A challenge and a gift” “

“It’s right to hope that migrants should make efforts of integration, but reciprocal efforts by the whole of society are also needed. Respect for the human rights of migrants is the key for successful integration”. The point is made by the Commission of the episcopates of the European Community (COMECE) in a press release issued on 15 December to present its document “Integrating migrants – Integrating societies”, drawn up to mark Migrant’s Day which will be celebrated on Saturday, 18 December. Produced in partnership with Caritas Europe, the Commission of the Churches for Migrants in Europe (CCME), the International Catholic Commission of Migration, the Jesuit Refugee Service and the Quaker Council for European Affairs, the document “proposes a global approach to the policy of integration which ought to give priority to the importance of the civic participation of migrants, rapid measures of integration, protection of family life, interreligious and intercultural dialogue and the development of educational programmes to enable migrants to gain access to the labour market”. We present a summary of the document. RESPECT FOR RIGHTS. According to the Churches, “the rights of migrants are the key for their proper integration. Efforts in this sense are expected both by migrants, to insert themselves as best as possible in their new societies, and by societies themselves, which are called to guarantee respect for human rights”. In this regard the signatories of the document ask that “the International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families, which came into force in mid-2003, be a necessary means to tackle the challenge of international migration”. Therefore “EU states and all other European nations are called to ratify it and adapt their own laws to these standards. We encourage the European Commission to ratify the document”, say the signatory organizations. integraTION, A PROCESS OF CHANGE. “The integration of migrants has become one of the main issues on the European political agenda, and therefore – says the document – the Churches hope that policies of integration be coordinated and improved. Nor can the necessary means to enable migrants to gain access to the labour market, suitable housing and sufficient language skills be dispensed with. But above all integration requires the civic participation of migrants and their host societies. Integration measures ought to be implemented as soon as possible, already before or during the arrival of migrants, especially for those who enjoy refugee status”. Another aspect emphasized by the document concerns family life: it must be “protected and not limited”, especially in terms of the reuniting of family members. INTERRELIGIOUS AND INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE. Two “important factors of integration need to be developed, since it is through them that citizens and newcomers may get to know each other and exchange ideas and values, discover differences and things in common”. Nonetheless, point out the authors of the document, “we are concerned by the greater attention paid to cases of failed integration than to those of successful integration. The problems at school shown by the children of migrants, for example, are treated as if they were linked to their condition as immigrants rather than to the social conditions in which their families are placed”. Similarly, “the crimes committed by immigrant citizens tend to be combated with special laws rather than by the ordinary law, with the result that the punishment for the same crime is doubled”. “As Christian organizations – concludes the document – we feel ourselves strongly committed to the defence of human dignity and the promotion of solidarity with foreigners. Integrating them means changing society. Integration is a challenge and a gift that requires courage”. Great Britain: Church network for refugees “The Churches are called to remind British citizens that the culture and life of their country have been strongly enriched by the migrants who have come here”, declare the Churches Refugee Network after a meeting on 13 December. The report “Migrations and Development”, which also takes into consideration the problem of poverty reduction, was discussed during the meeting. “Incentives should also be given to ‘circular’ (or time-limited) immigration – says a statement – to permit migrants to acquire skills in their host countries that they can then place at the service of their countries of origin”.