The EU Gets Tough on Illegal Immigrants
Europe can't agree on a constitution, but it's united in a desire to get rid of illegal immigrants and rejected asylum seekers.
With or without an Irish “yes” vote, the process of European integration is proceeding apace. Just how it works is shown, for instance, by the cooperation of the EU states on refugee and asylum policy and the securing of the EU’s external borders. Following relatively lengthy discussion and just in time for the European soccer championships, the EU interior ministers came to an agreement earlier this month on how best to get rid of people that are not wanted in the EU. The conditions for detaining persons awaiting deportation form a central part of the agreement. Last Wednesday, the EU parliament approved the new EU-wide guidelines by a vote of 369-197.
The so-called “return directive” principally affects asylum-seekers whose applications have been rejected and illegal immigrants. For a variety of reasons, it is not always possible to deport such people immediately. The mere process of obtaining the documents necessary for re-entering their countries of origin can take months or even years. In order to maintain control over the deportees during this waiting period, many are held in detention centers. In Germany, the period of detention can be as long as 18 months. German authorities justify the length of detention by the risk that refugees will not otherwise fulfill their “obligation to cooperate.” This “obligation to cooperate” means that the inmates are themselves held responsible for resolving the bureaucratic problems that might arise in their countries of origin.
In other EU countries, the maximum length of detention is substantially lower than in Germany: in Cyprus and France, for instance, it is 32 days and in Spain, 40 days. It is true that the new directive only establishes an upper limit to the length of detention: in theory, individual states can maintain their own more liberal arrangements. A lengthy period of detention could, however, quickly become the standard. For instance, after the Italian government announced some weeks ago that it would extend the usual period of detention to 18 months, the Spanish government complained that this would lead persons without legal residency to move to other countries out of fear.
Another point of contention in the negotiations was the issue of legal costs. In contrast to other countries, asylum candidates in Germany do not always receive financial assistance when they want to take legal steps to prevent their deportation. The German government wanted to preserve this policy, in order to avoid financial burdens and the burdening of the judicial system. On this point as well, Germany was able to have its way: according to the directive, states may provide financial assistance, but they are not obliged to do so.
For Karl Kopp, the EU policy expert of the German NGO Pro Asyl ["Pro Asylum"], this lack of legal protection represents one of the principal problems with the directive. “As a result many refugees will have no possibility whatsoever of making use of the few rights that they still have on paper,” Kopp told this reporter. In the Eastern European countries in particular, he said, the system of legal protections is extremely deficient. If they are not able themselves to come up with the money, the persons affected will be essentially helpless for want of legal advice and mastery of the local language.
In Germany, even unpaid volunteers find it hard to provide assistance to refugees seeking to avoid deportation. In Ingolstadt, for example, members of aid organizations have no possibility of gaining access to the detainees.
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Matthias Lehnert is a doctoral candidate in law at the University of Münster. He is presently writing his dissertation on the European border security agency Frontex.
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12 Comments
1. Ed Wallis:Lieber Matthias/Dear Matt,
illegal = criminal = you really still want me to respond with anything more than boo friggin’ hoo?!!?
Try moving to U Bahn/subway stop “Hallesches Tor,” in Berlin and then tell me wah wah waaaaaaaaahhhhh for these damn criminals bringing down the country.
Einmal auf Englisch: Phhhht.
Jun 27, 2008 - 10:39 am 2. DoktorNo:The problem with migration issues in Europe, is the fact, that sadly “european social model” favours welfare than real work. There is no “european dream” that could offer immigrants an attractive cultural model for integration, and economy is overburdened with welfare policies.
Multiculturalistic madness is just a cherry in cocktail in this all.
Jun 28, 2008 - 3:14 am 3. Transatlantic Intelligencer :: Transatlantic Intelligencer:[...] not only persist, but
Jun 28, 2008 - 4:39 am 4. William:The common sense solution to the problem is: Enter legally and stay; enter illegally and go, immediately; overstay you visa, goodbye – now. No detention, no time to sort out why you left your ci-devant residence, just be deported. Would save a lot of money and court time.
