Professionals from across Europe urge MEPs to reject plans, saying ‘climate of fear’ could stop people seeking care
More than 1,100 healthcare professionals from across Europe have urged MEPs to reject proposed measures aimed at increasing the deportation of undocumented people, warning they could threaten public health by transforming essential public services, including hospitals, into sites of immigration enforcement.
The draft plans, which are due to go to a vote on Thursday, have been in the works since last March, when the European Commission laid out its proposal to target people with no legal right to stay in the EU, including potentially sending them to offshore centres in non-EU countries.
The measures, launched after the far right made gains in the 2024 European parliament elections, are part of a broader effort by the EU to overhaul how it manages migration.
Before the vote, which is one of the last steps before negotiations begin between EU institutions over the final text, doctors and nurses from Portugal to Ireland and Greece were among those who signed an open letter expressing concerns over the plans.
