|
Blogs |
|
|
 |
Aug 11th, 2008 - 19:54:14 |
-SB- Shobuz Bhai
Italy: Policy on immigrants 'lacks human rights', says top rights watchdog
Strasbourg, 29 July (AKI) - Europe's top human rights watchdog, The Council of Europe criticised Italy in a report on Tuesday for its policy on immigrants, saying that it lack human rights and may increase racism.
"Concern about security cannot be the only basis for immigration policy," said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg in a statement.
"Measures now being taken in Italy lack human rights and humanitarian principles and may spur further xenophobia," he said .
Hammarberg published a report on Italy's immigration policy based on a two-day visit to Rome in June.
The visit came after a series of anti-Roma Gypsy protests, which were occasionally violent, and the rapid adoption or preparation of new legislation on immigrants in Italy.
The measures were notably aimed at introducing further controls on the freedom of movement of Roma and Sinti, a related people. It also includes the criminalisation of irregular immigration and additional restrictions on immigration.
Hammarberg voiced strong concern at the "security package" that appears to target Roma immigrants, and at the declaration of states of emergency in three Italian regions.
"Roma and Sinti are in urgent need of effective protection of their human rights, including their social rights, such as the right to adequate housing and to education," he said.
"Adopting the state of emergency and providing greater powers to the "Special Commissioners" and the police is not the right approach to deal with the needs of Roma and Sinti populations."
Hammarbreg also expressed his serious concern at the expected extension of the state of emergency to the entire country.
He also criticised the decision to criminalise migrants' entry and irregular stay. He sees this as a worrying departure from established international law principles.
Last Wednesday, the Italian Senate passed for the first time, measures that make illegal immigration as an "aggravating circumstance" punishable with a custodial sentence of between six months and four years in prison.
"These measures may make it more difficult for refugees to ask for asylum and is likely to result in a further social stigmatisation and marginalisation of all migrants - including Roma," he said.
The new law extends the period of time for which illegal immigrants may be detained from two to 18 months.
It also allows the government to deploy soldiers to work with police in high crime areas.
Hammarberg also noted with grave concern that Italy had forcibly returned migrants to certain countries with proven records of torture, as it happened with a Tunisian citizen expelled on the orders of the Interior Minister, using the law on emergency measures to combat terrorism.
The Council of Europe also urged the Italian authorities to proceed promptly to the establishment of an effective national human rights institution, in order to reinforce the system of protection in the country.
Aug 11th, 2008 - 19:51:44 |
-SB- Shobuz Bhai
tackling illegal immigration
Italy is using state of emergency powers, while Spain has introduced measures that include paying jobless immigrants to go home
____________________________________
MADRID; and milan, Italy - Miriana spends her nights sleeping in a park, and her days hunched on a stoop outside a Madrid shop, begging for money. The young woman admits that she earned more in Italy, where she lived for a year. But for this Romanian immigrant, who is also ethnically Roma (or gypsy), the decision to move to Spain was easy.
"Here, the people are better," she explains in broken Spanish. "They don't have as much hate."
Both Spain and Italy, situated across from Africa on the Mediterranean coast, have faced huge influxes of illegal immigrants over the past couple of years – 18,000 intercepted by Spain last year alone, and 12,000 by Italy so far this year. But their governments, though sharing a conviction that the problem urgently needs to be curbed, have taken different approaches to reach that common goal.
While Spain struggles to find the balance between limiting immigration and protecting human rights, Italy has implemented state of emergency measures and even fingerprinting of Roma – measures decried as "xenophobic" by the human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammarberg.
"The Spanish government has a very strict policy," says Roberto Malini, president of the Italian human rights organization EveryOne. "The Italians have an intimidatory policy: the idea is to scare immigrants, so that when they go home, they can tell their countrymen that Italy is no place for foreigners."
Italy: State of emergency
On July 25, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government passed a decree that allows the government to use military troops to monitor the country's 16 immigrant internment centers and to deploy another 3,000 soldiers to several cities in an effort to control crime, which is often blamed on immigrants.
Parliament also recently passed a law specifying that illegal immigrants convicted of crimes can be held for up to a third longer than Italians convicted of the same felony. Property rented to illegal immigrants can be confiscated under the new legislation.
These steps have troubled human rights activists. "At the identification centers used to hold North Africans, immigrants often face violence and intimidation," says Mr. Malini. "But they're not in a position to complain, because they'll be expelled."
