Integration into a new place is a multidimensional and complex process. In the region covered by the Central American Integration System (SICA), migrants are likely to face numerous barriers to accessing education and health care. According to a new study conducted by SICA in collaboration with IOM and UNHCR, they may experience discrimination and have difficulty reintegrating when they return to their countries of origin.
Migration journeys can affect a person’s mental and physical health in a variety of ways, which is why access to health services is crucial. Regardless of legal or irregular status, migrants have full coverage under the health systems in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize. In Costa Rica, on the other hand, insurance for people with illegal immigration status is only used in emergency situations. To guarantee access to health care, the baseline study suggests that policies should be revised to allow all migrants access to services, regardless of their migration status.
With regard to psychosocial care, most countries covered by the study indicated that migrants have only partial access to these services. This situation needs to be improved, as psychosocial care is crucial for individual well-being, as well as for reducing overall healthcare costs and promoting social cohesion.
Access to education is an important aspect of integration, especially for migrant children and adolescents. While all countries in the region offer some form of education for migrants, regardless of whether they have regular or irregular status, other barriers lead to lower enrollment rates for children with a migrant background. In 2018, a UNESCO study found that only 52 percent of Haitian-born children living in the Dominican Republic attend primary school, compared to 79 percent of children born in the Dominican Republic to immigrant parents and 82 percent of those born in other countries.
Lack of documentation is the main reason for this disparity in enrollment. Proof of citizenship is required to register in the national education database and to take official exams. For those who manage to overcome these barriers and enroll, some schools require national identity cards for students graduating from secondary school. This underscores the need for coherent institutional approaches to ensure that all migrants have access to education.
The SICA, IOM, and UNHCR study suggests a number of concrete initiatives to create inclusive education systems. First, the creation of specialized technical units in ministries of education to develop mechanisms that meet the special needs (cultural, linguistic, etc.) of migrant students. Second, implementing curricula that counteract prejudice against immigrants, as well as transition, remediation, and recovery programs that prevent school dropout. Ministerial decision-makers, policy makers, administrative staff and teachers should also be trained on how to engage immigrant students and how to create protection models for migrant children and adolescents.