Jun 28, 2008 - 6:22 am 5. Edmund Jenks (MAXINE):“The common sense solution to the problem is: Enter legally and stay; enter illegally and go, immediately; overstay you visa, goodbye – now. No detention, no time to sort out why you left your ci-devant residence, just be deported. Would save a lot of money and court time.”
This only works when a Govenment decides to enforce the rules that already exist … just look at the problem that we have here in America where multiculturalism is the norm … people still break the laws but they mean NOTHING unless they are enforced.
Oh, and does anyone in the room actually think America’s problem with illegal immigration will get any better under Obama than the current situation?
Heck, we at MAXINE, have trouble thinking it will get any better under a McCain view except he was slapped at least once on the subject (nobody ever touches an Obama on anything) – this is just UGLY!
Jun 28, 2008 - 7:01 am 6. Matt S.:I would say this isn’t a model the US wants to follow by any stretch. It is refreshing to see some light shed on the “progressive” countries of Europe and how they also have illegal immigrant issues. Germany clearly has some major issues with how they treat illegal immigrants, especially the children. Sorry, you don’t get a pass for inhumane response to illegals entering your country. Feel free to deport them or even put them to work for a term to defrey costs, but the description of conditions and lack of legal representation is atrocious and our allied relationship with Germany should not give them a free pass. I’d like to see some real reform spearheaded by the UN Human Rights Council….ok…not really holding my breath on that one, but wouldn’t it be nice if the UN actually did what it was supposed to do…Darfur anyone?
Jun 28, 2008 - 9:30 am 7. Eowyn:The Eurocrats are too busy not working (but getting paid really well) to bother with immigration just now.
Check this out (via instapundit):
http://www.samizdata.net/blog/archives/2008/06/a_german_view_o.html
Jun 28, 2008 - 12:28 pm 8. Colin Rich:Some of you people act like the word “illegal immigrant” means “non-human”. If you were fleeing hell you probably wouldn’t enjoy being treated like a demon, either.
As for “illegal immigration” itself; we all live on one Earth. As technology changes this Earth is gonna get smaller and we won’t all be hiding, paranoia-stricken and gun-toting, in our countries of origin. So maybe more doors should be opening than closing.
Jun 28, 2008 - 1:26 pm 9. Fidel, MD:Germany clearly has some major issues with how they treat illegal immigrants, especially the children.
OK, the children can stay, if they were born in the US. Our social safety net will provide them with the very best education, medical care, and opportunity.
The criminals that spawned them? OUT, RFN.
Jun 28, 2008 - 2:04 pm 10. Akatsukami:Read Phyllis Chesler’s Slave-Owning ‘Cruella DeVille’ Got What She Deserved on this very site, Colin. Then remember that these were legal immigrants, nominally Westernized.
The only doors that should be opened for such as these are the gates of Hell.
Jun 29, 2008 - 9:15 am 11. DeportThemAll:No illegals…and CHANGE the 14th Amendment to clarify what it was meant for. It was NOT meant to become a short cut for foreigners to birth children in the US for citizenship.
For all those whiny folks worrying about the “children” of illegals…You NEED to start worrying about poor American children who are now far worse off BECAUSE of stupid people like you.
Guarantee you wouldn’t last two days living in a neighborhood of illegal aliens in LA. They’d put a bullet in your head or a knife through your throat before you could say…ola.
Take your whimpering illegal alien sympathy and stick it. Most Americans are FED up and boiling mad!!!
Jul 2, 2008 - 6:09 pm 12. Matopeuz Squezre:Iam boiling with anger because of sopme of the comments that are here.Es besteht kein Zweifel ,dass diese Leute sind sehr Rassistisch. Take your racism somewhere, nuckle heads
Jul 7, 2008 - 1:47 pm