Germany: against the exploitation of immigrantsForeigners without residence or work permits in Cologne or elsewhere in Germany have virtually no rights. This is the finding of a study on the situation of so-called irregular immigrants, conducted by the Institute for Research on Immigration at the University of Osnabrück. The research was commissioned by the city council of Cologne and conducted on the initiative of Caritas and the Catholic workgroup on immigration. “Many people consider so-called clandestine immigrants as criminals”, declared the director of diocesan Caritas in Cologne, Frank Johannes Hens. “But often cause and effect are confused. There exists a flourishing black market in labour, which is exploited by firms and by thousands of families”. At the present time between 15,000 and 20,000 immigrants without residence permits are living in Cologne; they are for the most part foreigners who arrived with tourist visas. Illegal immigration to the city has been promoted by the multicultural situation and the high demand for cheap labour, especially in the sector of care and domestic work, or in restaurants and farming. “Those who have no rights can easily be exploited and this often happens”, said Peter Krücker of Caritas in Cologne. Exorbitant rents and inaccessible costs for healthcare are also factors that aggravate the situation. According to the study, healthcare represents a fundamental problem for clandestine immigrants, who in the event of illness depend on the generosity of doctors or other healthcare professionals. Women give birth in hospitals without them being asked to produce a document of identification. But the greatest victims of the situation are children and adolescents who were born in Germany and in spite of that are still considered irregulars. In the meantime it is possible to enter these children in kindergartens or schools, thanks also to the cooperation of committed teachers. Together with the Catholic Forum for Clandestine Immigration and Catholic charities, the document recommends the introduction of basic healthcare for those without residence permits, legal aid and the guaranteed provision of schooling for children. Portugal: children at risk from povertyAccording to the European Commission, Portugal is one of the eight countries of the EU where the highest levels of child poverty are registered: more than 20%, “one child out of five” in the EU, is exposed to this risk. Commenting on these data, the President of the European Anti-Poverty Network in Portugal (REAPN) said he was particularly concerned by the fact that “the problem has ceased to make any impression on people; by now they are used to living with social injustice: poverty has become and is considered something normal”. Father Agostinho Jardim Moreira has traced a general picture of the situation, from which it emerges that “the majority of poor families don’t have enough educational, professional qualifications or self-esteem to arouse in their children any will to struggle to improve their own future. In this sense poverty is increasingly becoming an inherited and permanent phenomenon”, he added. From this point of view the President of REAPN maintained that “the social salary of insertion – i.e. state subsidies for jobseekers – introduced by the government has failed, not only because it has been insufficiently applied, but more especially because it has shown itself incapable of reinserting people in difficulty in active life; it has also failed to promote family cohesion, and has on the contrary encouraged the consumerist use of state benefits”. “Aid in money does not help to solve the problem at its root”, concluded Father Moreira, “and that’s why we need to tackle seriously and in a global fashion the lack of integration of those who find themselves in social difficulties, so that they may be able independently to solve their family problems and instil the hope for a better future in their children”. United Kingdom: living simplyA packed programme of stimulating and informative speakers, music, theatre, exchanges of ideas in workgroups, interactive displays and inspiring liturgies: that’s the programme being planned by the Catholic Church in the UK for the special ‘Live it!’ event to be held in New Century Hall, in Manchester, on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 March. The event is part of the wider ‘Live simply’ project, an initiative launched a year and half ago to encourage a more sober and eco-sustainable lifestyle in tune with the Gospel and the problem of global warming. To open the event, Mary Colwell, producer of the BBC Natural History programme, the Most Rev, John Arnold, auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Westminster, Mike Edwards, expert of the Catholic charity CAFOD on problems of the environment, and Christine Allen, head of Progressio, an association for the defence of human rights in the Third World, will discuss the Catholic Church’s contribution to the problem of climate change. The debate will be introduced by John Sentamu, Anglican Archbishop of York, second in the Anglican hierarchy after the Primate Rowan Williams. A round table with the journalist Paul Vallely, theologian Tina Beattie, Mary Colwell, David Wells, Father Tom Cullinan and Pat Gaffney of Pax Christi will enable the participants in ‘Live it!’ to pose questions. During the weekend in Manchester participants will also be able to use a ‘Climate Change Gym’, where they will be able to calculate how much carbon dioxide they emit with their daily life.
