No to fortress Europe” “

Among the topics discussed during the recent Salonica summit meeting of heads of State and government of the European Union (see pg.14), was that of immigration and asylum. Various decisions were made: joint control of the Union’s external frontiers; strengthening of co-operation with countries at the origin of migratory movements; repatriation of illegal immigrants; development of integration policies for legal immigrants, and the implementation of a common European procedure in granting asylum and refugee status. According to estimates supplied by Caritas (Statistic Dossier 2002), the percentage of immigrants in Europe is 5%, while those requesting asylum number 384 thousand. The Comece has contributed to the debate, repeatedly expressing the need for a community policy on immigration. The European bishops feel it is particularly important “to build a society of welcome. A Europe incapable of welcoming immigrants from other continents would completely deny its own past”. Nonetheless, they caution, “no State can face the phenomenon of migration alone. Respect for the right of a person to emigrate and seek better living conditions must be inserted in a wider context of justice at a world level”, beginning with an improvement of living conditions in the migrants’ countries of origin. On the subject of illegal immigration, the bishops feel it can be overcome by “offering greater opportunities of entering legally. We believe”, they write, “that with a greater chance to immigrate legally, fewer people would turn to the traffickers, and so various forms of exploitation would be avoided. In order to have a global effect, any community policy on immigration must take the thousands of illegal immigrants into account”. For a coherent immigration policy, the bishops suggest: “partnerships with the countries of origin, a common asylum procedure, integration of legal immigrants in the various countries and better control of the migratory flows”. European immigration policy “should be founded on the heritage of Europe as a land of reciprocal exchange and enrichment, and not make the continent appear, from the outside, as a huge fortress”.