FRA 2011
21
novembre
2011

The fundamental rights of migrants in an irregular situation in the European Union

International and European human rights law impose an obligation on EU Member States to guarantee human rights to all individuals within their jurisdiction. This includes irregular migrants.

Although the Member States are not under an obligation to offer the same benefits to irregular migrants as to nationals, they must follow a core set of human rights standards. These include access to:

  • necessary healthcare for all, including emergency as well as essential healthcare, such as the possibility to see a doctor or to receive necessary medicines;
  • healthcare for pregnant women, and healthcare and education for children on the same basis as nationals;
  • justice – a mechanism allowing an individual to make a complaint and get a remedy such as compensation, for example, for a work accident.