The government of Prime Minister Orop plans to tighten the already vulnerable situation of undocumented migrants in Finland, according to a statement by the ministry of social affairs and health. “Removing the right of illegal residents [undocumented migrants] to non-urgent health and social services and social security…”
In plain English, non-urgent health services include:
- children’s health services,
- pregnancy and childbirth services
- health checks and vaccinations
There are an estimated 3,000 undocumented migrants in Finland, of which 300 are children.
Abdirisak Ahmed is a medic, and he is shocked by government plans.
Upper tweet: “Hopefully, @anna_maja (Anna-Maja Henriksson, chairperson of the Swedish People’s Party) and @adleande (Anders Adlecreutz, Swedish People’s Party minister for European affairs) are proud of their government program. Takes a special kind of evil if you’re willing to take health care away from children and pregnant women. Are we leaving undocumented children with diabetes untreated?”
Bottom tweet: “1/ In line with the government program, the STM (ministry of social affairs and health) has launched preparations to undermine the health care rights of undocumented people. The aim is to remove the right of children and pregnant women to essential emergency care.”
I’m certain that if you ask the prime minister about this draft bill, he’ll respond by saying stoically that the government “has a very good program.”
The Minister of Social Affairs and Health is Kaisa Juuso of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party.
