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Viewpoints and Advocacy
Themes and Issues |
Migration Policies
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Learning from the cayuqueros
What the African « boat people » are teaching Spain – and Europe – about immigration policy.
ICMC paper presented at the Border Regions in Transition Conference- Brit IX, Victoria BC/Bellingham, WA – January 12-15, 2008.
- Migrants to and from Asia, and their families: Responses to New challenges in advocacy, presentation to the Bishops Institute for Christian Advocacy, by Mr. Johan Ketelers - December 2007, Sabah, Malaysia.
- A
Time to Remember, a Time to Recommit
Migrant labor and approaching immigration policy questions
with fairness and good sense
By Most Rev. Nicolas Di Marzio, Bishop of Brooklyn
- Immigration Issues:
the Focus of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops - Labor Day
statement
- Reflection
on Migration: Meeting Needs, Filling Gaps in International Migration,
presentation made by John Bingham to the Woodstock Theological
Center, Conneticut, USA. July 2007
Other Migration Resources
Written Submission to the Council of Europe's
7th Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Migration
Affairs
The following statement was submitted by the Churches
Commission for Migrants in Europe and the International
Catholic Migration Commission to the Council of Europe's
7th Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Migration
Affairs, which met in Helsinki, Finland, 16-17 September 2002.
"MIGRANTS IN OUR SOCIETIES: POLICY CHOICES
IN THE 21ST CENTURY"
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The above-named organisations, in consultative
status with the Council of Europe and observers to the Council
of Europe's Committee on Migration, represent Christian
churches throughout Europe, Roman Catholic, Protestant,
Orthodox and Anglican, as well as church agencies particularly
concerned with migrants and refugees.
As Christian organisations, we are deeply
committed to the dignity of the human individual. Many of
the churches' services for migrants and refugees in Europe
are facing the problems of displaced persons, in particular
in irregular situations. It is against this background,
and as an expression of the voice of civil society, that
we feel the responsibility to contribute to the 7th Conference
of European Ministers Responsible for Migration Affairs. |
As we meet under the auspices of the Council of Europe to explore
together "policy choices for the 21st century for migrants
in our societies", we might want to reflect on history. For
the better part of the previous century, Europe had been a source
of emigration. Even earlier, from 1820 to 1930 around 65 million
Europeans emigrated from the Old Continent. Many of those European
migrants often settled on foreign lands where they demonstrated
little respect or interest for the cultural and political systems,
and religious beliefs and spirituality of the original inhabitants
of these countries.
Inter-governmental organisations present today in this room,
such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and
the International Organisation for Migration, established in 1951,
initially focused entirely on Europe. Both organisations were
created to resettle hundreds of thousands of persons displaced
by war and persecution as well as to assist those that the continent
could not feed - then termed "surplus populations" -in
migrating to the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. From
1952 to 1958, the International Committee for Migration, IOM's
ancestor, arranged for the resettlement of 768,000 European migrants
to other world regions.
During recent decades Europe has, in turn, opened its doors to
migrants and thus begun to reciprocate some of the post World
War II international solidarity. It is very encouraging that as
an organisation devoted to the promotion of respect for human
rights and social justice, the Council of Europe has long been
concerned with the situation of migrants in its member states.
The European Conventions relevant to the protection of the rights
of migrants listed in the Declaration to be adopted at this 7th
conference is impressive. ICMC and CCME however regret that the
European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers (ETS
93) adopted in 1977, has only received eight ratifications. We
also are concerned that of the dozen conventions listed, only
two appear to have been ratified or acceded to by at least half
the Council of Europe member countries. This poor ratification
record illustrates that, more than new codification, what is needed
today is the political will to endorse and implement existing
European instruments.
Furthermore, Council of Europe member states adhere to and/or
have ratified a number of relevant international human rights
and refugee norms and standards whose provisions they have undertaken
to implement.
 Those
include the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International
Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil
and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination
of Racial Discrimination, relevant International Labour Organisations
conventions, and the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status
of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, containing numerous legally
binding provisions pertinent to the protection of the rights of
migrants.
CCME and ICMC wholeheartedly support the five general principles
introducing the Declaration to be adopted by the Conference. We
encourage member states to be guided by those overarching principles,
namely that migration policies be founded on the principle of
human rights, democracy and the rule of law; that integration
be an interactive process; that discriminatory policies and practices
inconsistent with international human rights instruments be eliminated;
that the full provisions of the Geneva Convention relating to
the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol be observed; and
that peace, the protection of human rights and economic and social
development be promoted worldwide to avoid displacement.
We are encouraged by provisions relating to family reunification
and the acquisition of citizenship. In view of recent developments
in some European countries, we would however have welcomed a reference
to the right to marry a person of one's choice and to live with
that person in one's own country. Also positive are references
to the need for the training of officials, the strong emphasis
on labour rights, and the need to strengthen anti-discrimination
legislation. We note that more emphasis could have been placed
on the opening up of job opportunities in the public sectors to
legally residing migrants, an area which the European Committee
on Migration has been exploring. We encourage Council of Europe
member states to look at the ILO "decent work" concept
recently developed.
Concerning migration management policies, we welcome the willingness
to pursue open and transparent policies in developing channels
of legal migration. We recommend that, in so doing, COE members
adhere to Europe's longstanding humanitarian and hospitable traditions
and devise policies factoring in objective data on population
ageing and labour needs. We commend that "economic, social,
cultural and political integration of migrants lawfully residing
in European countries is [considered] a factor of social cohesion
of the host state".
 Economic
globalisation, while it accelerates the freedom to transfer goods
and capital, would seem to hinder the movement of people.
This is creating a new tension between the laws of nations that
restrict cross-border movements of persons and the economics of
globalisation that provide an incentive for migratory flows.
