-pean agenda. This includes discussing destitution in the context of the EU 2020 strat-egy and engaging with the Anti-Poverty Platform.

4.2 Destitution in a human rights perspective: Dr Nicolas J. Beger (AI)

In the second keynote speech, Dr. Nicolas J. Beger, director of Amnesty InternationalsEuropean Institutions Office in Brussels, put the destitution issue into the context of pro-tection gaps in Europe. The overwhelming majority of the worlds refugees is hosted bycountries outside Europe. The European Union is not taking its share. And even thosewho make it to Europe and seek protection are faced with the ridiculous DublinRegulation under which they are returned to the country where they have first enteredEuropean territory. This results in a few EU member states at the external borders be-ing over-challenged while others receive much fewer asylum seekers. As the currentsituation in Greece demonstrates, the Dublin regulation makes people destitute.

1 The status of persons who have been denied refugee status and who cannot be returned to their coun-try of origin . Ed. by the European Parliament, Directorate General for Internal Policies/Policy Depart-ment C Citizens Rights and Constitutional Affairs. PE 419.624. Brussels 2010, available on the Internetat www.europarl.europa.eu/activities/committees/studies.do?language=EN andwww.ipolnet.ep.parl.union.eu/ipolnet/cms


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In Greece, the treatment of asylum seekers is outrageous: Dr Beger recalled the storyof an 18 years old boy with Hepatitis B whose requests for medicine were met withbeatings. In another case, a 17 years old boy from Iran had fled after half of his fam-ily was murdered. He was detained in Greece for seven months under horrible condi-tions, with no access to a lawyer. After release from

detention, he made it to the UK where he spent twoyears. Later he was sent back to Greece. From therehe was sent to Iraq because he had lied about hisnationality for fear of having to return to Iran. Hefled Iraq and came again to Greece where he wasagain detained. Finally he was granted refugeestatus in the Netherlands. It took eight years tolodge an asylum claim for him. He is now 25 years old and has lost eight years of hisyouth.

Similarly, refugees fleeing the violence in Libya are not given protection, Dr Begersaid, even if they survive the dangerous trips over the Mediterranean Sea. Their situa-tion, most notably in Italy, has become outrageous as well because of the Italian gov-ernments policies. The European Union has supported the Ghadaffi dictatorship foryears and is now able to invest millions of Euros on military intervention but is scared of15,000 migrants.

In conclusion, Dr Beger reminded the participants that refugee protection and destitu-tion are not questions just of values but of rights. In Europe, laws and policies must bechanged if the commitment to human rights shall be more than only a lip-service.

5 Input from national events on destitution

A major part of the ANDES project was the creation of networks against destitution ofmigrants on national level and the organisation of events on this issue in several coun-tries. With Philip Amaral, JRS Europes Policy and Communications Officer, acting asfacilitator, representatives of seven JRS offices (Germany, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Ro-mania, and the United Kingdom) briefly described the situation of destitute migrants intheir respective countries and the lessons learned from the national events.

While there were many possible solutions to destitution put forward by the panel, twomain issues emerged from the discussion. The fi rst was improving access to healthcarefor migrants, who often fear being apprehended while accessing social services. Thesecond was improving communication with policy makers to make asylum proceduresmore effective.

The establishment of a network of medical associations, health service providers andmigrant organizations was suggested to combat the current situation faced by destitutemigrants seeking medical attention; a major cause of distress for destitute migrants is


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From left: Roberta Buhagiar, JRS Malta; Louise Zanr, JRS UK; GiuseppeTrotta SJ, JRS Italy, Andr Costa, JRS Portugal; Heiko Habbe, JRS Ger-many; Stefan Leonescu, JRS Romania; Philip Amaral, JRS Europe

lack of access to such public services. Heiko Habbe of JRS Germany stated thatundocumented migrants are fearful ofvisiting doctors because of laws whichobligate medical practitioners to reportundocumented migrants to the state

authorities. Giuseppe Trotta SJ of JRSItaly echoed this sentiment, stating thatundocumented migrants are essentiallycriminalized by society and face thethreat of prison. They are often

apprehended when they attempt toaccess social services.

The panel also highlighted the lengthy processing time of asylum applications. Whiletheir asylum claims are being processed, migrants are left destitute. government poli-

cies must be reexamined to shorten the average length of the asylum seeking proce-dure. Louise Zanre of JRS UK strongly stated the procedure is much too long in the UK,while Andre Costa of JRS Portugal spoke of migrants having to wait for up to eightmonths before a decision regarding their application has been reached.

Migrant destitution is caused by a variety of inter-connected factors. Common strate-gies and solutions can be developed when organisations collabourate to address themany factors which contribute to the state of destitution.

Panellists also presented several methods of stirring up a discussion on destitution atnational level. Roberta Buhagiar of JRS Malta described how her office formed a net-

work with several relevant stakeholders and made a pilot study on destitution in Malta.They conduct several public awareness-raising campaigns and advocate with policymakers.

Somehow unique is what JRS Romania did: As Stefan Leonescu explained, they specifi-cally conducted interventions with national courts on improving access to the asylumprocedure and organized several training seminars for lawyers on migrants rights.They have built a network that works to encourage a public debate, focusing on theright to work for migrants, as a means of preventing destitution.

6 Workshops on aspects of destitution

After lunch break, five workshops were run in parallel where participants discussedcertain aspects of destitution. 2

2 Most of the following reports were written by the respective Chairs of the workshops, hence the differ-ences in the lengths, forms and wordings of the reports. JRS Europe is very grateful to the workshopchairs for their excellent work.


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6.1 Workshop on access to education (Chair: Ms Anna Ranki, European Youth Fo-rum)

There was consensus about access to education being a fundamental human right anda key component to lifting and sustaining entire communities. No one should be prohib-ited from improving his or her life through education.

