Inclusion for Migrant Disabled People
http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/, 30 June 2011
Migrants and the disabled face similar challenges within society, from access, attitudes and a bewildering and constant raft of new legislation. Yet faced with a two sets of hurdles to cross, many disabled refugees have changed our mind-sets and had a transformative impact on our society. Faced with these common difficulties, we have a lot to learn from each others experiences and perspectives and it's time we worked together.
Mark has been working as a Project Manager – Migrant Health Access for the past three years. He developed a successful Pacesetters Project and Regional Innovation Fund Project aimed at increasing appropriate access to services by migrants. Mark is a disabled person and has been active in disability rights as the Chair of Barnet Coalition for Independent Living and a founder Board Member of the National Centre for Independent Living. He has adapted the social construct to migrant health to great effect in east London. Mark was a member of the semi finalist GB Soccer team in the Barcelona Paralympics.
It was with pride last year that I wrote an article for the first ever Disability History Month on the role that a disabled man, who was a political refugee, played in changing our view of the world by arguing for the social construct. The man was non-other than Vic Finkelstein who was imprisoned for anti-apartheid protests in South Africa in 1965. He found that he had more personal freedom in gaol than outside gaol.
Other significant contributions by migrant disabled people to the UK relate to the development of the UK Disabled People's Council whose Chief Executive Officer Jaspal Dhani came to the UK from India as a child.
Ade Adetipan the Paralympic Basketball Player, and BBC credits creative dance performer, is another household name. Ade talks fondly of his experiences arriving from Nigeria having to cope with his mother's challenging fashion choices at school in Newham. Eleanor Lisney, Access Co-ordinator for Disability Awareness in Action (DAA), has campaigned tirelessly for a more accessible world and has made significant contributions to the US, Malaysia and the UK.
DAA have developed understanding of the social model all around the world including in some of the most challenging areas such as the UN Refugee Camps in the Lebanon and Peshwar.
Over the past week I have had the fortune to be invited to numerous refugee celebration events as part of Refugee Week. The events have been fun, informative and inspirational. Unfortunately some have been held at inaccessible venues. This has excluded disabled migrants.
To me this is very unfortunate as limiting people by accessibility means that these community events are not as culturally as rich or as diverse as they could be. If we want to be included in society we have to lead by example and ensuring that venues are accessible. This is a small but significant part of ensuring inclusivity.
In the UK there has been a tradition to make disability a medical issue. This individualises the disability; meaning that a person has the disability and it's up to them to overcome the challenges and barriers. Disabled people have said how disempowering this is and have argued recently for people to think differently so that the social barriers that people face are the responsibility of society to overcome not the individuals.
So when organising an event a flight of stairs with no lift creates a barrier to a wheelchair user, older people or a person with a baby buggy. If the event is organised at an accessible venue it will include everyone who choose to come.
Refugees, migrants and disabled people face similar social barriers. Social barriers can be broken down into three broad categories:
- Access (physical access and information access): As highlighted above; steps put barriers in the way of disabled people, older people and parents with buggies. Language also creates barriers for both migrants and disabled people. Being called a "benefit sponger” is a common insult made to both migrants and disabled people alike.
- Attitudes of others towards them: People's attitudes can create barriers, this can take the form of discrimination, but it can also take the form of being unaware of the issues and not having the confidence to ask. Migrants and disabled people often say that people don't include them because they aren't asked, whilst at the same time those doing the asking will say they do not know how to approach migrants or disabled people. The way forward on this is for people to talk to each other and be prepared to learn from each other.
- The media also plays a role. The ongoing high profile stories on migrants taken up by national media are often seen as being negative towards migrants and refugees. This often perpetuates stereotypes in the minds of refugees and migrants. Recent stories related to disabled people are often seen as being patronising and reinforcing the medicalisation of disabled people.
- Law and Policies: Both migrants and disabled people face barriers related to changes in the Law or Policies. The number of times immigration legislation has changed means that you need a higher level degree to understand what the law means, whereas with disabled people the push for a less inclusive education system has recently hit the consultation process as a "Green paper”.
- The restriction of funding is also offering a significant challenge to both migrants and disabled people. Hard fought rights are being challenged under the umbrella of economic savings. A perceived increase in migrant numbers and an increase in an aging population mean that changes to policies and laws are being made that will adversely affect both groups.
I think that migrant community organisations and disability organisations should work far more closely together and learn from each other to the benefit of the wider society.
Please click on the link to see the original article
To find out more about on the non-discriminatory access to health care visit "Access to Universal Health Care in the Age of Migration"
Access to Universal Health Care in the Age of Migration
Migrants Right Network, 4 July 2011
Migrants Rights Network has launched a new conference website Access to Universal Health Care in the Age of Migration. The conference aims to share learning on migrant inclusion with GP Commissioners and the wider NHS family to promote the ethos of universality .
The eligibility of migrants to health care services has become a topic of intense political, community and professional debate in the UK. The current NHS reforms aim is to give GPs responsibility for commissioning services on behalf of their patients. However, as our populations become increasingly diverse and mobile, many patients are finding it difficult to register with a GP practice Many migrants face particular challenges accessing healthcare services due to confusion over the differences between the primary care rules on eligibility and the secondary care rules on entitlement for overseas visitors.