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Canada criticised over refugee health-care restrictions
World Report
Canada criticised over refugee health-care restrictions Cuts to health services for refugees in Canada have been hotly debated in the run-up to the country’s general election, which takes place later this month. Paul C Webster reports from Toronto.
Liang sen/Xinhua Press/Corbis
On the eve of a federal election in Canada on Oct 19, the ruling Conservatives have been forced to defend restrictive refugee policies and deep cuts to refugee health-care services. Stung by criticisms that government plans to accept 10 000 Syrian refugees by 2018 are too little and too late, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a mid-campaign promise to expedite their arrival and accept 10 000 more. But in a debate with opposition leaders on Sept 28 in Toronto, Harper was again rebuked by Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau for his policies towards refugees. “What happens to them when they arrive in Canada?” Trudeau asked. “You take away their health care.” In response, Harper relied on a message he’s repeated often since he enacted the sweeping cuts in 2012, which reduced the number of refugees entitled to health services and the suite of services available to them. “We have health support [for] our refugees”, the Prime Minister insisted. “Where we stopped those benefits is when we have cases of refugee claims that have been turned down, rejected because they were bogus. In those cases, we do not provide health care better than the average Canadian gets. That’s the responsible thing to do.” At a refugee health-care clinic in a central Toronto hospital the following morning, Meb Rashid, who is the co-founder of Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, a group which persuaded a Canadian court to overturn Harper’s 2012 cuts to refugee health care only to see the Conservatives devise new strategies to cut services, took umbrage with the Prime Minister’s facts, and his depiction of refugees whose claims have been denied, as “bogus”. The Harper Government has cut access to health care for thousands of perfectly 1436
legitimate refugees to pander to voters resentful of newcomers, Rashid suggested. Rashid said that the Prime Minister is either ill-informed or dishonest. “No refugee claimant ever received more health-care coverage than Canadians receiving social assistance”, Rashid noted in direct contradiction of the government’s depiction of “gold-plated” refugee heath-care services, including entitlements it claims are not available to Canadians.
“The Harper Government has cut access to health care for thousands of perfectly legitimate refugees to pander to voters resentful of newcomers...” And despite his denials, Harper’s policies have severely curbed access to health care even for refugee claimants the government accepts as legitimate, Rashid explained. Under changes introduced by the Conservatives, said Rashid, those within a category labelled privately sponsored refugees (PSRs) now receive “no coverage for medications, no urgent mental health care for traumatised children, and no prostheses, wheelchairs, and therapy for war-related amputations and injuries”. The Conservative Government, he added, “is abandoning PSRs once they arrive, leaving it to sponsoring Canadians to pick up health costs previously covered by the government”. Under the Conservatives’ 2012 cuts to refugee health care, Rashid continued, refugee claimants from designated countries of origin—the term used by the Canadian Government for countries it deems safe and thus not suitable for refugee claims—“were denied all usual health coverage before they even had their refugee determination hearing.
All refugee claimants lost coverage for medication, vision and dental care, and for prostheses necessary for amputated limbs”. Roma people from Hungary—many of whom have extremely strong claims for refugee status—were among those who lost their coverage, noted Rashid. In a decision in July, 2014, that strongly challenged Conservative leaders use of the term “bogus” in justifying cuts to refugee health care; the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the cuts were unconstitutional and “cruel and unusual treatment” that denied health care to more than 100 000 refugee claimants. When the Court ordered the government to fully reinstate health care for refugees, which was first mandated by the federal government in 1956 in response to the Hungarian refugee crisis of that year, the Conservatives appealed the ruling and adopted a series of legal manoeuvres that have allowed the government to only partially reinstate the services. “Did the government comply with the letter of the federal court judgment? Maybe”, Rashid reflected at a refugee health-care conference in Toronto last June. “Did the government comply with the spirit of it? Definitely not.” The federal government, he added, “is now in court fighting to take coverage away from children and pregnant women”. Several studies presented at the conference revealed that refugees legally entitled to health care are now being turned away from scores of clinics in Montreal and Toronto. Results from an audit of Toronto clinics found that after the 2012 cuts, only 29% of 89 walk-in and after-hours clinics fully accepted refugees.
