- Amnesty International welcomes a landmark unanimous decision by the European Committee of Social Rights finding that Sweden has breached the European Social Charter by failing to uphold the right to healthcare without discrimination.
- EU citizens have the right to access healthcare in any EU country and to be reimbursed for care abroad by their home country. Short term EU visitors are required to have health insurance to access Swedish healthcare. Vulnerable EU migrants, the majority of whom are from the Roma community are discriminated against as they do not have the right insurance policy in their country of origin.
- The decision follows a joint complaint lodged against Sweden in 2023 by Amnesty International and Médecins du Monde International, for systematically violating the rights of vulnerable EU migrants to access healthcare on equal terms.
Amnesty International calls on the Swedish government to now amend legislation to clarify that all EU citizens in the country, regardless of the length of their stay or whether they possess healthcare insurance in their country of origin, have a right to subsidized healthcare and medical services.
“This is a major victory for the human rights of vulnerable EU migrants. The right to health is a fundamental human right, and Sweden is obliged to provide healthcare to all people residing in the country, without discrimination. For far too long vulnerable EU migrants, including members of the Roma community have been treated as second class citizens. Sweden must immediately close this discriminatory loophole and ensure equal access to healthcare for everyone,” said Anna Johansson, Director of Amnesty International Sweden.
A two-tier discriminatory health system
Vulnerable EU migrants, the majority of whom belong to the Roma community, face structural and intersectional racism – not only in Sweden, but across the European Union and broader Council of Europe region. This manifests in both a hostile and racist political and media environment and a lack of equal access to public goods and services such as decent housing, health, water, sanitation and education. Many Roma continue to live in appalling conditions in over-policed and segregated settlements.
The Committee ruled that Sweden violated the right to health by denying a significant number of EU migrants’ access to healthcare on the basis that they lack healthcare insurance in their countries of origin – a requirement that fails to account for the fact that this is often due to systemic discrimination. On this basis, the Committee also upheld the claim that Sweden has discriminated against EU migrants, and indirectly discriminated against the Roma since the majority of affected persons are from the Roma communities.
Sweden is obliged to ensure equal access to healthcare for everybody without discrimination under both the European Social Charter and other international human rights treaties such as the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Guaranteeing human dignity for all
The Committee also underlined that states’ obligation to respect the right to health, including access to healthcare without discrimination, is essential for safeguarding human dignity, which is at the core of European human rights law.
“This concerns people, both in Sweden and across Europe, who have long faced severe discrimination on the basis of their ethnic origin and socio-economic status. When members of this group come to Sweden in the hope of building a better life, the discrimination is not alleviated but instead compounded by the Swedish authorities. Such behaviour is unacceptable in any country – and especially in a country like Sweden, which claims to respect and uphold human rights,” says Anna Johansson.
The complaint was based on comprehensive research by Amnesty International and Médecins du Monde demonstrating systematic violations of the right to health of Roma and other vulnerable EU migrants in Sweden. The complaint documented 129 cases demonstrating how Sweden routinely denied vulnerable EU migrants’ access to healthcare and charged them the full cost of treatment instead of providing subsidized healthcare.
As a result, many individuals were afraid to seek the necessary medical treatment, exposing them to serious risks to their health and lives. This chilling effect wholly undermines the universal right to seek and obtain access to appropriate health care and treatment.
Ruling has wider implications beyond Sweden
“The complaint we filed is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Sweden’s systematic and structural discrimination in the health system against Roma and other marginalized EU migrants. Our goal is to bring about change so that everyone’s right to health and access to essential healthcare and treatment is upheld in Sweden and throughout the EU,” said Anna Johansson.
This landmark decision must serve as a guiding principle not only for Sweden, but for all EU countries. All Council of Europe member states have an obligation to act decisively and concretely to uphold social rights, including protection against discrimination for all groups, wherever they reside within the EU and Council of Europe.
“In Sweden and across Europe, we are witnessing how structural racism is gaining ground as political leaders increasingly contest, undermine and restrict fundamental human rights of individuals from other countries. It is of utmost importance that states, including Sweden, are reminded of the universality of all human rights, including social rights, for everybody regardless of their ethnicity, nationality or circumstances and act accordingly. Human rights know no borders; on the contrary, all people have the right to enjoy them without discrimination,” said Anna Johansson.
Background
After the Committee of Ministers adopts a recommendation on this decision of the European Committee of Social Rights, Sweden will have two years to submit a report on the follow up measures necessary to ensure conformity with the European Social Charter.
The Committee of Ministers then determines whether the situation has been brought into conformity with the European Social Charter.
Contact: [email protected]