Swedish Healthcare excludes undocumented migrant children

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/MSFIntl/111476653897.htm

Undocumented migrant children in Sweden do not have sufficient access to healthcare. That is the experience of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) after 15 months of referrals of 'gomda', the hidden migrants in Swedish society, to a network of volunteer health workers.



Some minors are turned away by hospital staff, others do not access health services out of fear or because of the high financial charges.



MSF has been running a project in the Stockholm area since 2004, offering healthcare for failed asylum-seekers and other undocumented migrants. During 2004, MSF arranged for 502 medical consultations.



"Some of the children we meet have previously been refused care at a hospital due to their status while others had to pay €250 to see a doctor or up to €1,100 for surgery," explained MSF's Head of Mission, Mattias Ohlson. "In addition, many parents were too afraid to take their child to the hospital. They feared that someone would turn them into the migration authorities or the police, something which unfortunately has happened."

[Sub Atomic]

1. I know I'm going to get flamed for this

but as a resident of San Diego, I understand the incredible financial burden placed on the infrastructure from undocumented immigrants.

I applaud the Swedish government for taking this stance.

[gtar100]

4. Flame Indeed!!

:nuke:

Health care ought to be a human right, and the sooner we on this planet start to treat each other with dignity, the better. Yes, it's a burden, yes it may be "unfair" that we pay for them. But the push shouldn't be to alienate people.

[NNN0LHI]

8. Whatever you say dweeb

Perhaps someone you love will be in the same position as these children are in some day? Hopefully there will be someone with a sense of decency to help them, unlike yourself. But I doubt you ever give that much thought. I honestly wonder how people like you are able to live with yourselves. You must lead a very sad life. I feel sorry for you.

Don

[Dirk39]

2. I don't applaud the swedish government for this...

Hello from Germany,

but is there any country on this earth, where undocumented migrant children or other people, who whether have papers nor any kind of health inssurance, have unlimited access to healthcare?
In Germany, some doctors treat illegal immigrants, but most of the times, these are using "borrowed" health-care cards from friends and the doctors don't look twice. On the other hand, we have few doctors, who treat everyone on special dates like in that mentioned example of a project.

I cannot understand the poster, "applauding" the swedish government for this, I guess even the swedish government wouldn't ask for this kind of applause...

Many illegal people live in Europe for years without papers, they work harder than many other people and yes: they have children, too.
Everyone of us could have been born like this.

On edit: Yes Dweeb I hope you get flamed for this and for good reasons...

"incredible financial burden"????

How much tax-money was spent to kill more than 100.000 Iraqis? How many millions could receive health-care for this money?


No human being is illegal!
Dirk

[makhno]

6. Would you support Sweden paying for global healthcare?

That said, the problem isn't so much healthcare per se. The problem is the existing and growing disparity between the developed and the developing world and the complete failure of the dominant neo liberal paradigm to improve economic conditions in developing nations to the point where the term "illegal immigrant" can become a thing of the past.

[Dirk39]

7. I refuse to answer ideological questions like this...

Although I agree with you about the "neoliberal paradigm".
There's more than enough money and ressources for universal-healthcare.

Do you support American taxpayers to pay billions and billions of Dollars for the genocide in Iraq?
And the very same people, who accept this - now we're into ideology again - start to complain about the "financial burden" of healthcare?


"he problem is the existing and growing disparity between the developed and the developing world and the complete failure of the dominant neo liberal paradigm to improve economic conditions in developing nations to the point where the term "illegal immigrant" can become a thing of the past."

I support every single word, but to draw the conclusion - that's implicit in your question - "Would you support Sweden paying for global healthcare?" reminds me of Willy Brandt, when the german immigration laws were changed: We cannot take them all, we have to improve the situatin, where they live. But till this day that never happened.

If the Worldbank and the IMF and the forces behind would have to pay reperations for the crimes against humanity they did commit since 1973, there would be more than enough money for universal health-care.

Dirk

[Sub Atomic]

11. please point out where i called them illegal.

i understand the plight.

however, our social system here in california is shutting down due to the burden of the immigrant population. legal or not, that's the way it is here. our budget is stretched beyond imagination in large part due to the immigrant population.

[ogradda]

3. I didn't even know they had migrants.

Where do they come from?

[gtar100]

5. I don't know about Sweden specifically, but I've heard

throughout much of Europe there has been a tremendous migration from Africa because of its hardships and from the Bosnian/Serbian area because of the war there.

Solve poverty and you solve a lot of immigration issues.

[Mich Otter]

9. This is the kind of problem we face if we get National Health Care...

This is the kind of problem we face if we get National Health Care and our neighbors to the south continue to live with such poverty. America needs to support policies that are to the benefit of people everywhere instead of committing our resources to expanding the military.
Wouldn't it be great if everyone, everywhere had their health care needs taken care of? We need to think about how to finance and deliver health care everywhere. If the Canadians can cover their huge land mass with a health care system, I would think it can be done anywhere sensible people are willing to get a plan in place.

[makhno]

10. To hell with Canada

If a poor country like Cuba can finance health care for its citizens and then proceed to export medical expertise to other developing countries, then there definitely must be a way.