With regard to migrants, the reality, however, is different. Destitute migrants are oftennot aware of educational opportunities in the community that might benefit them. Dueto their lack of legal status, or an uncertain status, they do not have formal access toeducational and training opportunities.

Migrants with an irregular status are likely to not have enough financial means to payfor educational opportunities and there is no financial support from states.

The consequence that comes with keeping large segments of the migrant populationfrom accessing education is the growth of untapped resources they cannot contributeto society, and nor can society benefit from their contribution.

In some EU member states, education is the domain of the regional bodies. In Ger-many, for instance, all 16 Lnder have different rules on education. In some of thoseregions, even children cannot go to school because only kids with legal status are ad-mitted. In Germany, some cases are known where even children of migrants with atoleration or of asylum seekers aredenied education.

Adult migrants often cannot get theiruniversity diplomas recognized, or evenparticipate in formal professionaltraining courses. For them there is alsooften the problem of no possibility toaccess training in the language of thehost country.

To overcome this situation EU member states should provide access to basic education,as a minimum, to destitute migrant children. They should also explore ways to allowdestitute migrants to take advantage of education and training opportunities.

Local non-state actors, such as universities and charities, should make available low-

cost or free education programs and opportunities for destitute migrants, while civilsociety organisations should raise migrants awareness of existing educational oppor-tunities.

6.1 Workshop on access to health care (Chair: Mr Benoit Blondel, Mdecins duMonde)

Mdecins du Monde (MDM) has national programmes in about 10 EU countries. Re-cently, we conducted a comparative study on national legal frameworks in 16 EU


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member states. More specifically, the study analyses the access to healthcare (Primarycare, Secondary care, Hospitalisation, Emergency care, Ante- post-natal care), the ac-cess to treatment (medicines, HIV, other infectious diseases), and contains specific sec-tions on children; detention centres; transfer or access to information by the authorities;non-expulsion for medical reasons.

Some findings are:

In some countries, undocumented migrants do not have access free of charge to anyhealthcare, even in the case of emergency or pregnancy (eg Sweden).

In other countries, limited entitlements are completely overridden by the obligation(or possibility) to denounce (eg the rule for public administration in Germany).

Some other countries give some protection but leave aside vital care such as ante-post-natal care, or HIV treatment (eg UK).

Summing it up, it is fair to say that the right of undocumented migrants to accesshealthcare is not guaranteed in the EU.

MDM also conducted a survey onpractical obstacles, based on interviewswith 1,218 undocumented migrants livingin 31 towns in 11 European countries. Inaccordance to it, access is in practicelimited namely by

administrative problems and

complexities of the system (69%) financial barriers: consultation too

expensive (31%); treatment too expensive (29%)

fear of being reported to police or immigration authorities (17%)

language barrier (17%)

fear of discrimination, of being unwelcome or of being denied treatment (12%)

actual denial of access to care (11%).

In situations where people had the theoretical right to access health coverage only athird had access in practice . When treatment is considered to be indispensable. 1/3 isnot treated at all. Less than half of all pregnant women (48%) received ante-natalmonitoring during their pregnancy. And 41% of respondents said they gave up onseeking health care for themselves. 29% of respondents had even given up seekinghealth care for their children .

In the discussion, the participants at the workshops identified several problems:


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6.2 Workshop on access to housing (Chair: Mr Mauro Striano, FEANTSA)

Speakers in this workshop were Mr Christian Perl BAWO (Austria), Mr Bo Heide-Jochimsen and Ms Maj Kastanje Project Udenfor (Denmark), Ms Sonia Olea Ferreras

Caritas Spain, and Ms Malena Bonnier and Mr Arto Moksunen Stockholm City Mis-sion (Sweden).

Mauro Striano - Evidence suggests that immigrants are often among the most vulner-able groups. This happens in the labour market but also with regard to access to hous-ing. This workshop aims at identifying what the challenges are and possibly ways ofgranting access to housing for immigrants. We will have four presentations, made byfour of our members, which cover different national contexts combining overall work ofFEANTSA members and specific projects run at local level. It is paramount that throughthe debate we will have after these presentations we will be able to draw some policyrecommendations.

Our first speaker is going to be Mr Perl who is the project coordinator of BAWO,which is the Austrian umbrella organisation of non-governmental social services workingwith homeless people. He will be presenting some evidence on destitution among immi-grants in Austria and in particular some facts on access to social housing for immigrants,focusing on how anti-discrimination measures are implemented with regard to housingin the Austrian law. He will present first findings on this issue and possibly some policyrecommendations.

Christian Perl According to figuresreferring to 2009, 12% of the Austrianpopulation is at risk of poverty but if we

look at non-Austrian households we have30% at risk of poverty and even 21%for naturalised population. The samegoes for young people and children:12% of Austrian children and youngpeople are at risk of poverty whereasfor non-Austrian figures suggest 38% ofchildren and young people are at risk of poverty. If we talk about poverty of migrantsin a rich country like Austria we also have to talk about discrimination. Migrants in theAustrians public discourse today are mainly stigmatised as a security risk. In the frameof this rhetoric public authorities justify legislative measures and disciplinary actionagainst migrants. This political climate means for migrants with low social and ecoomi-cal resources, that they are discriminated. Extreme right parties and slogans as the so-called unwillingness to integrate have changed the question of integration towards apublic repression instead of Equality. The higher risk of living in poverty for migrants isdue to many factors, among which limited access to the labour market, lower education


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and no acceptance of qualifications from the country of origin, lower salaries and dis-crimination on the housing market.