This makes governance of migration an urgent task, including
at the regional level, all the more so as data demonstrate that
Europe is becoming a prominent magnet for migratory flow at the
world level.
In rethinking the concept of international migration, we recommend
that European States make use of the impressive array of Council
of Europe contributions in the migration field. Findings and recommendations
in numerous studies and reports should be used to debunk a number
of myths about migration. Migration research indicates that only
3% of the world population has been living outside of its country
of origin for a year or more. Government officials, policy makers,
parliamentarians and representatives of the media should be encouraged
to move the national migration debate away from an overstated
"border control, security and counter-terrorism" perspective.
We support responsible and coordinated collecting and handling
of migration statistical data for a better understanding of the
demographic structure of Europe. In this respect, we note a reference
in the Final
Declaration to the proposal from the Secretary General of
the Council of Europe to create a structure to implement the strategy
and subsequently monitor progress made. We would expect this to
cover all of Europe and work on the basis of a comprehensive understanding
of migration.
We urge States to refrain from using immigration as a tool to
conjure up ancient collective fears of foreigners in current election
campaigns. Rather, we encourage states to launch simple positive
steps such as, for instance, relaxing immigration measures in
order to provide more flexibility for legal migrants to move back
and forth between countries of origin and host countries.
While welcoming the emphasis on the integration of legally residing
migrants, we deeply regret amendments to earlier drafts of the
Final Declaration that have resulted in the near total absence
of reference to the presence in Europe of large numbers of migrants
in irregular situations and to the conditions of vulnerability
these fellow human beings find themselves in. Likewise, many lawfully
residing migrants and their families are far from enjoying their
rights and suffer from discrimination in many areas of life -
and more needs to be done to facilitate their integration. However,
irregular migrants are living amidst our societies, and we need
more than lip service regretting that "irregular migration
may constitute a threat to the rights of migrants and a risk to
social cohesion". As the Conference on Irregular Migration
in the Mediterranean and the Dignity of Migrants by the Council
of Europe in Athens in October 2001 highlighted, irregular migrants
deserve to be treated with dignity, and their fundamental rights
need to be safeguarded.
 All
human beings have rights, and some of those are inalienable, such
as the right to life, and the right not to be submitted to torture,
and inhuman, degrading treatment or punishment - notably during
deportation. Irregular migrants should enjoy the fundamental right
of workers in relation to work performed, as was highlighted in
the outcome of the 2nd Ministerial Conference. In studying policy
choices in the 21st century, European countries should reflect
on hard issues such as the conditions, legality and consequences
of the detention of irregular migrants and asylum-seekers, in
particular on children, or the situation of unaccompanied minors.
We welcome that the Conference will entrust the competent committees
to look into issues affecting human dignity, including those issues
relating to the effective enjoyment of minimum rights for persons
in need. However, we regret the deletion in the Final Declaration
of the need for these committees to deal with issues relating
to the minimum rights of persons under subsidiary forms of protection.
We stress the need for member states to adopt realistic measures
to ensure that irregular migrants are treated humanly.
Drastic policies with respect to irregular migrants are inhumane
and costly. Moreover, the increase in irregular migration indicates
that many of these policies are ineffective or even counter productive
in reducing the flow of irregular migrants, as they decrease the
incentives of migrants to apply for legal status. Yet, in order
to be able to default on his/her debt, a migrant needs to be protected
by the legal system of the host country. Experience with regularisation
policies might prove to be cheaper and more beneficial than tightening
of border controls.
Irregular migration might be considerably reduced by transparent
and uniform multilateral rules rather than by diverse national
laws and opaque consular practices. Improved, fair and efficient
asylum procedures and farsighted asylum policies would reduce
the number of refugees who chose life as a migrant with irregular
status. There is growing evidence that the absence of legal avenues
for migration, and restrictive approaches to asylum, increase
irregular migration.
Finally, more emphasis could have been placed on combating racism
and xenophobia. Especially post September 11, we have witnessed
that particularly migrants' rights have been severely reduced
and security overrides human rights concern. This is true with
regard to detention periods on the grounds of suspicion as well
as discussion about the deportation of suspects. We are convinced
that the Council of Europe is the body in Europe to guard human
rights for all persons residing in Europe no matter what their
legal status of residence may be.
More could be said, and certainly needs to be done on the specific
needs of migrant women, aside from their obvious protection needs
relating to trafficking.
We stand ready to continue cooperating with the Council of Europe
in its activities on migration and integration, and we are convinced
that many actors in civil society will be interested in participating
in setting up the proposed network of receiving cities to study
the impact of migration. We would like to encourage European States
to be bolder and demonstrate more creativity and confidence in
dealing positively with migration issues. Let Europe, with its
centuries long humanistic and cultural heritage, shine as a beacon
of hope for migrants and persecuted persons, particularly at a
time when some other world regions are becoming guided by narrow-mindedness
and selfish national interests.
Helsinki, 17 September 2002
The Final
Declaration of the meeting is available in pdf format on the
Council of Europe
website.
- Comments
(pdf) dated 3 June 2002 on the Proposal for a Council Directive
on the short-term residence permit issued to victims of action
to facilitate illegal immigration or trafficking in human beings
who cooperate with the competent authorities.
- Comments
(pdf) dated May 2002 on a policy and a proposal regarding illegal
immigration.
Letter
(pdf) dated 31 May 2002 on the same subject to the European
Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs.
- Press
Release dated 11 December 2001
Churches call for a migration and asylum policy for the EU:
Safe haven not fortress.
- Comments
(pdf) dated 22 October 2001 on the European Commission's Proposal
for a Council Directive concerning the status of third country
nationals who are long-term residents COM (2002) 127 final.
- Press
Release dated 28 May 2001
Churches: EU must welcome immigrants, protect people in danger.
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