Switzerland has firewalls between immigration enforcement and service providers to guarantee access to basic services to all, including undocumented migrants. This right is based on the Swiss Federal Constitution and regulated by the Public Health Insurance Law.
Numerous programs encourage links between schools and communities to foster social inclusion of children and their families. For instance, in the Netherlands for second-generation Turks and Moroccans; in Pakistan for Hazara girls; in Canada among African and Caribbean-born immigrants; and in the US for Latin America and Vietnamese communities.
The Republic of Moldova gives migrants the option to buy into national insurance schemes. Both migrants and refugees benefit from medical services through the mandatory health insurance system and also benefit from preventive and disease prevention services (e.g. immunization, communication/information, screening, prophylactic treatment for infectious diseases).
Some countries offer health coverage for their citizens who move abroad, e.g. Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
The PhilHealth program for OFWs allows members to avail themselves of PhilHealth benefits even if they are confined in hospitals abroad. At the same time, their qualified dependents in the Philippines may avail themselves of the benefits even if the principal is working overseas.
Thailand has championed migrants’ health protection for years by offering a prepaid, premium-based health insurance scheme. Undocumented migrants can buy the insurance under the condition of registering with the government.
Thailand achieved universal health coverage, through three main insurance schemes: 1) the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) for ordinary Thai nationals, 2) the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme (CSMBS) for Thai civil servants, and 3) the Social Security Scheme (SSS) for workers in the formal private sector.
Numerous public services have adjusted to provide universal access or extend social protection coverage to an increasingly diverse population through bilateral and multilateral social security agreements or unilateral measures.
One mechanism for extending social protection and paving the way for universal coverage is the establishment of social protection floors – nationally defined sets of basic social security guarantees that ensure at a minimum, that over a lifetime, all those in need have access to essential health care and to basic income security.
The city of Atlanta in the USA has undertaken to provide free transportation to refugees for their legal and medical appointments.
In Atlanta, as well as some other cities in the USA, private company Lyft has also offered transportation grants to a number of immigrant and refugee organisations as part of its Lyft Relief Rides Program.
Several civil society organisations in Atlanta also provide similar services to certain immigrants (e.g. refugee children).
In order to absorb sudden influxes of refugees arriving to Lebanon, the city of Brital developed coordination mechanisms with both local and international partners to establish reception and ongoing support services.
Despite the absence of a public government policy to regulate how Syrian refugees are dealt with, the Lebanese municipal law gives municipalities the right to address all local / community related issues, as deemed appropriate and within available means.
‘Cuidamos Centro’ (‘We Take Care of the Centro District’) is an employment training and practice programme that targets groups at risk of exclusion and long term unemployment in Madrid. The programme is coordinated by the Madrid Municipal Employment Agency and District Board. The initiative provides training and paid employment opportunities for those deemed most excluded from the city’s labour market. Whilst it does not exclusively target foreign-born migrants, the latter group are over-represented among the project’s participants (also known as dynamizers).
The Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative (GRSI) is a joint initiative led by the Government of Canada; the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); the Open Society Foundations; the Giustra Foundation; and the University of Ottawa, which works to share good practices and support the creation of new programs to assit countries around the world to open new pathways for refugee protection through community sponsorship programs.