The right to housing is not recognized as such by law or under the Constitution in Aus-tria, but housing as a basic need is recognized politically. Austria probably has a com-parably low level of homelessness and still a comparably very good housing provisioneven for the lowest income groups. This positive situation is amongst others especiallyestablished by a strong social housing sector (Limited Profit Housing Associations) plusadditional public housing especially in Vienna, cost rent scheme in social housing, rentcontrol regime in parts of the private rental market, strong infrastructure of assistedhousing, targeted housing allowances, a strong position of housing in civil society.

However, the allocation of public housing in Austria resembles a delicate balancing actbetween the concern for socially and ethnically mixed neighbourhoods on the onehand, and anti-discrimination legislation on the other. The question of allocation to mi-grants, minorities and people of different religious affiliation is politically sensitive and

legally unclear for many of the involved stakeholders. Again and again the nationalombudsman for equal treatment, local anti-discrimination bodies and NGOs reportcases where the allocation of public housing is linked to diffuse criteria that are not inline with anti-discrimination legislation. For instance, communes have connected the al-location of pubic housing with sufficient German language skills or have introducedmaximum quotas for migrants. Reservations held against socially or ethnically unpopu-lar house-hunters are apparently objective, but in reality this is often the result of dis-crimination against people with different ethnic or religious backgrounds.

To make this even more complicated in Austria we have a strong federal system which

features 9 different regions with 9 different social systems and consequently ways ofaccessing homeless services, 9 different housing allowance systems and 2000 differentways of accessing social housing.

To tackle the problem, Volkshilfe Austria has designed targeted measures andlaunched a special project together with the Austrian umbrella organization BAWOand the Klagsverband, an NGO specialized in representing victims of discrimination.The national contact point for anti-discrimination in the Ministry of Social Affairs haschosen the project for a collaborative PROGRESS application. The Austrian Ministry forTrade, the National Ombudsman against Discrimination, the Tyrolean and Viennese

governments and different local anti-discrimination bodies support the project finan-cially and/or as strategic partners.

The proposed project consists of three interlocking implementation modules: a legaland socio-scientific study; network training; and policy advice and public relations. Thestudy comprises both a legal and a social dimension. For the legal aspect, an overviewof the relevant European and Austrian legislation related to the allocation of publichousing and anti-discrimination will be compiled. The relevant legislation will be stud-


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ied and it will subsequently be analysed how the anti-discrimination legislation is im-plemented in Austrian law. The procedures of social housing allocation, the possibilitiesof appeal and responsibilities will be documented and analysed. Based on this analy-sis, recommendations will be given to various legislative bodies on how to improveanti-discrimination law. Furthermore, regional and local integration plans will be ana-

lysed comparatively in terms of their relevance to reaching equality in the housingmarket. In a second step, the study will shed light on whether and if so, how, in prac-tice, persons are discriminated against on the basis of ethnic origin, appearance, relig-ion or other grounds of discrimination. In particular we also want to look at the connec-tion between discrimination and poverty. In this socio-scientific part of the study, quan-titative and qualitative surveys will be carried out through questionnaires, telephoneinterviews and case studies on allocation practices in selected regions and cities. Goodpractice examples of social housing allocation in Europe and Austria will be re-searched and documented. The socio-scientific part will be conducted in the regions ofTyrol and Lower Austria and in different-sized cities: Vienna, Linz and Bregenz. Thesecond aspect, network training/good practice workshops, are aimed at employees ofhousing companies, regional and local allocation bodies, representatives of politicalparties and employees of NGOs that are engaged in the field of housing. In a firststep, the knowledge of anti-discrimination legislation will be improved. Using concreteexamples and practical reports of the participants in an inventory of ones own hous-ing allocation practices, can allow room for reflection on these practices. Austrian andEuropean good practice strategies in the allocation of public housing and specificmainstreaming tools will be presented or worked out together. New ways of allocationcan thus be developed together (internal guidelines, quotas, criteria for urgent claims,

allocation practices, support services for housing and living environments). Practical im-plementation projects involving the participants can be led by the project team. Theexamples of good practice and mainstreaming instruments should motivate public au-thorities to examine their social housing allocation practices. This will result in betterimplementation of the anti-discrimination legislation. The examples of good practiceand mainstreaming tools will be documented in a report by the project partners anddistributed through partner networks. Decision makers will thus have new, innovativeguidelines to hand, with which they can improve the planning of their allocation prac-tices.

The results of the project shall be presented in at least two Austrian states in the formof a local parliamentary survey, allowing it to reach political decision makers.

In these parliamentary surveys, the outcomes can be discussed in a structured and indepth manner.

According to the first finding of the survey, one third of the respondents think that NonAustrian households are discriminated in the allocation of social housing. Vast majorityalso considers that there should not be Ghettos where to many burdened households


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live together and that too many Non-Austrians in one neighbourhood lead to Parallelsocieties. Always according this survey, to reduce discrimination on the housing marketthe following measures are needed: setting of priorities in city- and neighbourhoodplanning; accompanying measures at neighbourhood level; more public relation meas-ures to enhance the acceptance of allocation of public housing to non Austrian citizens.

Mauro Striano - We have seen what the major challenges are and how examples ofgood practice and mainstreaming instruments might influence in a positive way policy-making.

Also, we have seen some sustainable ways to reduce discrimination in the housing mar-ket.

We are now going to see a project which was run by Mr Jochimsen and Ms Kastanjewho are both outreach workers for Project Udenfor. Project Udenfor is a private foun-dation that combines social street work with training and research on homelessness andsocial marginalisation. They have recently conducted a qualitative study on homelessWest African immigrants in Copenhagen and they will be presenting some of the find-ings, providing some insights of the challenges as well as of the Danish context.

Bo Heide-Jochimsen and Maj Kastanje We have recently conducted a qualitativestudy of homeless West African migrants in Copenhagen. This group of homeless peo-ple is relatively new. They appeared on the streets and in low threshold private home-lessness services only a few years ago.

