The overall aim of this partnership was to improve access to health care for a specific group of socially excluded migrants, namely the undocumented. Undocumented migrants are migrants who do not have permission to be in the country where they are. This includes people who crossed the borders irregularly, people who overstayed their visa (as a tourist, a student, etc), and people whose asylum claim has been rejected. There are an estimated 5-8 million undocumented migrants in Europe, and their number is not likely to decrease. Few social policies are directly addressed to meet their needs, and as indicated by many actors (both public and private), access to health care is the most pressing problem for undocumented migrants. The lack of access to health care for undocumented migrants has serious consequences for public health. Health and therapeutic care staff, social workers, local administrations (responsible for the implementation of national health policies) and grass root workers are being left alone with the problems related to access to health care for undocumented migrants.

Partners in the project represented a diverse range of actors with various interests:

• Public bodies responsible for implementing laws regarding health care at local level ( responsibility for public health)
• Migrant (and other) NGOs (representing the demand side)
• Health care staff (representing the supply side)

Partners were consulted as experts in the field and as national contacts for information input. Through working together, the partners have established and promoted a system of reporting on the situation in the EU-member states in the framework of the Social Inclusion Strategy.

• Meetings with partners and external experts, academic advisors
• A project report of 120 pages: overview of the situation in 11 countries law and practices), with overview of most common traps and dilemma’s
• Guidelines to be taken as a point of reference when reporting and monitoring, illustrated with good practices
• Final conference to launch the gird and the guidelines
• Website with information on the project and its proceedings

More generally, the project contributed to developing policies to address the extreme social exclusion of undocumented migrants and their absence from current poverty eradication strategies.

The project was assessed by its 19 partner organisations and PICUM’s staff and board. Feedback was gathered from PICUM members as well as participants and speakers who attended key events. Ongoing supervision and evaluation was provided by DG Employment and Social Affairs of the European Commission.

Undocumented Migrants

Source of funding:

• European Commission DG Employment & Social Affairs: 80%
• Coordinating organisation: 20%