#EAPM: גיין פֿאַר גאָלד - אָבער רעפוגעעס זענען נישט נאָר ביי די אָלימפּיקס

The Rio Olympics are now in full flow and it is heart-warming to see that everyone seems to love the refugee team, who were greeted with a standing ovation at the opening ceremony. The problem is that this feel-good factor is not translated into ‘real-world’ thinking and daily emotion, שרייבט European אַלליאַנסע פֿאַר פּערסאָנאַליסעד מעדיצין (עאַפּם) אויספֿיר דירעקטאָר דעניס האָרגאַן.

Quite apart from Donald Trump pledging to build a massive wall between the USA and Mexico if he becomes the next president (coupled with his comments about Mexicans being rapists and criminals), he has also promised to repatriate all illegal residents. And let’s not get started on his views about Muslims…OK, the majority that Trump is referring to are not strictly ‘refugees’ but the mindset is clear - despite America being built on immigration there is a strong anti-feeling, replicated and solidified in the recent Brexit vote in the UK.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the Syrian refugee crisis has rumbled on and on, amid many arguments among European Union member states and heaps of criticism piled onto the EU decision-makers as a whole.

Adding to the effects of the Syrian civil war, the ongoing problems in Afghanistan and Iraq brought, in 2015, more than one million immigrants and/or refugees from the Middle East and Africa to Europe.

The majority of these came by sea via Turkey to Greek islands such as Kos, Chios and Samos. More often than not, they then fled north through Bulgaria, Albania or the Republic of Macedonia, finally reaching Germany, Sweden, the UK or other central or northern European states.

In its briefing of September last year, the European Parliament stated that: “The allocation of individual responsibilities for asylum applications and for providing services and protection for asylum-seekers and refugees has led to overburdening of member states…while diverging asylum standards across the EU have led to a great number…travelling to member states with higher reception standards.”

The briefing added that: “People in need of international protection struggle to enter the EU legally in order to seek asylum. Due to the very few legal entry channels available, the majority of those seeking international protection are forced to cross the EU's external borders in an irregular manner, risking their lives and resorting to human smugglers.”

אַדווערטייזמאַנט

As the EU’s internal squabbles continued, in November of 2015 Macedonia began erecting fences at its borders with Greece and actually closed them in March of this year. As a result, an estimated 12,000-13,000 refugees are stuck in camps in Greece.

The impact on the already troubled Greek health system has been substantial. The country’s basic medical supplies were already stretched and the refugee crisis has only made matters worse. As if the country and its people haven’t suffered enough with austerity measures already…

There is a strong argument that primary health care to immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers should be high on the agenda across EU Member States, especially given the EU’s stated humanitarian values aimed at equality for all.

The Brussels-based European Alliance for Personalised Medicine (EAPM) is firmly of the belief that, regardless of international status, refugees, asylum-seekers and all immigrants, whether illegal or not, need to have their basic rights - which include their medical needs - adequately catered for by the EU, one way or another, and this obviously has to be done at Member State level.

It is a difficult problem, granted, and contributed hugely to Brexit, especially with older citizens buying the false argument - the downright lie, in fact - that £350 million per week allegedly sent to the EU would suddenly be diverted to the much-cherished National Health Service.

The fact that the NHS relies on highly skilled immigrants to keep it up-and-running seemed to pass many people by.

Of course, the Brexit negotiations have yet to begin as Article 50 has not been triggered. But when (or if) it is, the new British prime minister knows that they will focus heavily on free movement of citizens (which may or may not include Syrian refugees by that stage) probably in exchange for the UK’s continued access to the Single Market and associated trade offs.

The negotiations on both sides will represent an Olympian task, with the well-being of many at stake. And while the refugee team continues to receive universal acclaim in Rio, there are probably some US and Mexico-based latinos seriously considering taking up pole-vaulting if Trump’s wall becomes a reality.

In the end, EAPM hopes that there will be no gold medal for ‘The Donald’, and that, meanwhile, Europe can find a way of fairly taking care of refugees, asylum-seekers and immigrants and keeping them healthy before any next moves are decided.