Access to services for migrants with disabilities

The project AMiD-Access to services for Migrants with Disabilities project aimed to support an efficient management of the reception and integration of asylum seekers and migrants with disabilities in the EU.
Indeed, NGOs, local and front-line personnel face on a daily basis the challenge to evaluate and consider disabilities while assessing migrants in need of first help by EU Member countries or Frontex. The registration process, the preparation of staff on the disability domain and a lack for a common EU approach inside the EU do not allow the full implementation of European Council and Parliament Directive 2013/33/EU then later law 4375/2016 and the UN Convention of the Rights of the Persons with Disabilities, ratified by the EU.

The AMID project, in which Timis County Council was involved at political level, was implemented between 2018-2020. It resulted in the creation of a specific Needs Assessment Tool to be circulated among all actors involved in the welcome of migrants. The aim of the tool was to provide insights to local authorities, Non-Governmental Organisations and EU agencies, and enable them to assess and support with adequate responses migrants and refugees with disabilities. The Needs Assessment Tool was based on the Washington Short Set which was originally set to identify and record in statistics figures of people with disabilities. The set of questions did not identify particular health conditions or diagnostic categories but rather captures the possible impact of these conditions on functional abilities. The human right approach of the set based on the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was in line with AMiD values. While the set was developed for a statistic purpose, the set of questions can fit different uses.

The AMiD project facilitated the systematisation of a common approach for migrants and refugees with disabilities, improving cooperation among Local Authorities and NGOs. Timis was specifically involved in the AMID Community Advisory Board, raising awareness on stakes, available tools for local and regional authorities and promoting coordinated action at European level.

The project developed Blended Interchange Pathways to improve the knowledge and the responses of multidisciplinary professionals: Local organizations working with migrants and refugees services, Disabled People Organizations and Service Providers for people with disabilities.

The project further developed an operative manual to transfer project results to other Local Authorities with 4 training modules:

Module I – Disability & Migration: policy & legal frameworks at European and International level
Module II – Disability & Migration: Promising practices from the field
Module III – Towards personalised & integrated services
Module IV – Needs Assessment Tool and effective communication
• cross-country report (AT, FI, GR and IT).
• The national reports: AUSTRIA, FINLAND, GREECE and ITALY

The presentation shared at the Includ-EU workshop 1 is available under this link.

Website of this project: https://amidproject.eu/en/