MI-HEALTH EUROPE
Healthcare Inequities in Europe
For the past two years, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with Mi-Health Europe, a healthcare initiative dedicated to addressing the barriers migrants face when accessing healthcare. This project focussed on documenting the lived experiences of migrants and the disparities in healthcare access. This work builds upon my previous collaborations with migrant-focused organizations such as Nobody Left Outside, Care-for-Calais, and the Kent Refugee Action Network.
I am deeply grateful for the support and collaboration of our dedicated partners, including Denis and Anne from Mi-Health, Ian from Open Paths Athens, and Luciano from LHIVE in Catania, who have played vital roles in making this project possible.
“My activism made me a target. One evening men stormed into my home and took me away to a detention center. For months, I endured unimaginable torture, all because I dared to speak out against injustice.”
– Mr. Kaly
Mi-Health Europe works to empower migrant communities across Europe, building networks between grassroots organizations to address the complex challenges migrants face in accessing healthcare. The initiative's core mission is to ensure that healthcare is accessible to all, regardless of immigration status, while advocating for policies that support marginalized communities. Their work focuses on overcoming legal, linguistic, and cultural barriers to healthcare, providing essential support in regions where migrant populations face significant health disparities.
In Europe, where 36% of the global migrant population resides, fewer than half of the WHO European Region’s member states report data on migrant health, leading to a systemic failure to address these inequities. Mi-Health Europe strives to challenge this lack of data and advocacy, working towards inclusive healthcare solutions that meet migrants where they are.
“What I want politicians to understand about migrants is that racism, marginalization, stigma, and invisibility are like a death sentence.”
– Ms. Josephine
In this collaboration, I’ve documented the voices of migrants, capturing their resilience as they navigate complex healthcare systems in foreign countries. Through intimate interviews and photography, I’ve aimed to humanize the profound emotional and physical toll of healthcare inequities, highlighting barriers like legal restrictions, cultural insensitivity, and stigma. Each story reflects immense courage, shedding light on the challenges of displacement and the urgent need for more inclusive and compassionate healthcare solutions.
This project aims to go beyond storytelling, driving meaningful change by highlighting the lived realities of migrants and advocating for more inclusive healthcare policies across Europe. By documenting systemic inequalities and collaborating with Mi-Health Europe, we emphasize that healthcare is a universal right, regardless of immigration status. As the project unfolds across countries, each story of resilience underscores the urgent need for systemic reform, encouraging a shift from rhetoric to action in addressing healthcare inequities for migrants.
This project highlights how healthcare access for migrants is deeply intertwined with social, political, and legal issues. Barriers such as legal status, language challenges, and fear of discrimination leave many undiagnosed or untreated for serious conditions like HIV and tuberculosis, creating a crisis that extends beyond health. By documenting these stories, I’ve aimed to humanize the struggle, capturing moments of resilience, despair, and hope—from mothers caring for their children in a foreign land to individuals navigating unfamiliar healthcare systems. These narratives, part of Mi-Health Europe's mission, emphasize the urgent need for inclusive and compassionate healthcare solutions, reframing the conversation as not just political but profoundly human.
ABOVE: MR KALY, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER & VICTIM OF TORTURE
ABOVE: MR. KALY PLAYING CHESS WITH IAN, THE FOUNDER OF OPEN PATHS ATHENS
ABOVE: JOSEPHINE, A TEACHER FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, NOW LIVING IN ITALY
ABOVE: RIAD WITH LUCIANO, FOUNDER OF LHIVE, CATANIA & HIS COLLEAGUE MR SANA
ABOVE: MR SOLO, NON-PROFIT DIRECTOR FROM IVORY COAST, NOW SEEKING REFUGE IN ATHENS
ABOVE: MR SANA FEATURED IN MI-HEALTH ERUOPE'S COMMUNICATIONS
