Enlarging but not too much?” “

On 17 February the Dutch Parliament voted by a majority in favour of a new law on refugees, after subjecting it to debate during the previous week. It orders the expulsion of 26,000 asylum seekers, to be repatriated over the next three years. The law would seem to confirm the tendency in almost all EU member states (with the exception of the UK and Ireland) to introduce restrictive measures on immigration as a precautionary measure for imminent enlargement. At least that’s what the Migrantes Foundation of the Italian Episcopal Conference seems to think. TOWARDS MORE RESTRICTIVE MEASURES? The legislative changes being made in the EU include one that concerns the workers of the ten new countries: “From 1st May – points out Migrantes – they ought in theory to enjoy the same rights as other European citizens, including the right to settle in other member countries. In practice, however, they will have to wait several years before they are able to enjoy the right to move freely within Europe. Many governments are deciding to profit from the right, for which provision is made by the membership treaty, to limit the entry of citizens of the ‘new entry countries’ into their own labour market by introducing ‘transitional periods’ that may be prolonged to a maximum of seven years”. The situation as present, as described by Migrantes, is as follows: Germany and Austria have right from the start made it known that they would adopt a hard line, by claiming their right to close their borders to workers from the new member states for the maximum permitted transitional period of 7 years; in Holland the government announced at the end of January that it wanted to reserve the right to close its frontiers to workers of the future partner countries if their number should exceed 22,000 in the first year; Denmark, Belgium, Greece and Finland are allegedly about to freeze the right to free circulation for at least two years; France, Italy and Spain are still reflecting on the most appropriate measures (Paris does not want to introduce annual quotas, but nor does it intend to completely open its frontiers. Madrid is thinking of granting entry only to those who can prove they have a job to go to, while the Italian authorities are evaluating various options, including the most drastic one of a total ban on entries for 7 years); Portugal would have a need for 20,000 extra workers, but has decided to limit entries; Sweden initially had decided to open its frontiers, then decided to change its mind, announcing a few weeks ago its intention of imposing restrictions on worker entries; the UK and Ireland, both short of manpower, are the only ones that remain determined to maintain a policy of ‘open doors’ to the new member states of the EU, even if London is thinking of limiting in some way the burden of the new workers on the already precarious state of the British welfare system. According to the Commission’s calculations, in the first years after enlargement, the annual flow of migrant workers from Eastern Europe will be comprised between 70,000 and 150,000. THE DUTCH CASE. The Dutch Catholic Church and the other churches represented in the country’s Council of Churches have expressed their disappointment about the vote in favour of the law on refugees, approved by Parliament in The Hague on 17 February. It makes provision for the expulsion of 26,000 asylum seekers, to be repatriated during the next three years. “Parliament did not accept the requests of the Churches which, through their Council, had requested that those awaiting a decision for over 5 years, the sick, and those with families, should not be expelled, that children should not be separated from their parents, and that the number of those who could benefit from the amnesty be increased from the planned 2,300 to 5,000/5,500”, explains Pieter Kohnen, spokesman of the secretariat of the Catholic Church in Holland. “The only concessions made to the Churches’ requests, he continues, are “the promise of the minister Rita Verdonk to dedicate particular attention to the cases of families and the sick, but no change was made to the text of the law”. Nonetheless, concludes Kohnen, “we live in a state subject to the rule of law, and we accept this in a democratic manner. While we are not in the least happy about the situation, we must accept the fact that it has now become law. I think that the Council of Churches will continue to remind the minister of her promise of special attention”. Of the 26,000 refugees due to be expelled only 2,300 have obtained a residence permit. All the other asylum seekers examined must leave the country and are excluded from the cases of amnesty. The latter include some 2,000 refugees; in addition, a number comprised between 6,000 and 8,000 of asylum seekers have resided in Holland for over 5 years, some of them for over a decade. Many of these people have children who were born in Holland, who attend Dutch schools and who speak the language.