The research is based on observations and life-story interviews with six West Africanmigrants, who live homeless on the streets of Copenhagen. Like many others in their

situation, the interviewed migrants have resided several years in southern Europe,where they have obtained temporary or permanent residence permit. This allows themto travel in the EU for a limited period of time. Forced by unemployment causedmainly by the economic crisis, they have travelled to Denmark to look for work. Unlikethose who hold EU passports, they have the right to stay only three months in Denmark.To get legal employment, they must obtain work permit from the Danish authorities.However, the Danish Immigration Service would only, under very rare circumstances,give work permits that is if the candidate is qualified for a very unique professionssuch as an eye specialist or a professional football player. It is therefore in reality notpossible for these migrants to get legal work, as work permits for ordinary skilled or

unskilled jobs is never granted (for non EU- citizens). The interviewees are not aware ofthis, and are not informed about this at job centres.

During their stay in Denmark, they have no access to any public homeless service. Theyare not allowed at publicly funded shelters, night cafes, day centres and those out-reach workers employed by the city are not allowed to assist them. They therefore re-side to the few private low threshold homelessness service in Copenhagen, in which re-sources are extremely scarce.


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In the interviews, the migrants gave a rare insight into their lives; they shared storiesabout their past, telling of how the present affects them, ponder the future and what itmay hold for them.

Central to their stories is the fact that they came here alone without contacts and orknowledge of labour and welfare opportunities. They want basically to fend for them-selves and be independent, and they are under pressure to send money home theirfamilies in West-Africa.

They find it hard to accept life on the streets and often reject the most common princi-ple of homelessness survival. Collecting empty bottles for money is experienced asextremely demeaning. They cope with the unwanted identity as homeless by distancingthemselves from the some aspects of homeless lifestyle (e.g. drug and alcohol abuse)and from those who take on this lifestyle. This leads to common conflicts among the dif-ferent groups of homeless, sparked on by the scarcity of resources in the private home-lessness sector.

They spend their days at places where they can stay inside for free and use toilet fa-cilities, such as libraries etc. They walk around to the few places where they can getfree food. Some use the internet to look for work or keep in contact with families andfriends. Real friendships among them are rare, and more of a functional character:they exist only as long as they can both gain from them.

Some have a deep desire to travel back to their home country, but fear returninghome empty-handed. Not to lose face and to be able to re-establish their lives athome, requires a sizeable sum of money. A minimum of 3000 EUR has been mentionedin this context. Since it is unlikely that such funds can be raised many decide to return toan uncertain future in Southern Europe.

There are migrants from Southern-Europe who have been observed to be displayingsymptoms of "Ulysses syndrome" - a disorder which has similarities to post-traumaticstress disorder (PTSD). There is no reason to believe that a migrants' situation in Den-mark is different, and therefore migrants are at risk of developing this disorder herealso.

Mauro Striano - We learned how the economic crisis caused unemployment and desti-tution among immigrants and the fact that immigrants, according to the Danish legalframework, are not allowed to access public homeless service. They find themselvesstuck in a limbo where they cannot access the Danish labour market, neither are theyable to return to their countries of origin.

We are now going to see another project which has been recently set up in Stockholm.Ms Bonnier and Mr Moksunen both work for Stockholm City Mission, a nonprofit organi-sation which runs activities for socially excluded people, among which homeless people.As its happening in other European countries, labour migrants, not only from third


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countries but also EU citizens enjoying freedom of movement, are the fastest growinggroup of homeless people in Stockholm. Ms Bonnier and Mr Moksunen will be present-ing a new project - whose name is Crossroads aiming at giving advice and supportfor foreign EU migrants.

Malena Bonnier and Arto Moksunen Stockholms Stadsmission and other non-profitorganisations that run daycentres for adults that live in homelessness in the inner city ofStockholm have seen an ever-increasing number of people from other EU countries dur-ing the last couple of years. In 2004, social daycentres had hardly any non-Swedishguests. Today, the largest daycentre in Stockholm gets approx. 70-100 guests fromother EU countries every day (approx. 80% of all guests).

Swedish citizens who live in homelessness often have psychiatric disabilities and/or is-sues with addiction. Foreign EU citizens, however, most often live in homelessness due topoverty and lack of employment. Foreign EU citizens also do not have any right tobenefits from the Swedish state or cities, as do Swedish citizens. However, they usually

have a greater need for information about Swedish society and the special regulationsthat surround foreign EU citizens in Sweden.

Both non-profit organizations and the Social Services of Stockholm have therefore seena need of a separate centre for foreign EU citizens that could provide the advice andsupport that this group requires.

The project we have recently started, named Crossroads, addresses the needs of for-eign EU citizens and third-country nationals with permanent residence permits from an-other EU country that live in poverty, homelessness and/or unemployment in Stockholmfor the purpose of counteracting economic and social exclusion.

The project will run an advice and support centre in Stockholm from 1 March 2011 until28 February 2013. It will also work aim at creating networks, co-ordinating resourcesand building public opinion while working for the inclusion of EU citizens. The project isrun by Stockholms Stadsmission, the Salvation Army, the City of Stockholm and the Pub-lic Employment Agency of Sweden [Arbetsfrmedlingen]. Doctors in the world, the RedCross, S.ta Clara kyrka, Citykyrkan and Ny Gemenskap are also collabourating withthe project. The project is financed through the European Social Fund (ESF).

In particular, the project aims at: providing general advice and individual guidance;facilitating contacts with Swedish organisations, public authorities and private busi-nesses; providing basic needs support, such as food, shower, laundry services; facilitat-ing contacts with foreign organisations, public authorities and private businesses in or-der to facilitate a possible return; training people concerned.