Italy's measures have hit the Roma most severely. Though some have lived in Italy for years, many came from Romania when that country joined the European Union in 2007. Berlusconi's predecessor, former Prime Minister Romano Prodi, had ordered some deportations of Roma, despite their EU citizenship. Under Mr. Berlusconi, Italy has gone further, initiating a census of Roma that began in June and included fingerprinting.
This discrimination has been fed by media headlines such as "Invasion of the Nomads." And it has trickled down in other ways as well. In July, the rightwing Northern League party presented a proposal in one region that would ban "kebab shops" and Chinese restaurants from city centers because they were "incompatible with the historical context." Vigilante groups in southern Italy have set fire to Roma enclaves and attacked their inhabitants.
Spain: Balancing rights, crackdown
In Spain, where legal immigrants alone make up nearly 9 percent of the population, Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero surprised many at the start of his second term this spring by directing an about-face of his administration's previously lenient immigration policies.
In June, just three years after authorizing a mass legalization of 750,000 undocumented workers, Mr. Zapatero expressed support for the EU's Return Directive – a policy that allows member states to hold undocumented migrants, including minors, for up to 18 months, and, if deported, bans them from returning.
Faced with a 10.7 percent unemployment rate, Zapatero's new labor minister has announced a plan that would pay jobless immigrants to return to their home countries. The Catalan regional government, among the most progressive in Spain, has authorized a program that would temporarily segregate newly arrived immigrant children from non-European countries in special schools designed to better prepare them for integration into the regular educational system. The government is expending greater resources on preventing migrant-laden boats from reaching Spanish shores, and more frequently deporting those who do land.
Zapatero's immigration policy has been criticized by immigrants-rights organizations. Antonio Abad, secretary-general of the Spanish Commission for Aid to Refugees (CEAR), points out, for example, that by increasing the monitoring of the Moroccan and Mauritanian coasts, Spanish authorities have compelled sub-Saharan migrants to begin their sea journey from points farther south, endangering themselves even further. "It takes the people who need the most protection and makes things even harder for them," he says. He also criticizes Zapatero's support for the Return Directive. "When you limit one person's rights, you limit all of society," he adds.
Yet Zapatero has balanced these more rigid policies with other kinds of efforts. He appointed the first immigrant to his cabinet in April and has promised to extend the vote to legal immigrants by the end of this term. Those efforts, say Abad, make a difference. "On the positive side, we can see that the government has a strategy for integration.... It's totally different from the racist measures you see in Italy."
Aug 11th, 2008 - 19:48:48 |
-SB- Shobuz Bhai
Tear down the wallsEurope's war against immigration is immoral and unwinnable. It's time for a radical rethinkAll comments (99)
Philippe Legrain The Guardian, Friday August 8 2008
Article history
Europe prides itself on being a continent of human rights, freedom and international solidarity. Yet it is fighting an increasingly dirty war against immigration, with casualties mounting every day. The biggest victims are the poor and the vulnerable, who are demonised as "illegal" or "bogus". But EU governments are also doing huge harm to the societies they purportedly want to protect.
Britain continues to hunt down unauthorised migrants and is planning to introduce ID cards for foreigners. In Italy, Gypsy camps have been burned down, and the Berlusconi government, far from protecting the targets of such racist attacks, is whipping up animosity against them and fingerprinting them. Spain is increasing its efforts to stop desperate Africans from reaching European soil, causing thousands to die each year as they take longer and more dangerous routes to avoid detection. Last month 15 people died of dehydration and exposure when their boat engine failed as they tried to reach Almería, on the Costa del Sol. The previous week 14 people drowned when their boat sank off nearby Motril.
Those lucky enough to escape death en route to Europe now face being locked up when they arrive. The EU's new "return directive", which was recently approved by European interior ministers and MEPs, allows governments to imprison - sorry, detain - unauthorised migrants for up to 18 months. Why? For daring to cross a border in search of a better life.
As the EU begins to adopt a common approach to immigration, the British government is helping to draft Europe-wide measures that attract little coverage in the UK. Frontex, the EU's border force, is helping southern European governments to patrol the Mediterranean and around the Canaries. And while the return directive was front-page news in Spain, it was a footnote in Britain.
There is plenty more to come. Nicolas Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian migrant, has made cracking down on migration a priority for France's EU presidency, which lasts until the end of this year. His proposed migration pact aims to make it easier for the EU to attract highly qualified migrants, establish common European refugee and asylum policies by 2010, beef up policing of the EU's borders, and expel more illegal migrants. EU leaders are due to decide on the plans in October.