Paul C Webster www.thelancet.com Vol 386 October 10, 2015
Canada criticised over refugee health-care restrictions Cuts to health services for refugees in Canada have been hotly debated in the run-up to the country’s general election, which takes place later this month. Paul C Webster reports from Toronto.
Liang sen/Xinhua Press/Corbis
On the eve of a federal election in Canada on Oct 19, the ruling Conservatives have been forced to defend restrictive refugee policies and deep cuts to refugee health-care services. Stung by criticisms that government plans to accept 10 000 Syrian refugees by 2018 are too little and too late, Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued a mid-campaign promise to expedite their arrival and accept 10 000 more. But in a debate with opposition leaders on Sept 28 in Toronto, Harper was again rebuked by Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau for his policies towards refugees. “What happens to them when they arrive in Canada?” Trudeau asked. “You take away their health care.” In response, Harper relied on a message he’s repeated often since he enacted the sweeping cuts in 2012, which reduced the number of refugees entitled to health services and the suite of services available to them. “We have health support [for] our refugees”, the Prime Minister insisted. “Where we stopped those benefits is when we have cases of refugee claims that have been turned down, rejected because they were bogus. In those cases, we do not provide health care better than the average Canadian gets. That’s the responsible thing to do.” At a refugee health-care clinic in a central Toronto hospital the following morning, Meb Rashid, who is the co-founder of Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, a group which persuaded a Canadian court to overturn Harper’s 2012 cuts to refugee health care only to see the Conservatives devise new strategies to cut services, took umbrage with the Prime Minister’s facts, and his depiction of refugees whose claims have been denied, as “bogus”. The Harper Government has cut access to health care for thousands of perfectly 1436
legitimate refugees to pander to voters resentful of newcomers, Rashid suggested. Rashid said that the Prime Minister is either ill-informed or dishonest. “No refugee claimant ever received more health-care coverage than Canadians receiving social assistance”, Rashid noted in direct contradiction of the government’s depiction of “gold-plated” refugee heath-care services, including entitlements it claims are not available to Canadians.
“The Harper Government has cut access to health care for thousands of perfectly legitimate refugees to pander to voters resentful of newcomers...” And despite his denials, Harper’s policies have severely curbed access to health care even for refugee claimants the government accepts as legitimate, Rashid explained. Under changes introduced by the Conservatives, said Rashid, those within a category labelled privately sponsored refugees (PSRs) now receive “no coverage for medications, no urgent mental health care for traumatised children, and no prostheses, wheelchairs, and therapy for war-related amputations and injuries”. The Conservative Government, he added, “is abandoning PSRs once they arrive, leaving it to sponsoring Canadians to pick up health costs previously covered by the government”. Under the Conservatives’ 2012 cuts to refugee health care, Rashid continued, refugee claimants from designated countries of origin—the term used by the Canadian Government for countries it deems safe and thus not suitable for refugee claims—“were denied all usual health coverage before they even had their refugee determination hearing.
All refugee claimants lost coverage for medication, vision and dental care, and for prostheses necessary for amputated limbs”. Roma people from Hungary—many of whom have extremely strong claims for refugee status—were among those who lost their coverage, noted Rashid. In a decision in July, 2014, that strongly challenged Conservative leaders use of the term “bogus” in justifying cuts to refugee health care; the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the cuts were unconstitutional and “cruel and unusual treatment” that denied health care to more than 100 000 refugee claimants. When the Court ordered the government to fully reinstate health care for refugees, which was first mandated by the federal government in 1956 in response to the Hungarian refugee crisis of that year, the Conservatives appealed the ruling and adopted a series of legal manoeuvres that have allowed the government to only partially reinstate the services. “Did the government comply with the letter of the federal court judgment? Maybe”, Rashid reflected at a refugee health-care conference in Toronto last June. “Did the government comply with the spirit of it? Definitely not.” The federal government, he added, “is now in court fighting to take coverage away from children and pregnant women”. Several studies presented at the conference revealed that refugees legally entitled to health care are now being turned away from scores of clinics in Montreal and Toronto. Results from an audit of Toronto clinics found that after the 2012 cuts, only 29% of 89 walk-in and after-hours clinics fully accepted refugees.
Paul C Webster www.thelancet.com Vol 386 October 10, 2015