Le istituzioni locali e il mondo associativo per la costruzione di una rete in materia di cooperazione, cultura di pace, integrazione multietnica, promozione dei diritti umani e della solidarietà fra i popoli.
First Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Meeting on Migration
Every year the EU faces vast migration flows from poorer Mediterranean countries, which are both countries of origin and transit ones, in particular with regard to illegal immigrants trying to reach Europe by sea. These flows press heavily on Southern European countries not excepting Italy. In this respect, partnership with non-EU Mediterranean countries is indispensable to address the problems caused by migration processes. These issues became a topic of the first Euromed ministerial meeting on migrations that took place in Albufeira, Algarve, on November 18-19.
Promoting legal migration and development- The conference was chaired by Rui Pereira, Portuguese minister for home affairs, with participation of Franco Frattini, vice-president of the European Commission, the European ministers responsible for migrations and their colleagues from Albania, Algeria, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya (observer), Mauritania, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. In the Agreed Ministerial Conclusions the participants established three principal areas for further actions: facilitating legal migration, promoting development in sending countries to curb migration flows, and combating illegal migration. They decided to promote legal migration through determining categories of workers required in EU countries and taking into account the needs of the labour markets of sending counties to prevent brain drain. Moreover, different forms of mobility such as circular and temporary migration will be promoted. Professional and linguistic training courses to potential migrants and information campaigns to make them aware of their rights are planned to achieve the proclaimed aims. It is worthy of note that the information packages for immigrants will stress importance of respecting national values and legislation, thus facilitating their integration and reducing negative attitudes towards immigrants in receiving countries. What concerns training courses, the emphasis is made on further use of acquired skills by immigrants in their countries of origin, so they are supposed to come back home.
Sustainable development of non-EU Mediterranean countries is considered a preventive measure for reducing numbers of immigrants coming to Europe. Together with “negative” measures foreseen for reduction of migration flows, “positive measures” designed to contribute to economy of developing countries include facilitation of the transfer of migrants’ remittances and micro credit opportunities through promotion of transfers through the formal banking systems. To reach this aim, the following projects are foreseen: a seminar on these issues, a Euro-Mediterranean website providing relevant information and promoting competition amongst finance institutions in order to decrease the transfer costs, and possible financial support for migrants legally residing in Europe, aiming at co-financing their investment projects in their countries of origin.
Curbing illegal migration- Measures promoting legal migration are accompanied with actions to combat illegal immigration. They include better security standards in Euro-Mediterranean partners’ national travel documents such as introduction of biometry and new technologies at security services. One more area of cooperation is training courses for transit countries on methods for identification of false documents, enhancing capacity building related to departure flows, and search and rescue operation at sea. Human right activists criticise the cooperation with non-EU Mediterranean countries within Frontex operations and readmission agreements pointing out that it leads to violation of human rights because all the European partners from the southern shore of the Mediterranean foresee up to 6 months of prison to any national leaving his country irregularly and similar sentences to foreigners entering in or staying on their territory irregularly. But still governments do not demonstrate intention to abandon restrictive practices. On the other hand, one should not go too far in justification of illegal immigration.
Though the fist Euromed meeting on migration was not a breakthrough, the participants managed to work out conclusions stating priorities for future cooperation. Moreover, an important thing is that the document focuses not only on the interests of participating states (both “rich” and “poor”), but also on the interests of immigrants whose rights the governments intend to protect.