Mauro Striano We learned that challenges in access to housing concern not onlythird country nationals but also European citizens who enjoy freedom of movement


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within EU. We have also seen the way in which advice services might be helpful in sup-porting destitute migrants.

We are now going to see another national context switching to the Mediterraneanarea. Ms Olea Ferreras works for Caritas Spain and shes specialised in migration law.Spain has been strongly hit by economic crisis and immigrants are among the groups ofpeople who paid the most. Ms Olea will be presenting the Caritas position with regardto Spanish migration law and, in particular, some data immigrants living condition andaccess to housing.

Sonia Olea Ferreras - Caritas disposes of General Services that are in contact withregional Caritas. General Services offer support, advice, information to regional cari-tas about the different areas of work (homeless people, migrants, social rights). Wehave 15 regional caritas which are in contact with diocesan caritas with the same pur-pose. There are 68 diocesan caritas. The Caritas division in which I work does not ex-actly coincide with the administrative region in Spain.

Over the last two years the number of claims doubled - in 2008 and 2009 there wasa cumulative increase of 103%. The Reception and Support services have gone from400,000 to 800,000 people supported. The main causes are: lack of liquidity overindebtedness; long-term unemployment and end of unemployment benefits; inade-quate social services. Of our total social action, which includes services addressing re-ception and assistance, employment, youth, women, homeless, prisoners, health andhousing, 40% of our target is made-up of immigrants.

In Spain we have 8,5 million people in a situation of poverty, 30.000 homeless peopleand 1.447.880 people living with inadequate housing conditions. Foreigners in Spainare 11,3% - 5.598.691 registered - of the total population and of the total number offoreigners 49,8% are European citizens - 2.266.808 registered - and 50,2% third-country nationals 3.331.883. Moreover, there is a high rate of irregular migrants,due to a restrictive migration policy and a wide undeclared work market.

Caritas provides several services to immigrants, amongst which: assistance with the in-tegration process through housing, education and health services and intercultural train-ing courses; employment and social services; co-development projects; legal and psy-chological assistance; support of migrants associations. In 2009, 400.000 migrantswere assisted by Caritas.

According to the Social Reality Observatory, immigrants suffer from: increased rate ofsevere overcrowding due to lack of jobs over the last few years and major difficultiesin paying mortgages or rent; high rate of sublease; high rate of change of residencebecause of difficulties in paying mortgages or rents; living in suburbs with poor infra-structure and housing quality.


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One of the conclusions is that housing is the social right most difficult to access for immi-grants in Spain. Therefore, Caritas provides support for the search and the access tohousing and decent housing conditions, mediation and tutorship for renting, manage-ment and maintenance of shelters and other accommodations, complementary housingservices for seasonal workers and emergency reception.

What we need is to ensure access to Municipal Registers, enable solutions for irregularimmigrants, curb irregular situations, limit access of enforcement agencies in Caritascentres, increase the budget for integration services, agree on an immigration legalframework and stop racist and xenophobic attitudes. Among other, we propose toachieve a Social Pact on housing, to amend the rules seeking solution to foreclosuresand that Spain ratify the revised European Social Charter and its additional Protocol.

Debate with participants - A debate followed the presentations and brought to thefollowing recommendations:

Raising the debate about access to housing for immigrants building on the fact thataccess to housing is a fundamental right which should not be challenged;

States shall simplify administrative rules governing migration in order to providemore opportunities for immigrants to be regular;

States must provide undocumented migrants with unconditional access to emer-gency accommodation;

States shall monitor the implementation of anti-discrimination measures paying at-tention to the use of criteria which are indirectly discriminatory;

Access to housing for immigrants has to be tackled through an horizontal approachwhich would take into account, among other issues, the fact that there are EU citi-zens enjoying freedom of movement who are in a situation of destitution and arenot allowed to access basic social service such as emergency accommodation;

Providers of emergency shelters should not be criminalized for providing accom-modation;

It is important that NGOs develop projects in collabouration with local authorities;

It is important to develop counseling agencies for immigrants. These agencies

should also provide support for access to housing.6.3 Workshop on access to social services (Chair: Ms Adriana Opromolla, Caritas

Europa)

The exchanges of the workshop helped identifying four major problems and recom-mendations to address them:

Disengagement


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protect the people they assist. In Spain, mixed commissions made up of State andnon-State providers have given good results and represent good practices ofmediation between the State and destitute migrants without depending on personalcontacts. In other cases, it is the State who creates confusion by making vulnerablepeople believe the providers they are being referred to (e.g. the Red Cross) are part

of the process, rather than independent organisations. This creates mistrust in socialservices as a whole and shifts responsibilities to non-State providers.

The other aspect of mistrust is the fear of migrants to be controlled by the police or tobe labelled as a criminal (e.g. Nigerian people labelled as drug-dealers), which dis-suades them from asking for help, making them dependent on their own social net-works.

Information

First of all, it is migrants themselves who do not know their rights. It is thus essential to

provide them with accurate information. Secondly, it is also very important to raiseawareness in the public and especially among the youngsters. Using the media though very carefully would be helpful (e.g. the movie Illgal was well received bythe critics and also by political audiences). Students should learn about destitution, es-pecially those of University faculties related to migration who will one day be dealingwith this problem. Educational systems and curricula should develop a critical capacityof school children, including on migration. In this context, direct contacts with peoplewho have experienced destitution and can give life testimonies would be the bestmethod to learn.

Coordination

Better coordination in the provision of services among the various providers would en-sure the most appropriate assistance for people in need. On the other hand, workingtogether in partnership to lobby on governments on common claims would enable toachieve better results more efficiently.

