Judge Rules Healthcare Charges Unlawful for Asylum Seekers

Article published: Monday, May 19th 2008

People on the verge of death are being denied medical treatment, this has now been deemed illegal by the courts.

11 April 08 saw an important court ruling on health care for failed asylum seekers. Justice Mitting concluded that it had been unlawful to charge a failed Palestinian asylum seeker dying of cancer for health care while he waited for deportation.

The ruling comes just before the government is due to release results of a consultation on increasing the existing restrictions on free health care for immigrants.

Though it may yet be appealed by the Department of Health, the ruling could impact future policy moves to increase and enforce restrictions on health care for failed asylum seekers and undocumented migrants.

National health charity Medact has been campaigning for several years for the rights of asylum seekers and refugees to access health care. They have been joined in their calls to protect health care for vulnerable migrants by senior medical professionals including the Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians and the Senior Editor of the Lancet medical journal, as well as 89 MPs who signed an Early Day Motion supporting the campaign against any measures that would compel general practitioners, and other primary care staff, to be forced to charge refused asylum seekers or other vulnerable foreign nationals for NHS care.

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