The Eastern and Horn of Africa region remains one of the most dynamic regions of the world in terms of migration caused by an evolving complex of economic, social, and security interplay. Migrants and mobile populations continue to face many obstacles in accessing essential healthcare services including migration status, language barriers, lack of migrant-inclusive healthcare laws and policies, inaccessibility of services, and the inability of the receiving country to afford addressing their welfare.
This report reviews domestication in Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda of international legal instruments aimed at ensuring migrants’ and refugees’ access to healthcare services, labour, and social protection.
According to the report, most national legal instruments had insufficient coverage on the four key migration-related themes (migration, health, social protection, and labour) in international and regional instruments, which also varied widely among the four countries. The national instruments lacked direct obligatory language in stipulating benefits for migrant populations on access to health-care services, labour systems, social security systems, and social assistance at the local country levels.
Well-monitored national implementation road maps ensuring enforcement and conformity to these legal frameworks for migrants are urgently needed in these countries.