Barbara Rijks

Immigration Detention and Health in Europe

In Europe, irregular migrants and rejected asylum-seekers still face detention. This chapter examines the most important aspects related to health in the context of immigration detention in Europe. Reviewing the literature and drawing on field evidence from IOM projects, it identifies the main health conditions of migrants in detention and looks into the common EU standards set in the Return Directive and the Reception Condition Directive as well as the relevant non-binding resolutions of the Council of Europe. The main finding is that despite these policies being in place, conditions typically found in European migrant detention facilities pose risks both to the physical and mental health of migrants as well as to immigration officials and health professionals working with detainees. Health conditions in detention facilities need to be improved by avoiding over-crowding and prison-like conditions as well as training staff to the specific requirements of immigration detention.

Some notions about the European dimension

What conclusions can be drawn based on the MoHProf reports about the context of the EU in relation to health worker mobility? Does the data give any information about flows to and from the EU, and what can we say about flows within the EU, before and after the 2004 and subsequent 2007 enlargements? A second perspective relates to relevant regulations that aim to develop level playing fields within the EU.