MNS Summary May 2008:
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EU-related developments covered in the May issue include the much more liberal right of family reunion under EU law which some Member States claim is being abused by third-country nationals to circumvent national law and avoid expulsion. Among these Member States is Ireland which believes that it is confronted with a serious problem of marriages of convenience between foreign residents who are EU citizens and third country nationals, many of whom happen to be rejected asylum-seekers. Coverage is given to a case concerning this matter presented by the Irish High Court to the European Court of Justice which, in a very rare move, has granted the request for the accelerated procedure to be applied.
Regarding migration policies and practices, other news items include: the appeal by Austrian industrialists for much needed skilled foreign workers; measures by the Czech Government to encourage immigration of skilled workers; the idea of SAS to have its planes for flights between Beijing and Copenhagen registered in Sweden or Norway to overcome obstacles in Denmark to employing Chinese cabin crews; Berlin's probable decision not to grant free movement to workers of the new Member States until 2011; the Irish Government's decision to amend considerably its own Aliens and Asylum Bill; a legislative proposal in the Netherlands to refuse renewal of a residence permit if false information was given; the appeal by a Romanian minister to his compatriots in Spain to return; the ruling by London's High Court that changes in immigration rules in 2006 were unlawful on account of their retroactive effect on third-country migrants already in the country; more conflicting reports on the benefits or negative consequences of the massive arrival of Central and East European workers in the UK after enlargement, including one which claims that half the number of workers from the new Member States have left.
The section on irregular migration refocuses on the proposal for an EU directive on the expulsion of foreigners without authorisation of stay. A compromise deal has been reached between the European Commission and a majority in the European Parliament, which includes a maximum period of detention of 12 months and 18 months in exceptional cases. Left-wing groups remain firmly opposed.
Other news items in this section include: more drowning tragedies in the Mediterranean; accusations by human rights associations in France that prefectures summon irregular migrants to examine their situation only to have them arrested, detained and expelled; French frontier police caught red-handed by a judge for lying about accommodation facilities for foreigners denied entry into the country; warning by the International Organisation Migration of the increasing number of unaccompanied African children sent to southern Italy by their parents; increasing number of Brazilian irregular migrants prefer Spain to Portugal.
Under asylum/refugees, an article covers a press conference given by Amnesty International after a meeting with very senior EU officials, blaming the increasing number of hurdles that prevent the arrival of asylum-seekers for turning the right of asylum into a "lottery".
Another article gives attention to a report by the International Organisation for Migration which paints a rather dire picture of the situation in Iraq, warning that Iraqi returnees face chaos.
National news items include: Belgium's compliance with a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights which criticised the practice of dumping foreigners in the transit area of Brussels International Airport after a court ordered their release from detention; Bulgaria's tougher attitude towards Iraqi asylum-seekers; French Immigration Minister's promise of EU assistance to Cyprus to deal with the high inflow of asylum-seekers; Danish Immigration Minister's idea to send "suspected terrorists" to countries other than their own; support expressed by Germany's ministers of interior to offer protection to Iraqi Christians but this idea has not been well received by their EU counterparts; expulsion of a Kurdish mother of seven children after 27 years of residence in Berlin; resumption of trial in Italy of secret agents accused of the abduction and forced repatriation of an Egyptian refugee; rumour of an amnesty in the Netherlands which led almost 800 Chinese "asylum-seekers" to come out of their clandestine existence; revelation that Israeli scientist Mordechai VANUNU was offered asylum by the Norwegian Immigration Directorate in 2004, but the then government overruled the decision; Norway's decision to give up trying to repatriate Mullah Krekar; sale of "package deals" by Columbian gangs to obtain asylum in Spain; strong criticisms against the Swedish Migration Board for approving return of children and women who risk "honour violence" to Iraq; expulsion of a rejected Eritrean asylum-seekers from Sweden at very considerable costs; Indignation expressed by the Council of Europe over incident at Iraqi-Turkish border when four asylum-seekers drowned after being forced to swim; legal challenge by rejected Palestinian asylum-seeker in the UK whose access to health care is limited to emergency situations; legal challenge by Iraqis denied protection by the UK even though they are under death threats for having worked with the British contingent in Iraq; more rulings in the UK against repatriation of asylum-seekers suspected of "terrorism", in spite of agreements that they would not be tortured in their home countries.
Under racism and discrimination are several interesting court rulings or pending court cases: in France, after the car company Renault was found guilty of discriminating against two of its workers of African origin, the verdict on a comparable case against the multinational firm Bosch is pending and Airbus is likely to be next; in Germany, a woman of African origin has filed a lawsuit against her landlord who evicted her because other tenants did not like the presence of a black woman who is also a single mother; in Sweden, a Muslim woman reached an out-of-court settlement with a bus company one of whose conductors requested her to remove her niqab.
There is also news coverage of the desecration of the Muslim section of a military cemetery in France; a report commissioned by the German Government who has concluded that xenophobia is widespread among German school schoolchildren; the decision of a German family to leave a town in eastern Germany after eight years because they could no longer put up with racial prejudice stemming from the fact that the mother is half-Indian; the accusation made by Amnesty International that the authorities in Spain are ignoring the problems of racism; the offer of a reward of 53,500 Euros by a Swedish journalist of Iranian origin to anyone who can help him get a permanent job; an opinion poll in the UK in which 60% of respondents felt that there were too many immigrants.
Miscellaneous items include two controversial decisions in Denmark authorising the wearing of a headscarf while on duty: one by the Board of Governors of the Danish Parliament (for the benefit of Muslim MPs), and the other by the Danish Court Administration.
Other news items in this section include criticisms by Muslim leaders in Germany to allow the monitoring of Islamic religious leaders, but not their Christian counterparts; Irish Minister's plan to grant national voting rights to foreign residents; the probable appointment of an anti-immigration and anti-Islam politician to be Italy's next Minister of Interior; the decision of a judge in the Netherlands to dismiss a complaint against comparing the Koran with "Mein Kampf"; proposal in Sweden to hand down prison sentences to parents or guardians who organise child marriages; easy, fraudulent means to pass citizenship test in the UK.
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