They should reject them. Europe's clampdown on immigration is neither fair nor sensible. Undocumented migrants are not criminals, nor are they an invading army. They are human beings less fortunate than ourselves. Most come to do jobs that comfortable Europeans no longer want to do, but as Europe's front doors are closed, they have to creep in through the back. Far from threatening Europe's ageing societies, they are reinvigorating them. What's more, the billions of pounds they send home dwarfs the sums that European governments give in aid.
The cruel irony is that, despite all the suffering they cause, Europe's increasingly costly border controls fail to keep foreigners out. Instead, they foster people-smuggling and an ever-expanding shadow economy in which illegal migrants are vulnerable to exploitation, labour laws are broken and taxes go unpaid. They also encourage people who would rather work temporarily to remain permanently, because migrants fear that if they go home they will not be able to return to Europe. Surveys of Senegalese migrants in Italy show that most would prefer to spend part of their time working in Europe and part back home, just as the Poles who commute back and forth to Britain do. A sensible immigration policy would facilitate this.
· Philippe Legrain is the author of Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them
mail@philippelegrain.com
Jul 26th, 2008 - 18:56:33 |
-SB- Shobuz Bhai
Italy declares state of emergency over immigration
Saturday, 26 July , 2008, 16:40
Rome: The Italian government announced a nationwide state of emergency on Saturday in reaction to a phenomenal increase in illegal immigration to the country's south.
The Silvio Berlusconi government's move is to provide local authorities with greater means to deal with the rising tide of illegals arriving by boat.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni plans to build new intake centres throughout the country, the daily La Repubblica reported.
Also in the news: Anxiety in Bangalore a day after terror blasts | Column: Heroes of a devil's democracy
According to the interior ministry, nearly 11,000 people illegally migrated to Italy in the first half of 2008, twice as many that came in the same period in 2007.
The Italian government called a state of emergency with a wave of refugees in 2002 and it was renewed annually - even under the centre-left government of Romano Prodi. As the intake centres in February 2008 seemed sufficient, the Prodi government limited the emergency measures to the three southern regions of Calabria, Sicily and Puglia. The Berlusconi government at the behest of the Interior Ministry has now widened the powers to the entire country.
Warning of the introduction of a "police state," the country's opposition attacked the measures sharply, calling them abhorrent. "Italy does not need inhuman and extraordinary measures," said parliamentarian Rocco Buttiglione, the Turin-based newspaper La Stampa reported on Saturday.
In response, Maroni criticised what he claimed was the opposition intention to make the state of emergency seem like an entirely new development, and called the opposition position "the worst Italian politics."
The Interior Minister is to face Parliament on Tuesday.
Berlusconi, who was elected Prime Minister in April, had declared the fight against illegal immigration a priority. A first step was the passage this week of a package of new security laws brought forward by the conservative government.
The number of illegal immigrants in Italy is estimated at around 650,000. Tens of thousands of refugees attempt the dangerous journey in less-than-seaworthy boats from North Africa into southern Europe each year.
Overnight another 73 would-be immigrants arrived in two boats at the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Collected By
M.S.A. Shobuz
Oct 10th, 2006 - 06:49:53 |
-SB- Shobuz Bhai
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I piani del governo
Ecco la riforma dell'immigrazione
Dalla programmazione triennale agli ingressi con lo sponsor. Le novità principali in un documento presentato dal ministro Amato.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROMA - Programmazione dei flussi triennale, ingressi con lo sponsor, permessi di soggiorno più lunghi. Gli aspetti principali della riforma del Testo unico dell'Immigrazione messa in cantiere dal governo sono illustrati in un documento consegnato la settimana scorsa dal ministro dell'Interno Giuliano Amato alla Commissione Affari Costituzionali del Senato, che proponiamo a tutti i lettori di Stranieriinitalia.it.
Il documento illustra la strategia dell'esecutivo prendendo le mosse dai provvedimenti già varati. Si citano lo schema di decreto che rende più facili i ricongiungimenti familiari e quello che ha abbassato da sei a cinque anni per chiedere la carta di soggiorno. Il documento si sofferma quindi sulla riforma della cittadinanza, "che da sola non risolve tutti i problemi dell'integrazione, ma certamente può aiutare a farlo. Soprattutto se la sua attribuzione è comunque subordinata alla verifica della reale integrazione linguistica e sociale dello straniero" . Riguardo alle modalità di questa verifica, il governo conta "molto su un approfondito dibattito in Parlamento".
