Measuring financial protection of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants when accessing health services(From asylum to resettlement)

Resumen

Refugees and asylum-seekers often encounter situations in which their health and well-being are compromised. Despite their health needs, access to healthcare is often restricted in host countries, and this is aggravated by various reasons such as a lack of inclusive policies, language and cultural barriers, financial ability to afford, and legal status. Improving refugees´ and migrants’ health, is also to ensure that they are protected from the financial consequences of receiving medical care. To measure financial protection in the country of asylum, I have looked primarily into the consequences falling on the refugees and asylum seekers living in Egypt when accessing healthcare, that by measuring the incidence and intensity of catastrophic health expenditures and their impact on impoverishment. Then, I looked at the equity in the use of health services and the efficiency of allocation of subsidies by the United agency for refugees (UNHCR). Finally, I explored the accessibility to healthcare and the reasons for the unmet health needs of migrants and refugees living in 4 countries in Europe and drew comparisons between those countries. All through this research, findings highlight important challenges in the access to healthcare by migrants and refugees. In the first country of asylum, refugees largely live under the poverty line and usually incur out-of-pocket payments that lead to catastrophic health expenditure. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates that without equitable subsidy and efficient allocation by UNHCR, poor refugees cannot afford healthcare services. Whereas all the EU countries have ensured migrant integration policies to address protection and human rights principles, major disparities between member states were noted in the application of those policies, which increase the unmet needs of migrants and refugees in Europe and aggravate the risk conditions.