Tag: immigration

Greece's coalition government is divided over a draft law introduced by Justice Minister Antonis Roupakiotis, which aims to combat the increasing racist attacks in the debt-ridden nation. EurActiv Greece reports. 

A Foreign Office-commissioned report has directly challenged claims by UK Prime Minister David Cameron that Britain faces a massive wave of immigration from Bulgaria and Romania when labour restrictions applying to these countries are lifted next January.

Please don't come to Britain – it rains and the jobs are scarce and low-paid. This is the message conveyed in a campaign intended at trashing the UK's own image and persuading immigrants from Bulgaria and Romania to stay at home.

German statistics and anecdotal evidence show that far-right groups are more active in regions that were part of the former East Germany. Despite reunification, the eastern regions have remained less developed economically than the western regions, writes Stratfor.

Germany and Austria called on Greece yesterday (8 March) to tighten immigration controls, saying that other countries in the European Union may be forced to reinstate border checks if Athens did not act.

Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders has launched a website, inviting people to denounce Polish, Romanian and Bulgarian nationals causing 'nuisance' to the country's society. Sofia, Bucharest and Warsaw reacted with outrage. The EurActiv network in Central Europe reports.

The Polish EU presidency regretted yesterday (22 September) that the Netherlands and Finland had blocked the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU's borderless Schengen area, saying it revealed a crisis of confidence in the Union. The European Parliament lamented that these countries were the victims of "populism".

Labour migration is becoming a sensitive issue and misperceptions are widespread. If the potential of migration to deal with labour and skills shortages is to be further explored, policymakers at all levels have a responsibility to enter into an informed debate based on facts and a long-term view, writes EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström.

Mobility is a great European value, and despite the significant shifts in population that have taken place since the EU was enlarged, countries should not be afraid of depopulation, Piotr Maciej Kaczyński, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), told EurActiv.

Turkey must improve border security before it is allowed to join the European Union, British lawmakers said yesterday (1 August), voicing concern about security risks and illegal immigration from neighbouring Iraq, Iran and Syria.

The European Parliament today (7 July) overwhelmingly rejected a push by EU countries led by France and backed by the European Commission to dilute the bloc's existing border-free area by allowing individual members to re-introduce checks on an "exceptional" basis.

Europe must be more assertive in its foreign policy, especially by unambiguously supporting the Arab revolutions, otherwise it risks wasting an historic opportunity which could later count against it, said former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema in an exclusive interview with EurActiv.

Former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema calls on Nicolas Sakozy and Silvio Berlusconi to stop stoking the flames of anti-immigrant sentiment and urges Europe to restore solidarity with emigrant countries facing difficult economic and political circumstances.

Seeking to strike a balance between France and Italy's calls for border controls within the Schengen border-free area to be reintroduced on demand and federalist views, according to which such a move would undermine the EU, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso admitted that such checks could be reinstated as "a last resort".

The EU is closing its doors ever tighter to immigrants and some of its leaders are betraying basic humanitarian principles, said Thomas Hammarberg, commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, in an exclusive interview with EurActiv.

A Brussels-based think-tank has slammed the way in which France and Italy are dealing with immigrants fleeing unrest in Northern Africa, labelling their actions a "shameful race to the bottom".

Italy and France will today (26 April) discuss changing rules that scrap border checks between EU countries, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy visits Rome seeking to ease tensions over North African immigration following the Arab revolutions.

The Italian government gave its green light yesterday (7 April) to a decree allowing economic migrants from Tunisia to move freely throughout the Schengen area for a three-month period. France said it could re-establish border controls.

Paris and Rome are playing "ping-pong" with thousands of immigrants who travel by boat from the North African coast to the Italian island of Lampedusa, after which most of them try to reach France, the press in the two countries reports.

Roma families who agree to leave camps in Italy and return to their native Romania can benefit from €15,000 paid mostly as a monthly instalment to rehabilitate their houses. EurActiv Romania reports.

Belgium has been sentenced by the European Court for Human Rights for sending back to Athens an asylum seeker who entered the EU from Greece. The court ruled that Greece did not comply with minimum standards on the treatment of asylum seekers.

A team of EU border officials is being sent to help Greece deal with an increase in the number of immigrants crossing its frontier from Turkey, the European Commission said on Sunday (24 October).

On a visit to Cyprus yesterday (18 October), French Immigration Minister Eric Besson said Turkey must "do better" on immigration by protecting its borders and readmitting illegal migrants, including hundreds of prostitutes working in the northern part of Cyprus.