Immigration, legality ” “and development

The future common policy of asylum and immigration was approved in broad outline by the European Council in Seville. Steering a middle course between the hard-line policy of the “mailed fist” and the more lenient policy of accommodation, an “intermediate line” was approved. So no punitive sanctions, but the possibility of reviewing aid and accords of cooperation with the countries of origin and transit of clandestine migratory flows, linking action in the sector to the Union’s policy of external relations. Europe’s position on the regulation of legal immigration, however, still remains unclear, so much so as to arouse the suspicion that the two questions are being tackled separately and that the EU is even giving priority to clandestine immigration. SirEurope met Kemal Komsuoglu , computer engineer, and representative of the Turkish Communities in north-west Germany, to discuss the problems of immigration. How do you assess the conclusions of the Summit in Seville? “It went better than might have been expected from some preparatory documents. The risk of a punitive approach and of punishing the countries that, whether in bad faith or due to the impossibility of the resources at their disposal, fail to collaborate with the campaign against clandestine immigration, was great, and was partially avoided. I say risk, because it isn’t always easy – also for a country like mine – to crack down on the organized criminal gangs that control the illegal smuggling of immigrants and that have infiltrated just about everywhere. European history also teaches that poverty and hunger force people to seek for a means of survival, also by fleeing clandestinely, rather than help the authorities to identify the traffickers in human beings. And the authorities themselves are faced by an uphill task if one thinks of what is meant by the “state machine” in the poor countries. It’s important for Europe to realize that the problem of immigration needs to be tackled at source: on the basis of the wider dimension of external relations and aid to development. And it’s equally essential to realize that the legal immigration of millions of people also exists; it needs to be regulated with an approach that is at once scrupulous and humane”. What’s the link between legal and illegal immigration? “The link exists. It needs to be recognized: immigration is one phenomenon with two aspects – the legal and the illegal one – and they are closely correlated. The procedures for regularization, the granting of visas, the search for a job, the restrictions on being joined by family members, sometimes place the immigrant in intolerable situations that make him feel like a criminal just because he is a foreigner. So it’s easy to see why the step to illegality is so short. I don’t say this lightly, also because we are all conscious of the fact that some European countries including Italy and Germany are literally “bursting” at the seams and that therefore something needs to be done. But that ‘something’ must not be the introduction of curbs, restrictions, barriers, disincentives, but rather the realization that the immigrant who comes to Europe to work is a person who must enjoy the same social rights as those enjoyed by the citizens of the member states themselves, and that legal immigration represents a resource for the European economy. From this point of view, regulating also means favouring access to the European labour market. Without forgetting two things: the need to be inflexible towards criminality and the priority that consists in creating development where there is none”. What new policy of European development is therefore needed to combat clandestine immigration? “It’s no secret that if there is local development immigration, of any kind, decreases. Those who risk their lives by embarking on floating wrecks, or who climb over remote mountain passes, or queue for days outside consulates or police offices would prefer not to do so; they would prefer to work quietly at home and help their own family at close hand. Those who come to Europe with the intention of engaging in criminal activity represent a tiny minority. It is good therefore that the Union should realize the importance of tackling more seriously the policy of aid to development; not only by giving subsidies too often badly used, but by accompanying the governments of the less developed nations and local populations on the path of education, training, healthcare, employment. Brussels can do so, and the European citizens themselves can make a big contribution of humanity and civilization in this sense”.