Concluding recommendations:

To re-build trust in social assistance agencies, also by breaking the links betweenthem and immigration authorities;

Disseminate good practices like mixed commissions;

We non-State actors and providers have to use wisdom in lobbying publicauthorities (deciding what action to undertake at which moment), also dependingon each government;

We have to develop and present more explicitly to the public the economic ar-gument demonstrating that offering social assistance to destitute people is benefi-


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cial to all. The costs of exclusion are much higher then the cost of including migrantsnow.

Long-term migrants who have acquired the right to vote could also be a validchannel for political advocacy, since they could express their choices via electingappropriate representatives.

Legalising circular/seasonal migration would be a good way forward, allowingmigrants to return to their home countries while keeping the possibility to work inthe host country. This is a win-win solution for all;

To inform migrants about their rights;

To raise awareness and foster migration-sensitive education;

To make cautious use of the media ;

We non-State actors and providers should lobby governments in partnership with one another, without distinctions, to achieve better results.

6.4 Workshop on access to work and payment for work (Chair: Mr Benoit Noel,CGSB Syndicat liberal)

In his introduction to the workshop, Mr Noel pointed out that trade unions are commit-ted to solidarity especially with the weakest and have for years been fighting for therights of all workers irrespective of their status. There are, for instance, several resolu-tions passed by the European Trade Union Confederation that call for the respect ofhuman rights of migrants workers, especially of those without migration status.

On the other hand, trade unions arehighly involved in law-making andsee the need of regulating processeson the labour market. The problem isthe cross-border social fraud that islinked with migration: Migrantworkers are working under badconditions and are exploited whiletheir employers evade tax and socialsecurity payments. In Belgium, for

instance, social inspectors have, against this background, even called for new rules toreduce migration.

It was noted that this labour exploitation is linked to human trafficking. The victims areoften domestic workers, exploited by middle or upper class citizens, including diplo-mats or in some cases even royals. Among the victims are many who either have beenin need of protection from the beginning or have become vulnerable and in need ofprotection because of their exploitation. The public awareness of the human rights vio-


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lations committed in the context of (domestic) workers exploitation has still to beraised.

The same goes for the link of working conditions and wages on one hand to the pricesof goods on the other. Customers who only look for the cheapest price of certain prod-ucts may hazard the consequences of small wages and bad working conditions. Howmuch do we want to share?

It was noted that the rise of unemployment in most European states intensifies the com-petition on the labour markets. On the other hand, exclusion of migrants from the offi-cial labour markets only boosts the black labour markets.

Instead of recognising the fact that migrants are already contributing to the develop-ment of national economies, nonetheless by paying into social security, most industrial-ised countries still refuse to sign and ratify the UN Migrant Workers Convention andby this to acknowledge the human rights of migrant workers.

Part of a solution to these problems could be the empowerment of the migrant work-ers so that they themselves can advocate their own cause. In some countries, even ir-regular migrants can become members of the trade unions. NGOs and unions shouldalso develop ways of supporting the creation and maintenance of migrants self-organisations.

With regard to some details, it was noted, inter alia, that in some countries labourjudges are not obliged to report the irregular status of a migrant worker to the immi-gration authorities. Whether such a reporting obligation exists very much depends onwhether irregular stay is criminalized or not.

Regarding asylum seekers, it was argued that during their waiting periods they shouldbe allowed to work.

7 Panel discussion on the results from the workshops

With Prof Dr Edward Warrington (University of Malta) as facilitator, the Chairs of theworkshops discussed the results of the afternoons deliberations with Ms Jana Gajdos-ova (researcher, EU Fundamental Rights Agency - FRA), Ms Felicita Medved (Presidentof the Board of the Slovenian Institute NOVUM and Member of the Board of the Euro-pean Liberal Forum - ELF), Mr Goitom Yosief Asmelash (Speaker of the Eritrean com-munity in Malta), and Stefan Keler (JRS Europe).

Panellists highlighted, inter alia, the close link between the several aspects of destitu-tion and human rights: Access to education, for instance, is a human right, especially forchildren, irrespective of their nationality or immigration status. In some cases, however,there is a gap between the legal entitlement and the real possibilities of access: Insome countries national laws provide for equal access to health care for everybody


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From left: Ms Jana Gajdosova (FRA), Ms Felicita Medved (ELF), Mr Goitom Yosief-Asmelash (Eritrean community in Malta), Prof. Dr. Edward Warrington (University ofMalta), Mr Benoit Blondel (MdM), Mr Mauro Striano (FEANTSA), Ms Anna Ranki (EYF), MrBenoit Noel (Syndicat libral). Not on the picture: Ms Adriana Opromolla (Caritas Eu-ropa), Mr Stefan Keler (JRS Europe)

but this is not always implemented in practice. Access to accommodation for undocu-mented migrants is often limited or even non-existing if the shelters are financed by thestate. Sometimes access is limited because of lack of information and counselling. Andthe criminalisation of those providing services to (undocumented) migrants also createsmany obstacles.

The discussion also raised theissue of overcoming destitutionby facilitating access tocitizenship. While this is apossible avenue for somecases it was argued thataccess of migrants to theirhuman rights should notdepend on citizenship.

In order to overcomedestitution, NGOs should reachout to other civil society actorssuch as trade unions and invitethem to partnerships. It is ofutmost importance that they

develop projects and solutions not only in the name, but together with migrants. Em-powerment of these migrants should be a priority.

8 Concluding remarks by the Conference Chair, Ms Gabriele Erpenbeck

In her concluding remarks, Ms Erpenbeck thanked everybody involved in planning andconducting this conference for their tremendous efforts. She also expressed gratitudeto the speakers and panellists for their contributions and to all participants who hadbeen engaged in the debates, be it in the plenary or in the workshops.

