Healthcare for refugees in India

Abstract

Although Health is not a fundamental right in India, public health finds multiple references in the constitution;Article 39 (E), Article 42, and Article 47. The courts have also on occasions interpreted Article 21 Right to life as encompassing the right to health. While citizens can, therefore, demand from the government, refugees and asylum seekers do not. Thanks to the systematic and political exclusion, they hardly feature as beneficiaries to the different state healthcare schemes and infrastructure. Due to the lack of identity card and legal status as refugees, they struggle to get access to primary healthcare facilities despite entitlements at various public healthcare centres and UNHCR implementation partners who support in seeking medical assistance. Organizations such as BOSOCO also provide language translators who help refugees when they visit a doctor or buy medicine from a chemist’s shop. The majority population of Refugees and asylum-seekers in India do not have bank accounts and Aadhaar cards which make the process more cumbersome for them. In the above context, the authors of this chapter study the access refugees have to healthcare in India. The chapter aims to assess and identify potential barriers refugees and asylum seekers have in India concerning access to healthcare. The COVID-19 pandemic and the induced impacts of it finds an exclusive mention in the chapter. The pandemic made the existing burdened public healthcare system in India more complex for refugees to access. The chapter highlights the situation of refugee women and children along with other refugees with health problems that are commonly identified with men. Mental health, diabetes, and other inter-generational diseases amongst the refugees are discussed in the course of the study. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, S. Irudaya Rajan;individual chapters, the contributors.