Against ambiguity

An appeal to recognise, “as Christians and single communities”, our sins towards migrants, shown by “the little attention” we pay to the biblical texts in favour of the foreigner, the stranger, “one of the reasons why Europe has been and is so prone to surrender to forms of nationalism and xenophobic exclusion”, is contained in the message “Migrations in Europe” drafted by ACLI, the Welcome Centre Association, the St. Egidio Community, the Astalli Centre, the Federation of the Evangelical Churches in Italy (FECI) and the Migrantes Foundation (to which other Catholic organizations and institutions have lent their support, including Pax Christi, Italian men and women religious and the Scalabrinian International Migration Institute). The message was presented to the 3rd National Ecumenical Conference in Terni in recent days, as a “contribution of the Churches in view of the 3rd European Ecumenical Assembly (Sibiu 2007). REVISING POLICIES AND LAWS. The organizations especially ask for a “revision of policies and laws that compromise the protection of fundamental rights, such as that of the unity of the family, stability of the migratory project, and access to citizenship”. They also express “strong dissent to the ever more restrictive practices over the granting of refugee status and the ever more frequent recourse to the detention and expulsion of migrants”. They recall that over 24 million migrants are living in the European Union today and that “their living conditions are becoming ever more precarious and difficult” due to “a widespread sense of diffidence and suspicion, intolerance and rejection that are expressed also in violent and xenophobic forms”. OPENING UP TO THE CHALLENGES . The signatories of the message accuse “an ambiguous policy that, while it privileges aspects of public order and security, also leaves scope for irregular forms of entry and insertion in the labour market” “without the right of migrants and their needs to participate actively in social and cultural life being respected”. “The Churches – they declare -, though conscious of the socio-economic and employment crisis that the whole of Europe is going through today, as also the fraught process of the European Union, contest the closed-door attitude of Europe which tends to safeguard its own prosperity and to defend the idea of exclusive identity. They emphasise, on the contrary, the need for Europe to open itself to the challenges that lead the phenomenon of immigration in the direction of integration, to the benefit of migrants and to the host society as a whole”. This is also because, “conscious of the tragedies of the past, they know that the full integration of every minority is essential for the maintenance of peace and democracy”. In this regard, they wish to draw attention to the roma, sinti and travelling populations and “appeal to the public institutions and civil society to combat all forms of illegality of which migrants themselves are often victims, such as the clandestine traffic of manpower, exploitation on the workplace, and discrimination”. The Churches also recall their commitment to inter-religious dialogue and appeal to Christians to “contribute to the adoption, by the competent authorities, of sound policies in terms of immigration and monitor their effective implementation”. THE PROPOSALS OF FIVE DIOCESES. Meanwhile five dioceses in the province of Cuneo (Piedmont) in Italy have made a proposal to the Italian government, for the management of migratory flows into the country, the social integration of foreigners and practices of education in inter-ethnic co-existence and social citizenship. “We wish – says the statement put out by the interdiocesan agency – to place ourselves on a higher level than the mere provision of public welfare. We think that immigration is eminently a social and not an ethnic question”. They add that “the current legal provisions involve numerous perverse effects at odds with the concept of integration and legality”. The proposals include the creation of a competent Ministry for the migratory phenomenon which would have the job of reinforcing the channels of entry. The dioceses also suggest the re-introduction of residence permits in search of work, a monitoring unit on quotas, the increase of bilateral educational courses already undertaken, the reform of the residence contract and a re-think of the management of temporary holding Centres. They further recommend that adequate housing be guaranteed to foreigners, that measures aimed at family reunification and forms of subsidy and social insurance for immigrants be boosted, and that sufficient healthcare without too many restrictions be provided for them. The document, lastly, places at the centre the theme of the full dignity that needs to be recognized to regular immigrants. “Right to vote and citizenship – they declare – are two elements that must go hand in hand to promote the migrant’s greater social inclusion”.