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Advocates Welcome U.S. Senate Approval Of Immigration Bill WASHINGTON, D.C., Fri. May 26, 2006: The U.S. Senate’s approval of a bill that could put millions of undocumented migrants on a path to citizenship as ‘blue card’ holders, was greeted with joy by many immigrant advocates yesterday. For Frank Sharry, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, who has helped lead a pro-immigrant advocacy lobbying for reform, the measure was “… a historic bipartisan breakthrough.” “Thanks to the leadership of the Senate, victory is at least and at last imaginable,” stated Sharry yesterday. “May the Senators’ demonstration of political courage and bipartisan cooperation inform and inspire all of the key actors in the next act of this drama.” The Senate voted 62 to 36 on Thursday to approve compromise immigration reform legislation, S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006. The bill provides a path to permanent legal status for and 8 to 8.5 million undocumented immigrants in the country who have lived here out of status for five years or more but they must meet the same requirements for English and Civics knowledge as someone who is applying for citizenship. It also provides temporary visas to allow 200,000 persons to come legally each year and take jobs that are not being filled by American workers. This program includes worker protections, gives workers the ability to change employers, and provides a path to permanent residence for those who want to stay. It also updated the family-based immigration system to speed up family unification and added a million undocumented agricultural workers would be put on a path to permanent residence through provisions targeted to these workers, employment-based visas were more than doubled to more realistically allow immigrants to come legally in the future to work undocumented immigrant students will be put on a path to citizenship and so will be able to continue on to college along with their classmates. However, undocumented immigrants in the United States less than two years would be returned to their home countries to enter a temporary-worker program. An estimated 2.5 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants will not be eligible to legalize. The bill also calls for at least 370 miles of fence on the U.S.-Mexico border and requires that information on immigrants who are confirmed to be out of status be put in the National Crime Information Center database. This database is used by local police to find wanted criminals and the bill will flood the database with hundreds of thousands of names of immigrants who have not committed a criminal act. The bill’s passage now sets the stage for what will likely be a contentious House/Senate conference, in which the Senate-passed bill will now have to be harmonized with the harsh, enforcement-only bill (H.R. 4437) passed by the House in December. Sharry, like Irwine Clare of the Caribbean Immigrant Services remains concerned over what will now happen in the House of Congress. “Enforcement-only measures or half-baked reforms have been tried in the past and failed,” he said, referring to the House bill, past last December that wants to make criminals of all undocumented migrants and those who help them as well. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania seems well aware of the tough negotiations ahead, and yesterday, after the vote said, "We look forward to the president's more intense participation" on the immigration issue. Yesterday, White House spokesman Tony Snow, drilled on the future of the bill, stated, “It's pretty clear that members of both houses understand that they pay a heavier political price for failing to act, than for acting. And so that's one thing that I've heard from Republicans in both houses. They want to get something done. “So we'll figure out what comes out of conference, but don't forestall the possibility that House members may say to themselves, you know what, my constituents really are worried about people hiring illegals, illegally, and knowing it; they're worried about trying to identify who's here illegally, for security reasons; they want to go ahead and start grappling with these issues.” And Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist seems ready to help. The 2008 Republican presidential candidate said he has changed his position after two weeks of debate in the Senate and now is hopeful that lawmakers in the House would be willing to compromise. "People ask me all the time, 'How're you going to put these two together?' I think we will be able to," CNN quoted him as saying. The measure will hopefully come up in the House after the Memorial Day holiday. |
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Edmonton... A new Alberta policy to attract and retain immigrants will help address skill shortages and support the successful transition of immigrants into Alberta’s economic, social and cultural life. The province aims to increase the number of immigrants to Alberta by working to improve the processing time for foreign-credential recognition and offering more training to address skill gaps and enhance language training. “While our first priority is to increase the skills and employment of Albertans, we also recognize the importance of immigrants in building a sustainable Alberta labour force,” said Mike Cardinal, Minister of Human Resources and Employment. “Government will increase its efforts to let people from other countries know that Alberta is a great place to live.” In Alberta, 28 out of 53 occupational groups report an unemployment rate of less than three per cent, which indicates a skill shortage. Government forecasts predict a potential shortfall of 100,000 workers within the next ten years, which could significantly impact $107 billion worth of expected capital projects in the province. Supporting Immigrants and Immigration to Alberta, a government-wide policy, sets out specific strategies in four broad areas for attracting and retaining immigrants: • Welcoming communities – supporting communities to help immigrants successfully transition into Alberta society • Attracting immigrants – increasing the number of immigrants who move to Alberta • Living in Alberta – enhancing existing programs and services that help immigrants adapt to Alberta life • Working in Alberta – improving recognition of foreign-earned credentials and enhanced language training “The province is working with post-secondary institutions and community organizations to increase access to English language programs. We’ll also work to improve the way that qualifications of immigrants are assessed and recognized. Together we’ll ensure that immigrants have the opportunities to acquire the learning needed to successfully