The presentations and debates of today have given enough evidence to conclude thatdestitution of migrants is a pan-European phenomenon. In almost all EU member statespolicies force certain groups of migrants into destitution. Therefore, destitution is not afate but result of policies that exclude migrants from society. The affected migrantsfind themselves in a trap: They often cannot be returned to their respective countriesof origin due to circumstances that are out of their control, such as ongoing violence intheir home countries. So they are allowed to remain or at least tolerated, but withvirtually no economic and social support.

For the migrants, destitution is a downward spiral of human indignity. Once they be-come stuck, they can almost never get out.


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The estrangement of certain migrants from society is dangerous for our communities aswell: The migrants are vulnerable to racism and xenophobia, the values of solidarity,of compassion diminish.

But it just does not have to be this way. There are possibilities to end destitution, ifthere is a political will. It is up to the decision-makers to change the policies and rele-vant laws so that the fundamental rights of all persons living in Europe are respected.

Decision-makers on national level must act, but also those on European level. The Lisbontreaty gives the EU enough competence to enact and enforce legislation that empow-ers member states to better support all migrants.

It is, however, necessary that organisations, that citizens speak up. All relevant CivilSociety Actors should combine their efforts and put pressure on policy-makers. This con-ference was a major step forward on this way. It will certainly be not the last step.

(Author of this report: Stefan Keler, JRS Europe)


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Appendix I: Profiles of the Speakers

Dr Nicolas BEGER is the director of the Amnesty International European Institutions Of-fice in Brussels.

Ms Gabriele ERPENBECK is Commissioner for Migration in the Government of Nieder-sachsen (Germany), Spokesperson for Migration of the Central Committee of the Ger-man Catholics, and Advisor to the Migration Commission of the German Bishops Con-ference.

Ms Jana GAJDOSOVA is a researcher with the European Union Fundamental RightsAgency in Vienna.

Ms Jean LAMBERT is a Green Party Member of the European Parliament for Lon-don. She is one of eight MEPs representing London and one of two UK Greenrepresentatives in the European Parliament. In the Parliament, she is, inter alia, a full

member of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee and a substitute member ofthe Civil Liberties and Human Rights Committes.

Ms Felicita MEDVED is Member of the European Liberal Forum Board of Directors andPresident of the Board of Institute NOVUM (Slovenia)

Dr. Edward WARRINGTON is Professor and Head of Department of Public Policy atthe University of Malta.

Mr Gojtom YOSIEF ASMELASH is an Eritrean refugee who lives in Malta. There he isthe spokesperson for the Eritrean community and working with the Jesuit Refugee Ser-vice.


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Appendix II: JRS Europes policy position on destitution of migrants

Immigration control must not deny access to basic rights

Introduction

In this paper, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Europe describes the general positionson destitution of migrants who live in the European Union, and makes some recommen-dations to improve their situation. We focus on the situation of those migrants who arenot citizens of the European Union (third country nationals). Where applicable thepaper refers to special regulation that governs the treatment of certain groups offorcibly displaced persons, most notably refugees and asylum seekers.

The general message

Across Europe there are persons who have left their countries of origin and are madedestitute. Among these destitute migrants are those who already have a right to stay,be it because of family reunification, as asylum seekers during their determination pro-cedure or even as recognised refugees. Despite their legal status they become desti-tute.

To all affected migrants, destitution causes much harm.

Destitution therefore offends our belief in the inviolable dignity of a person created inthe image of God. It similarly offends the better development of societies, along thelines of the common good, of global solidarity and of welcoming strangers.

Destitution is a human rights violation. Most notably, it infringes the economic and socialrights of migrants. The European Union cannot allow Member States to make migrants

destitute because it contravenes core values of the Union, most notably the respect forhuman rights of all people living in Europe. Human rights must be granted to all humanbeings.

The situation

Throughout Europe there are migrants who have little or no access to employment andto basic services such as education, social welfare, housing, and healthcare. They areleft destitute as a consequence of states' laws and policies. These policies violatestates obligations under international and regional human rights and migration law forthe respect and fulfilment of economic and social rights of refugees and other mi-

grants. 5 The exclusion of destitute migrants from society leads to new invisible bordersthat divide local communities, regions and countries.

Illustrative is the example of asylum seekers in many EU member states who are ex-cluded from access to labour markets and to many forms of public relief and are oftenaccommodated under dire circumstances. Their living conditions separate and often

5 For details see our Policy Note on Human Rights and Destitution of Migrants.


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estrange them from the rest of the society and by that make them vulnerable to racismand xenophobia.

The definition of destitution

In this paper JRS Europe uses the following definition of destitution:

Destitution describes a lack of means to meet basic needs such as shelter, food,health or education as a consequence of a States policy which excludes groups fromenjoying basic rights and receiving official assistance or severely limits their access tosuch official assistance and, simultaneously, deprives them of any opportunity to im-prove that situation in the near future, resulting in a continuing denial of the dignity ofthe person.

The principles

The core value of the European Union as an area of freedom and justice must be re-flected by day-to-day policies. The states are aware of the destitute migrants pres-ence on their territories and therefore bear responsibility towards them.

Destitution endangers the cohesion and solidarity within our societies and communities.The creation of a group or of groups of third-class denizens should be avoided.

Seeking to coerce migrants to return to their countries of origin by denying them allforms of support and prohibiting the right to access the formal labour market violatestheir dignity.

The positions

In the first instance JRS is not calling for residence permits or regularisation, but for re-

spect of human rights. We bring the attention to the fact that international law guaran-tees access to basic human rights to all human beings no matter if their stay is regularor not.

Recognised refugees must be able to enjoy all their rights under the 1951 Convention 6 and the 1967 Protocol 7

The treatment of asylum seekers in all stages of a determination process must beguided by the principle that is laid down in the UNHCR handbook 8: A person does notbecome a refugee because of recognition, but is recognized because s/he is a refu-gee. Hence these persons must be given access to a fair and effective determinationprocedure. The environment must allow for a proper preparation and implementationof the process.

