ANDES: Destitution needs a place on the political agenda
JRS PORTUGAL DIRECTOR CALLS FOR A "CONCERTED AND HUMANIST EFFORT

Thursday, 23 July – Jesuit Refugee Service Portugal Director, Mr Andre Costa, has called for a “concerted and humanist” effort at European level in order to ensure that the Europe of tomorrow is a Europe of freedom and safety.

Costa was speaking in Lisbon at JRS Portugal’s ‘Human Rights and Destitution’ seminar, part of the European-wide Advocacy Network on Destitution (ANDES) project. The aim of the project is to focus a spotlight on the issue of destitution, bringing it to the attention of European policy makers and the European public at large.

The JRS Portugal director says that the issue of destitution goes beyond the simple sphere of civil society organisations, and is one that extends to media, public and political agendas. “If we build bridges and establish links, we can improve the practices and policies that lead to the non-implementation of fundamental human rights. It is important that we have goals and not just statistics”.

The seminar focused on three major areas that are considered crucial to breaking the vicious circle of destitution; housing, employment and health. Presentations from the Portuguese High Commissioner for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue, Ms Rosário Farmhouse, and the Portuguese High Commissioner for Health, Ms Maria do Céu Machado, addressed these areas.

Farmhouse considers the work of NGOs in this sector as “fundamental”, adding that the work of NGOs establishes trust and proximity in real situations, and “provides the [Portuguese] government, who are often far from the reality, with a picture of what is happening”. Ms Farmhouse invited those NGOs present to assist in the development of the next ‘Integration of Immigrants’ (PII) programme, which will cover the period 2010-2012.

The High Commissioner for Health, Ms Maria do Céu Machado, called for a change in the manner in which healthcare is administered to destitute migrants. Ms Machado said that health services must work closer with migrants, with “visiting teams in mobile units going into the neighbourhoods, providing prevention and diagnosis”. She noted that Portugal was once a country of emigration, but that this situation has changed. Accordingly, she believes that Portugal must adapt quickly to the current social change.

The High Commissioner concluded by saying, “Immigrants are more susceptible to infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and AIDS, but are rapidly developing the diseases of developed countries, such as cancer, cardio vascular diseases and obesity”. She stated that the health issues of destitute migrants depend not just on the Ministry of Health, but on all ministries.

JRS Portugal has already worked closely with the Ministry of Health and the Calouste Gulbenkien Foundation in this field, with the ‘Professional Integration of Immigrant Doctors’ project. The project facilitates the integration of 150 immigrant health professional residing in Portugal. Mr Costa brought attention to this initiative during the seminar, saying that it is still an area that needs a lot of work. He mentioned that the project may soon extend to nurses (options are currently being studied), and that JRS are also examining the possibility of expanding the project to other professional fields.

The presentations concluded with an agreement to establish a working group on destitution, comprising field experts, academics and policy makers, to bring together the seminar’s recommendations. They will be published and launched on 10 December, International Human Rights Day.

Funded by two foundations, a Network of European Foundations and the European Programme for Integration and Migration, the ANDES project is coordinated by JRS Europe. During 2009, similar seminars also are taking place in Spain, Italy, Germany, Romania, Sweden, Malta, England and Ukraine, the conclusions of which will be presented in a conference organised in Brussels in 2010.

In 2008, JRS Portugal provided health, legal, psychological, social and educational assistance to 6,700 individuals. Teams arranged and conducted nearly 3,000 job interviews for migrants, resulting in nearly 1,000 offers of employment.