christians and immigrations " "" "
Satisfaction for the efforts aimed at establishing a common immigration and asylum policy in Europe, but also concern about the criminalization of irregular workers and all those, including Churches and NGOs, that help them, were expressed to the current president of the European Council, Jean-Claude Juncker, by six European Christian organizations (Caritas Europe, COMECE, Commission of the Churches for Migrants in Europe, International Catholic Commission for Migration, Jesuit Service for Refugees, and Quaker Council for European Affairs) on the eve of the European Summit in Brussels on 16 and 17 June. During the summit the plan of action known as “The Hague Programme” for liberty, security and justice will be submitted to the approval of the heads of state and of government. In their joint letter, published on 15 June, the church organizations say they are convinced that “immigration and asylum policy must be based on the inalienable freedom of each person and on respect for his/her rights”. They therefore welcome “the efforts being made by the EU to establish, by 2010, a common procedure for those claiming the right of asylum” and “the particular attention paid to children’s rights which must have an impact on their right to join their families”. In this regard they express the hope that “the European Charter of Fundamental Rights may as soon as possible become a legally binding document”. According to the signatories of the letter, “the detention of asylum seekers should be avoided”. On the contrary, Europe is called to show “responsibility in the protection of refugees and to work towards their re-insertion” in society. “We are convinced they write that the reality of irregular immigration should be understood more profoundly to help develop a policy of employment and migration. This should take into account the demand in the EU for skilled and non-skilled manpower”. Therefore “the regularization of irregular immigrants should be seen as a response to the improvement of the individual condition and to the demand for manpower”. EU legislation, in this regard, ought not to “criminalize irregular migrants, and the humanitarian assistance given to them by the Churches and NGOs ought to be aided”. In the same way voluntary repatriation “should be supported by appropriate integration schemes”. An approach of this type to immigration policies the letter concludes would “promote the integration and active role of migrants and that of the societies that accept them. Diversity should be actively supported. Religion too can make its contribution to the development of these measures for which the European Commission ought to provide adequate financial resources”.
