MNS Summary November 2007:
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The November issue provides yet further evidence that a common EU immigration policy remains within the realms of wishful thinking. The European Commission has submitted two more legislative proposals aimed at attaining this goal, that is the “Blue Card” scheme. However, 10 days earlier, it was obliged to take note of the fact that by 12 October 2007, which was the deadline for the transposition of the 2005 EU Directive setting out a specific procedure for allowing third-country nationals into the EU for the purposes of carrying out scientific research, or “researchers’ visa”, only six EU Member States had done so.
At the same time, Member States viewed with concern a ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that reaffirms the continuation of the acquired rights of children of Turkish migrant workers established in one Member State, even after becoming totally independent of their parents and exceeding the age of 21. The ECJ had already handed down similar rulings on two previous occasions, the cases of Aydinli (C-393/03) and Derin (C-325/05), but some Member States persisted in wanting to challenge the Aydinli ruling in the case of Derin, a convicted smuggler of irregular migrants. When this failed, another challenged was launched in the latest case of Polat (C-349), a serial offender, predominantly violations of the German Law on Narcotics.
National news items in this issue include an extensive coverage of the new French Aliens Bill which has received final parliamentary approval; tougher interpretation of the Aliens Act by the Berlin authorities who now make it rather difficult, if not impossible, for women to leave their violent husbands if they are unable to be self-supporting; the Italian Government’s support for an “open door” policy on immigration, but the long awaited Aliens Bill is still pending and immigrants endure extremely long waiting periods for the renewal of their residence permits; the UK Government’s largely underestimated figure of the number of foreign nationals employed in the UK since 1997 and its decision to maintain labour market restrictions for Bulgarians and Romanians; the initiative to hold a referendum on expelling foreign delinquents from Switzerland has received enough signatures in a record time of three months.
The section on irregular migration reports on the end of phase II of operation Nautilus II which the EU’s external borders’ agency, FRONTEX, had been co-ordinating for a period of a little over a month off the eastern Mediterranean.
Also of importance on the international level is the Council of Europe’s Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings, which was ratified by Cyprus last October, the 10th Member State to do so, thus enabling this instrument to come into force on 1st February 2008.
Developments on the national level in this section includes a sort of amnesty in France for irregular migrants whose manpower is needed by the country’s economy; emergency measures introduced by Greece to combat a substantial influx of irregular migrants; the UNHCR’s criticisms of a Greek detention centre whose conditions “violate every aspect of human dignity”; Dutch police’s dismantling of an international trafficking ring run essentially by Nigerians who manipulated their victims with threats of using voodoo; legislative proposal prohibiting irregular migrants from getting married in Switzerland; two more drowning tragedies resulting in substantial losses of life off the coasts of the Cape Verdian Islands and Calabria, Italy; approval of a Bill in the Spanish parliament to enable the prosecution of migrant traffickers apprehended in international waters.
On protection issues, considerable coverage is given to the case of a 15-year old Kosovar girl who managed to move Austrian public opinion and politicians with her televised threat to commit suicide if she was not re-united with other members of her family expelled about a week earlier.
Other national news items include:
The accusation by the opposition in Denmark that the Government had provided misleading information on the prospects of repatriation of rejected Iraqi asylum-seekers to prolong their stay in refugee centres;
Danish Government’s softening of its position on rejected asylum-seekers and its decision to allow 60 families to move out of refugee centres and into Red-Cross-organised accommodation;
The increase in assistance offered in the repatriation package proposed to rejected Iraqi asylum-seekers in Denmark;
The decision by The Hague to stop paying the costs of ensuring the security of a former Dutch politician Somali origin, Ayaan HIRSI ALI; while she remains abroad in the USA and Denmark’s offer of protection (should she decide to go there to live);
The desire of the German authorities to resume repatriation of some rejected asylum-seekers, essentially those originating from northern Iraq;
The insistence of the authorities of the Land of Hessen, Germany, to provide proof of family ties by means of DNA tests renders family reunion impossible for some refugees, particularly Burmese;
Accusation levelled at the German Foreign Ministry by an NGO that it has provided a new evaluation of the situation in Burma which makes it more difficult for Burmese asylum-seekers to obtain protection;
Report on a fact-finding mission to Greece by two NGOs points to systematic human rights abuses and even use of torture by members of the Greek police force and coast guard.
Swiss Parliament’s approval of the use of stun guns and dogs when carrying out forced repatriations;
Continuing efforts of the Scottish regional government to end the detention of asylum-seeking children;
UK’s practice of repatriating rejected Zimbabwean asylum-seekers who arrived on Malawian passports;
Decision by a UK airline to refuse further collaboration with the Government to carry out forced repatriations of rejected asylum-seekers;
UK’s Government’s decision to offer a much more financially attractive repatriation scheme to rejected asylum-seekers, particular those with children who have grown up in the UK;
The section on protection reports again on the dire situation of Iraqi refugees who have found out that the nations which have taken part in the invasion and bombardment of their country have been the most reluctant in offering them reception and asylum.
The section on racism and discrimination reports on, inter alia, the trial and conviction of a racist murderer in Belgium; the controversy in Spain and the reaction of several Latin American countries after a youth who was filmed assaulting an Ecuadorian was released from police custody by order of a judge; the historical success of a Swiss xenophobic party who based its campaign essentially on inciting fear of foreigners; remarks made in the UK by an American scientist that Africans are less intelligent than white people;
As usual, miscellaneous items cover a whole wide range of issues, from the problems confronted by medical practitioners with the Muslim husbands of some of their female patients in Belgium and France to the series of highly questionable methods and procedures used by the London Metropolitan Police Force and which ended up in the tragic execution of an innocent Brazilian youth.
There are also articles covering the new museum on immigration in France and the absence of interest shown by the present government there; the conviction of an Iraqi in a case of “honour killing” in Munich; the controversy in Germany over the decision of a football player of Iranian origin to refuse to play in a match in Tel Aviv; German Chancellor’s Angela MERKEL’s support for a new piece of legislation to make a forced marriage a specific crime in the penal code; the boycott by German banks of a far-right party; protests in Italy over a decision by a prefect to authorise the wearing of a burqa in public; more splits within the Dutch Liberal Party over the immigration issue; steps taken by the Swiss Parliament’s to put an end to the practice of naturalisation by referendum; the derogatory treatment faced on two occasions by the UK’s first Muslim MP at the hands of the US security services after attending meetings aimed at combating terrorism.
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