Greek Health Ministry will demand the expenditure for immigrants’ treatment in the public hospitals from the embassies, news portal Zougla reported. Many immigrants without legal documents find their way to the Polyclinic Hospital at Omonia Square in downtown Athens after being referred there by Non Governmental Organizations. According to latest data, seven immigrants were treated there since last January with their treatment costs reaching 4.377 euro.
Furthmore, the Health Ministry plans to organize a network within 30 public hospitals across the country, where immigrants will be treated in special booths. The network will consist of doctors and health care personnel specialized in contagious diseases.
According to Health Ministry data the cost for the treatment of illegal immigrants is estimated to be 150 million euro annually.
For the first time Greece plans to send the bills to the embassies of those treated. How will the ministry find out the real country of origin of illegal immigrants without legal documents…. that’s another story.
PS One has to ask, of course, whether the embassies pay the bills…
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Yes, at least those two questions
a) how would they know where the immigrants without papers have come from
b) would the Embassies will pay
And, you can ask why would the Embassies pay? The immigrants without papers have decided not to be a part of their country buy destroying papers.
I do not know if this would be one more story in fight for voters, before the elections, but if somebody wants really to solve these issues they should think a bit more.
Recently EU was complaining of how the Greek government treats immigrants, so if they complained – can the help with it?
Embassies do not pay medical bills EVER so this is an election stunt. In the rush of all these figures and statisctics, lets all breathe and remember that immigrants are human beings with human rights. The setting up of a second tier , obviously second class, health service should be sending warning signs out to all. Bear in mind that such types of measures are always tried out on the most vulnerable in society first. In addition, surely contagious diseases should be dealt with thoroughly to avoid the disease spreading!! If people require hospitalisation, it is a false economy not to hospitalise them.
And if any of those migrants are asylum seekers then it is contrary to international law to inform their embassy of their whereabouts. Many will not have proper papers and will give false names and/or nationalities for fear or to avoid detection. Genuine asylum seekers ( who may be suffering from the effects of torture or detention) will but put off seeking medical treatment for fear of disclosure to their embassies. What about Greece lobbying the EU for funds for this issue rather than paying with human lives, whatever nationality and papers they hold!
You may have sympathy with asylum seekers as you probably don’t have mass, unlimited immigration/asylum. In England, with our EU open door policy & over generous welfare system, there’s millions of illegals, asylum seekers, health tourists & economic using the health service, not having paid a penny into the system, FREE of charge. Most of our public services cannot cope, to the point our elderly are treated like trash, operations cancelled and vital drugs/medicines rationed by a government quango, housing shortage as asylum seekers, ecomonic migrants take priority over anyone else…………..I’m afraid I’m all out of sympathy for asylum seekers, illegals & economic migrants———-But I have more than enough sympathy for the plight of Greek people, my heart goes out to you all.
Just a thought, send the bill to EU after all they are the ones responsible for the no borders policy that allows all and sundry from the four corners of the world to enter Europe….. The asylum seeking racket (no papers) has done untold damage to genuine refugees. One unlucky illegal, very few are tracked down, went before the asylum tribunal court, used as part of his defence, under the human rights act of course, that he had a right to family life here because he had a cat, I kid you not, he was allowed to stay. People here are slowly but surely getting very angry over immigration and I dread to think how it’s going to end.
send the bill to EU? not bad idea at all lol