Voices in Hiding: Addressing Health, Well-Being and the issue of Right to Health of Undocumented Filipino Migrants within a Dutch City

In the Netherlands the existing legislation regarding access to health care among undocumented migrants is generally favourable, however, this provisioning becomes problematic in practice. The conflicting policy objectives of the states create a condition of liminality, which hinders the undocumented migrants in accessing health care services. In the dominant discourses, the liminal bodies of undocumented Filipino migrants are seen as docile bodies and passive victims of health injustices. I contend that there is a need to re-examine the homogenization implied by dominant discourses among undocumented migrants. This paper argues that these liminal bodies of undocumented Filipino migrants emerge as self-governing individuals capable of navigating within the grey zone of liminality prevailing within the Dutch health care system. The condition of liminality widens their agentive capacity and enables them to contribute in the knowledge production in light of the epistemology of meaning-makings and place-making. Analyzing the narratives of undocumented Filipino migrants, I critically explore how these crafting of meanings related to their embodied lived experiences thus influence their health seeking behaviour. I utilize the ethnographies of experience and Filipino Psychology to examine how these liminal bodies address their health needs within their immediate horizon.