PHM-Exch> [PHM NEWS] PHM Europe Istanbul meeting - final declaration

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Chiara Bodini <chiara at phmovement.org>


PHM Europe met in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 24-25. 30 people representing
groups and networks in Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, UK
endorsed a final declaration, that contains concrete proposals for action
in solidarity and support of the Turkish Academics for Peace, as well as a
road map towards 7th April 2018, a people's health day to oppose health
commercialisation and reclaim health for all! Also, we stated our position
on the responsibilities for the dramatic situation in which many migrants
and refugees are forced into, and our commitment to act in solidarity.



*Final declaration,*

*People's Health Movement (PHM) Europe meeting*

Istanbul, 24-25 June 2017


*Defending human rights to protect health*

In the last PHM Europe meeting held in London in October 2016, we
agreed to *stand
in solidarity with our friends and colleagues in Turkey (Turkish Academics
for Peace)* who are suffering from severe repression by Erdogan's regime -
for the only reason of defending the basic human right to health. We are
meeting in Istanbul this weekend to say together that *health can only be
reached through peace.* We will always oppose wars that oppress and kill
innocent people.

In solidarity with the Turkish Academics for Peace, and all the Turkish
people suffering from political oppression for standing for human rights, *we
call the groups and individuals of the People's Health Movement in Europe
and throughout the world to take concrete actions* to raise awareness and
support the struggle for civil and political rights in Turkey:

   -

   *Share information, raise awareness and support Turkish Academics for
   Peace (AFP) demands* to return back to their working position and have
   their passports and freedom of travel restored:
   -

      Deliver solidarity statements and/or organise skype interviews with
      AFP during academic conferences and events
      -

      Promote solidarity statements by universities, trade unions,
      scientific and academic societies, etc.
      -

      Organise solidarity missions and events in Turkey
      -

      Support the demands of Nuriye Gulmen and Semih Ozakca, two dismissed
      public servants, who went on hunger strike and are now detained in prison
      in severe health conditions, and demand their immediate release
      -

   *Offer concrete help:*
   -

      Offer financial support for dismissed academics
      -

      Offer distance-learning programs for younger scholars, distance
      teaching positions for senior scholars and positions in foreign
      universities for those who can travel
      -

      Provide access to scientific databases for dismissed academics
      -

      Invite Turkish academics to share their research at conferences in
      person or via skype
      -

   *Build alliances in the struggle:*
   -

      Promote the boycott of Turkish universities by foreign universities
      that have partnerships with them
      -

      Contact journalists and arrange for interviews and greater media
      coverage
      -

      Write to EU commissioner Johannes Hahn, responsible for the
      Negotiations on the Expansion of the EU, who will visit Turkey
on July 6th
      2017



*Resisting health commercialisation in Europe*

We decided to *continue and strengthen the campaign for free public
healthcare accessible to all, centered around the 7th April as the world
health day.* 2018 will also mark the 40th anniversary of the Alma Ata
Declaration, and we are ready to make 7th April a people's health day,
to *oppose
any kind of marketisation of health in our countries and across Europe. *

National governments, as well as European institutions, should be held to
account. Also, strengthening international solidarity will help to support
the struggles in our own countries. We need to expose the role that Europe
plays in supporting healthcare privatisation in countries within and
outside the EU, including through funding health sector reform programmes
and promoting free trade agreements.

*The following decisions will shape our campaign on a people's health day:*

   -

   We will promote* exchange of information and networking between local
   mobilisations *that oppose healthcare privatisation, to strengthen
   international solidarity.
   -

   We will *mobilise in our countries to support local actions culminating
   on 7th April 2018*, starting with participating in the online
   consultation
   <http://europe-health-network.net/spip.php?article158&lang=en> of the
   European network against health commercialisation to identify key
   mobilising themes.
   -

   We will look into *different forms of action*, from street
   demonstrations to seeking alliances with health workers and influence
   health decision makers to oppose the privatisation agenda, to exposing the
   predatory role played big corporations (private healthcare providers and
   health insurance companies) in our different countries and in the lobbying
   at the European level.
   -

   We will *seek alliances with trade unions, organisations and networks *that
   are willing to share our platform for action.
   -

   We will *strengthen our links with the mobilisations in countries of the
   Mediterranean region.*



*Protecting the health of migrants and refugees*

We received updates from our Turkish PHM friends on the *situation of
migrants and refugees in Turkey,* worsened by the ongoing conflicts in the
region as well as the lack of adequate policies from the European Union. As
we have said from the beginning, *the EU-Turkey readmission agreement is a
harmful policy*, that has transformed Turkey in an open air prison for
refugees, rented by the EU. *Four million people in Turkey are not granted
comprehensive refugee rights. *The majority of them are living in
deteriorated conditions with respect to the social determinants of health
and have limited access health care. The *situation of undocumented
migrants*, whose number is rapidly increasing, is even worse in terms of
access to care, as they are charged very high 'touristic fees' including
for essential health needs.

The *situation in other countries *such as Belgium, France, Germany, Italy
and the UK shows common features in terms of discrimination, xenophobia,
inequalities in the social determinants of health and access to healthcare.

As PHM Europe:

   -

   We *denounce the approach that informs migration policies in our region*,
   shaped around emergency measures, a capitalist view of migrants as
   exploitable cheap labourers, and the false claim that migration and
   terrorism are associated, fuelling fear and xenophobia.
   -

   We *oppose detention centres for undocumented migrants*, increasingly
   managed by private for-profit companies such as G4S, where people are
   unlawfully deprived of their rights.
   -

   We demand that the* root causes of migration* (such as unjust economic
   trade policies, climate change, food insecurity, conflicts...) be addressed.
   -

   We commit to* continue to monitor and inform on the situation* of
   migrants and refugees' rights.
   -

   We will *increase the exchange of practices on civil society engagement *in
   protecting and promoting refugees and migrants' health, through solidarity
   actions, advocacy, resistance and protest.
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