Migrants and asylum seekers with disabilities continue to face systemic exclusion from protection, support, and integration systems across the European Union, despite the EU’s human rights obligations.

In response, IRAP and EDF have jointly launched a new policy brief, “A Pact That Excludes: Closing the Protection Gap for Migrants and Asylum Seekers with Disabilities in the European Union,” showing that EU migration and asylum systems remain largely inaccessible and discriminatory for people with disabilities.

This briefing analyses the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum from a disability perspective and urges EU institutions and Member States to take immediate action to make the Pact disability-inclusive. It shows that the EU is in breach of its obligations under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and other international human rights frameworks.

Elham Youssefian, IRAP’s Director of Disability Inclusion and Accessibility, warned that:

“One would expect that the EU would use the adoption of the new Pact as an opportunity to address the exclusion of migrants and asylum seekers with disabilities in line with its international legal obligations and moral values. But our review reveals that not only was this opportunity wasted, but the more restrictive migration policies make it even more difficult for migrants and asylum seekers with disabilities to access their fundamental rights in the EU.”

Yannis Vardakastanis, President of the EDF, underlined that:

“The EU’s current systems are stopping persons with disabilities at its borders, leaving them without dignity or support. This is against the very fundamental values that helped build the European Union.”

The report identifies five key areas of concern:

1. Invisibility and lack of data: Persons with disabilities remain unrecognised in EU migration frameworks; and organisations of persons with disabilities are rarely consulted.
2. Inaccessible reception and screening systems: Facilities and procedures often exclude people with disabilities through physical, procedural, and communication barriers.
3. Exclusion from social protection: Migrants with disabilities are frequently denied access to healthcare, income support, and support services.
4. Discriminatory family reunification and migration rules: Disability-related income and supports are not recognised, effectively excluding many from legal migration routes.
5. Detention and return procedures: Persons with disabilities face disproportionate risks of arbitrary detention and return without adequate safeguards.

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