"While the right to health is a basic human right recognised in international law, the COVID-19 pandemic painfully revealed that existing policies and regulations poorly protect many categories of migrant workers, not only during a pandemic, but beyond. This article draws on research data collected during the pandemic and examines the experiences of ‘essential' EU migrant workers with Dutch health care and identifies structural barriers migrant workers face when attempting to realise fundamental health rights. We show how sedentarist biases in the configuration and delivery of the Dutch health-care system, but also in the legal-administrative residence system and the organisation of work, as well as a general lack of migrant awareness in central government regulation and communication prevent the full realisation of the right to health and undermine migrant workers' rights."

Support: Digital