Si passa quindi alla Riforma del testo unico sull'immigrazione, a aprtire dai flussi d'ingresso. "Si intende rendere triennale la programmazione delle quote", pur permettendo una "revisione annuale attraverso una procedura snella". Il presidente del Consiglio "potrà infatti emanare singoli provvedimenti di adeguamento delle quote, aumentandole ma anche riducendole". Un ruolo importante nella programmazione verrà affidato alle Regioni, soprattutto a quelle che organizzano programmi di formazione nei Paesi d'Origine.
I lavoratori altamente qualificati, avranno un canale d'ingresso privilegiato. "L'articolo 27 (ingressi fuori quota n.d.r.) dell'attuale legge non basta. I talenti nei campi della ricerca e della scienza, della cultura e dell'arte, dell'imprenditoria, dello spettacolo e dello sport saranno ulteriormente agevolati nell'ingresso e nel soggiorno del nostro Paese, al di fuori delle quote fissate per i flussi". Per loro è prevista "la concessione veloce di un permesso di soggiorno aperta della durata massima di 5 anni".
Per i lavoratori generici resterà la chiamata diretta, ma andrà messo a punto "un sistema di liste presso le nostre rappresentanze diplomatiche" per creare "una sorta di collocamento all'estero". Le liste potranno essere consultate via internet presso gli Sportelli unici per l'immigrazione dai datori di lavoro, che potranno scegliere e chiamare il lavoratore più adatto alle loro esigenze.
In alternativa, i datori di lavoro potranno rivolgersi agli sponsor, soggetti che possono far entrare lavoratori stranieri offrendo garanzie per l'assicurazione al SSN, i mezzi di sussistenza ecc. In questi casi al lavoratore verrà concesso un "permesso per inserimento" della durata di una anno. Lo Sponsor affiderà il lavoratore a un imprenditore e se dopo un periodo di prova questi deciderà di assumerlo, il permesso per inserimento verrà convertito in un permesso per lavoro subordinato. Se non ci sarà l'assunzione il lavoratore tornerà sotto la garanzia dello sponsor, che potrà aiutarlo a trovare un altro lavoro. Se non ce la farà entro, dovrà tornare in patria.
La riforma riguarderà anche i permessi di soggiorno. Innanzitutto si prevede l'eliminazione dei permessi per soggiorni brevi (inferiori ai 90 giorni), alleggerendo gli interessati e lo Stato da procedure burocratiche eccessive. "Le esigenze di sicurezza interna - spiega il documento - potranno essere garantite da una semplice dichiarazione di presenza".
Si allungherò la durata degli altri permessi. "I permessi legati a lavori a tempo determinato potrebbero essere rilasciati per uno o due anni (non, come avviene oggi, per una durata pari a quella del relativo contratto di lavoro); quelli rilasciati per contratti a tempo indeterminato potrebbero invece durare tre anni (oggi sono due)". Il rinnovo "potrebbe essere rilasciato per un periodo pari al doppio di quello previsto per il primo rilascio".
Verrà inoltre portata da sei mesi a una anno la durata del permesso "per attesa occupazione" e questo potrà essere rinnovato per una altro anno se lo straniero dimostra di disporre di un reddito annuo non inferiore all'importo dell'assegno sociale". Verrà poi estesa la possibilità di rilasciare "permessi premiali" agli immigrati che denunciano gravi reati a loro danno, "per intervenire con più efficacia sullo sfruttamento".
La riforma del Testo unico vuole anche favorire la collaborazione dell'immigrato colpito da un provvedimento di espulsione, con programmi di "rimpatrio volontario e assistito", finanziati da un "fondo nazionale rimpatri"che prevedono anche una riduzione del divieto di reingresso in Italia per chi collabora. Il documento definisce inoltre "cruciale" aumentare gli accordi di riammissione. Quanto ai Cpt, andrebbero rimpiazzati da due distinte tipologie di strutture. Da una parte un limitato numero di "Centri per l'esecuzione dell'espulsione", per i "soggetti più inclini all'illegalità e di più elevata pericolosità", dall'altro "strutture di accoglienza vera e propria" riservate al soccorso dei clandestini sbarcati o comunque individuati in condizioni irregolari e di bisogno.
Page:
1
2
(Total Blogs: 10)
 feed
|
 |
 |
 |
|
Menu
