Latvia: Provision of social and health services to non-ethnic Latvians

No information on the provision of social and health services to non-ethnic Latvians could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

However, according to a report from the Commission on Progress Towards Accession : Latvia [to the European Union]: Latvia, published in November 1998 by the Directorate-General 1A of The European Commission which "handles relations with European countries which are not members of the European Union and with the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union and with Mongolia:"

Latvia has already acceded to most of the major international human rights instruments... The Framework Convention for the Protection of the National Minorities and the European Social Charter have been signed but not yet ratified.

In October 1998 the Parliament amended the Constitution to include a new section outlining basic human rights. These were previously included in a separate law.

With respect to minority rights and the protection of minorities, the report states that:

In general, the rights of the Russian-speaking minority in Latvia regardless of whether a person possesses Latvian citizenship or not) continue to be respected and protected. However, a number of areas were underlined in the Commission's Opinion in which non-citizens were treated differently from citizens. The Latvian authorities have significantly improved the situation in the following areas:

In January 1998 the President promulgated a new "Law on Amnesty" which puts citizens and non-citizens on equal terms. In addition, in July 1998 a law was adopted which establishes an office for amnesty applications.

In April 1998 the Government committed itself to abolish the remaining professional restrictions for non-citizens. Restrictions on non-citizens against working as fire-fighters, airline staff, pharmacists and veterinary pharmacists have already been abolished. The restrictions on becoming private detectives, armed guards and pilots remain but will be phased out.

In May 1998 the regulations concerning the status of the unemployed were amended so that job seekers can now register with the State Employment Service (SES) without submitting a certificate verifying their knowledge of the state language or an education certificate. This also means that it is not necessary to demonstrate proof of knowledge of Latvian to obtain unemployment benefits.

Language training is an important instrument for the integration of the ethnic minorities.. Currently, 44% of the population has a language other than Latvian as a first language. The first phase of a Latvian language programme has already been successfully completed. Over the past two years, 2.700 minority teachers have been trained to be able to give Latvian language lessons and new handbooks and textbooks have been printed. Totally, about 12.000 adults and students have received Latvian language lessons through different types of courses. A number of international donors, including the EU, have contributed to this programme. However, there still remains a considerable shortage of teachers of the Latvian language.

The Latvian Government needs to continue and reinforce the Latvian language programme in order to accelerate the integration process. This is one of the key issues in the National Programme for the Integration of Society which is being developed. A first framework of this Programme Was adopted on 29 September by the Government and distributed in society for debate. Subsequently, a full programme will be developed and adopted by Parliament. The National Programme is one of the results of the work of the Integration Council which was established in March 1998 by the Latvian Prime Minister.

The draft Language Law and the draft amendments to the Labour Code have been the subject of intense discussions during 1998. The draft amendments to the Labour Code, which required employers to terminate the employment contracts of employees who did not fulfil certain language requirements, were vetoed by the President and have not been resubmitted for consideration. The draft Language Law has not yet been finally passed, but the proposals have been made to modify it so as to remove many of the earlier discriminatory provisions (such as the imposition of the use of Latvian language in the private sector). It remains to been seen if the final law will be in full compliance with international standards and OSCE recommendations.

According to an 11 November 1998 Baltic News Service report, the World Bank approved in November 1998 a "12-million-U.S.-dollar equivalent health reform project loan to assist the Latvian government in the implementation of a long-term health services restructuring strategy."  

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Baltic News Service. 11 November 1998. "World Bank Supports Health reform in Latvia." (NEXIS)

The European Commission, Directorate-General 1A. 4 November 1998. Commission on Progress Towards Accession : Latvia [to the European Union]: Latvia. [Internet] [Accessed: 26 April 1999].

Additional Sources Consulted

Electronic sources: IRB databases, LEXIS/NEXIS, Internet, WNC]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Website.

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHFRH) Website.

Minority Rights International (MRI) Website.

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Website.

Open Society Institute Website. George Soros Foundation.

REFWORLD, July 1998 CD-ROM.

Transitions [Prague].