6 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, adopted 28 July 1951, 189 UNTS 137. 7 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, adopted 31 January 1967, 606 UNTS 267 8 UNHCR: Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention andthe 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, HCR/IP/4/Eng/REV.1 Reedited, Geneva, January 1992, 38.


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The state has a duty of care for destitute migrants until the moment of their return insafety and dignity. This responsibility is based upon the states obligation to respect,protect and uphold economic and social rights of all regardless of nationality or status.This principal responsibility must not be shifted to civil society actors that then provideessential care to destitute migrants. 9

Education serves the common good, not the least by providing individuals with a strongmeasure of stability and dignity. It is, therefore, a right that should be enjoyed by eve-ryone, irrespective of ones migration or other status.

Access to healthcare is a fundamental human right. Providing it is the most basic way torespect the dignity of the person. The well-being of a society and of the individuals gohand-in-hand. Only a healthy person will be able to fully participate in the life of thecommunity. Poor health, on the other hand, inhibits a persons ability to find and main-tain work, or to participate in educational courses.

Social and housing policies should focus on self-sufficiency and independence.

All migrants, irrespective of residence status, have a right to private and family life.Especially children have a right to be nurtured in a suitable home.

A pressing need of destitute migrants is access to information on rights and possibilitiesto improve the own situation. The dignity of a person calls for her or him being madeaware of all relevant facts so that s/he is able to take an informed decision aboutwhat to do next.

Society is missing out on the skills of destitute migrants by not offering them the right toenter the formal labour market. Not only do states not profit from their expertise and

governments miss out on taxes and social security contributions: but destitute migrantswho for long periods of time are not allowed to work become de-skilled, making inte-gration into society more difficult. Therefore such policies are detrimental to the inter-est of EU member states.

The recommendations

EU Policies

The European Union must develop a coherent policy and strategy together with clearresponsibilities for overcoming destitution among migrants.

Where a Member State does not respect its obligations under the international lawinstruments with regard to the respect and fulfillment of economic and social rights ofrecognized refugees, it violates the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights. The Commissionas the Guardian of the Treaties should then start an infringement procedure.

9 This does of course not exclude the possibility for a state contracting services out to other actors.


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Commission, Parliament and Council must recast the Reception Conditions Directive 10 inorder to ensure effective protection of the human rights, including economic, social andcultural rights, of asylum seekers.

Commission, Parliament and Council are encouraged to evaluate and recast the ReturnDirective11 in order to lay down more precise minimum standards for the respect ofeconomic and social rights of undocumented migrants. The Commission must refrainfrom interpretations of the said directive that restrict opportunities for Member Statesto adopt and maintain policies that ensure the access of undocumented migrants to ba-sic social services.

Social inclusion policies

Social inclusion and integration policies at the European and national level should en-sure that migrants do not face destitution.

Education

States should fulfil the right to education by providing access to basic education, as aminimum, to destitute migrant children.

Authorities should explore ways to allow destitute migrants to take advantage of edu-cation opportunities.

Local non-state actors, such as universities and charities, should make available low-cost or free education programs and opportunities for destitute migrants.

Civil society organisations should raise migrants awareness of existing educationalopportunities.

Health care

Where required, states should introduce new or amend existing policies and laws inorder to ensure that every migrant irrespective of status is entitled to primary and sec-ondary health care.

Migrants must be provided with information on how to access health care.

Health care clinics and other community health providers should combine resources toprovide health care to migrants who otherwise do not have the means, at least as longas the State has not developed a scheme for financing it.

Hard data on the costs of providing as well as on the consequential costs of denial ofhealth care is needed; the Commission should fund studies on this subject.

10 Directive 2003/9/EC of the Council of 27 January 2003 laying down minimum standards for the reception ofasylum seekers in Member States, OJ L 31, 6 Febr 2003, p. 18. 11 Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on common stan-dards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals, OJ L 348, 24 Dec2008, p. 98.


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Housing

States must provide undocumented migrants with unconditional access to emergencyaccommodation.

EU member states should improve their transposition of EU law, such as the Reception

Conditions Directive, to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers have access to properaccommodation that respects their rights to private and family life.

Providers of emergency shelter should not be criminalized for providing accommoda-tion.

Public relief policies

Public relief services must at least cover the basic needs of migrants so that they canhave a life in dignity. 12 A violation of this right constitutes a violation of the EU Funda-mental Rights Charter and should result in an infringement procedure of the Commissionagainst the respective state.

Social services must cover the special needs of migrants who are vulnerable persons,such as special food for the elderly or the ill, or aid for persons with disabilities.

In order to ensure that migrants know their rights and possibilities, information provid-ers should work closely together: 13

All information providers and counsellors, be they individual professionals, NGOs orState officials, must be exempt from an obligation to report the residence status of amigrant to police or migration control agencies.

Work

Migrants should be given access to the national labour market.

Migrants should be given the opportunity to regularize their status through labouropportunities, and not simply via immigration procedures, i.e. if migrants have accessto a job, then their residence permit should remain valid.

Every migrant, including those without residence status, should be able to use themechanisms provided in national law to effectively claim outstanding payment forwork. This includes access to counselling services and Labour Courts.

12 Please note: R ecognised refugees enjoy the right of access to public welfare to the same extent as nationals ofthe host country do. With regard to asylum seekers , the absolute minimum of services they are entitled to is definedin the Reception Conditions Directive.

13 An example of best practice in this regard is the office of the Portuguese High Commissioner for Immigration andMinorities (ACIDI) in Lisbon where a migrant can show up with questions and will be referred to offices of the rele-vant Government agencies being located in the same building.

the invisible borders: destitution of migrants in europe

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