EU Healthcare Professionals Unite Against Deportation Proposals
More than 1,100 healthcare workers from across Europe have issued a stark warning to Members of the European Parliament, urging them to reject proposed measures aimed at increasing the deportation of undocumented individuals. In a powerful open letter, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals argue that these draft plans, set for a crucial vote on Thursday, could fundamentally transform essential public services like hospitals into instruments of immigration enforcement, posing a severe threat to public health across the continent.
A Profound Transformation of Society
The draft legislation, which has been in development since March of last year following gains by far-right parties in the 2024 European Parliament elections, represents a significant overhaul of the EU's migration management strategy. The European Commission has framed these proposals as "effective and modern procedures" designed to boost deportation rates for individuals denied asylum or overstaying visas. Currently, only about one in five people without legal status are returned to their countries of origin, a statistic that has remained stubbornly low in recent years.
However, healthcare professionals from nations including Portugal, Ireland, and Greece have voiced profound concerns. "We refuse to become instruments of immigration enforcement," their letter states emphatically. Published in six languages and distributed to MEPs ahead of the vote, the document argues that behind technical legislative language lies a radical shift: "the destruction of the social fabric."
Creating a Climate of Fear in Healthcare Settings
Central to the controversy is a proposed requirement for all EU member states to implement broad and vaguely defined detection measures to identify undocumented people. The letter warns that this could legitimize racial profiling and turn not only hospitals but also schools, shelters, workplaces, public transport, and even private homes into sites of immigration control.
Specifically, the proposals might mandate healthcare workers to report undocumented patients, a move described as a direct threat to core medical ethics. Protecting patient confidentiality and ensuring safe access to care are fundamental duties that could be compromised. The result, professionals caution, would be a pervasive "climate of fear" deterring vulnerable individuals from seeking necessary medical attention. "When people are afraid to access care, everyone's health is at risk," the letter emphasizes, noting similar issues in the United States where ICE-style raids occur daily.
Lessons from the UK and Global Warnings
Anna Miller, head of UK policy and advocacy at Doctors of the World UK, highlighted the tangible impact of such policies, referencing rules introduced in England in 2017 that require hospitals to charge most undocumented migrants upfront for many medical services. "In our clinics in the UK we see patients too afraid to go forward to the NHS in case it leads to an ICE-style raid at their home address," Miller explained. She warned that the EU regulation risks replicating this fear across Europe, driving people away from healthcare services with serious consequences for both individuals and public health systems.
Campaigners and rights organizations have long expressed alarm. In February, 75 groups stated the plans "would consolidate a punitive system, fuelled by far-right rhetoric and based on racialised suspicion, denunciation, detention and deportation." This followed a letter from 16 United Nations rights experts outlining over a dozen concerns about potential violations of international human rights obligations.
Health Consequences of Detention and a Call to Action
The healthcare professionals' letter also raises alarms about increased detention, including of children, both within and outside Europe. It details the well-documented health impacts of detention: respiratory and infectious diseases, severe anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, retraumatization, acute psychiatric needs, and higher suicide rates. For children, the effects are described as "devastating and long-lasting," contrary to their best interests and prohibited under international law.
Organized by Médecins du Monde, the open letter calls on EU institutions to remove any provisions that could deter people from seeking healthcare. Andrea Soler of the organization stated, "Migration enforcement cannot come at the expense of the right to health. The EU must ensure that its migration policies protect public health, uphold medical ethics and guarantee safe access to healthcare for all, regardless of migration status." As the vote approaches, this collective plea underscores the high stakes for public health and ethical medical practice across the European Union.