live and work in Alberta,” said Minister of Advanced Education Dave Hancock. The policy reflects feedback from a variety of stakeholders including immigrant serving agencies, employers, business, labour and post-secondary institutions. “Alberta Economic Development is supporting this policy by marketing Alberta as the best place in the world for people to live and work,” said Clint Dunford, Minister of Economic Development. “Expanding our Provincial Nominee Program would help Alberta employers attract and recruit skilled foreign workers to fill positions that could not be filled across Canada – after extensive searching.” The Provincial Nominee Program is separate from the federal government’s Temporary Foreign Worker program. While temporary foreign workers can be a source of skilled labour for short periods of time, this new policy is aimed at immigrants settling permanently in Alberta. Through a series of actions, the province aims to attract at least 24,000 immigrants to Alberta each year, up from the nearly 16,500 immigrants who moved here in 2004. “The economic prosperity that Alberta enjoys today was built by generations of immigrants and Canadians from other provinces, who seized the opportunities that Alberta provides. Alberta’s tradition of welcoming newcomers into our economy, and our communities, will lead us to success in our second century,” said Ed Stelmach, Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations. Visit www.gov.ab.ca/hre/immigration for more information on the policy, immigration and immigrants. Visit www.alberta-canada.com/pnp/index.cfm for more information on the Provincial Nominee Program. - 30 - Note to Editors: Backgrounders attached Media inquiries may be directed to: Leanne Stangeland Communications Alberta Human Resources and Employment (780) 427-5585 Adobe PDF Documents: |
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GRAHAM FRASER, NATIONAL AFFAIRS WRITER, Toronto Star Despite intense pressure from the United States not to, over 150 countries voted yesterday to create an international convention on cultural diversity. Commission IV of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which has been meeting in Paris, voted 151 to 2 in favor of the Canadian initiative, with only the United States and Israel voting against. The international agreement formally the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions reaffirms the right of sovereign states to "maintain, adopt and implement" policies that protect and promote cultural expression, and exempt certain cultural products from free-trade agreements. The impetus behind the convention was the Chrétien government's 1999 attempt to protect the magazine industry in the face of pressure from the U.S., which successfully argued that the magazine law was in breach of the World Trade Organization's subsidy rules. The campaign led to a remarkable coalition, not only between English- and French-speakers, but also between the federal and Quebec governments. What brought them together and kept them united was their agreement that cultural products have a double quality: they involve identity as well as commercial value. The U.S., which has consistently fought any guarantees for films that might put any restrictions on Hollywood, as well as opposing any subsidies for film production and magazines, has argued that UNESCO does not have the authority to enact the convention, and that it would interfere with the free flow of ideas. More recently, a U.S. official argued that the convention could lead to censorship and, because of the focus on national culture, make intercultural activities more difficult. Heritage Minister Liza Frulla said yesterday from Paris that the U.S., which returned to UNESCO after a long absence, first complained that it did not have enough time to study the convention, and then raised a different series of objections as time went on. Frulla said that the U.S. put a lot of pressure on countries, with its Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, sending letters to foreign ministers, and U.S. ambassadors conducting an international diplomatic campaign against the convention. But despite efforts by the U.S. to water down the convention, with the introduction of 27 amendments, the text was approved without modification. The convention, to be voted on by UNESCO on Thursday, then has to be ratified by 30 countries within the next year in order to become a binding international instrument. Vancouver publisher Scott McIntyre, co-chair of the Coalition for Cultural Diversity, yesterday applauded the vote, saying that it recognizes the right of countries to have cultural policies that establish national content quotas, subsidies, tax credit and foreign ownership rules to ensure that their citizens have access to their own culture. "If you don't have these policies, you simply will not have a meaningful choice of Canadian books, music, films or television programs," he said. "This is what has been at stake all along in this debate." Pierre Curzi, the other co-chair of the coalition, said yesterday that it was urgently important to have the UNESCO convention in place because of the pressure that countries were facing in trade negotiations to give up the right to protect their cultures. |
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Winnipeg Becomes Homicide Capital
By JULIUS
STRAUSS Monday, October 17, Globe and Mail
By all accounts, Philippe Haiart was a lovable young man. Friends described the 6-foot-3, 220-pound 17-year-old as easygoing and the life and soul of a party. In his spare time he liked to eat, sleep and watch hockey. On his shoulder he carried a tattoo spelling out the initials of a friend who died suddenly of a heart disorder. A week ago today Mr. Haiart was walking though an empty parking lot 15 minutes from his home when a bullet fired from a house across the street hit him in the stomach. He staggered nearly 100 metres down a main road then collapsed in front of a pizza shop. Within hours he was dead. "I got back to our apartment," his girlfriend, Isora Van Dreser, said yesterday. "I was watching the news and suddenly there was a picture of Phil. I started screaming and shaking and crying." Mr. Haiart was the 22nd homicide victim in Winnipeg this year. According to a report by Statistics Canada, the city is now the country's murder capital -- it has the highest per capita murder rate of Canada's nine largest urban areas. Shootings and other violent crimes have become so commonplace in Winnipeg, especially in the impoverished northern and central parts of the city, that some streets are empty at dusk. Many people from middle-class suburbs avoid entire neighbourhoods, even during the daytime. Most of the victims of violent crime are aboriginals, Third World immigrants, gang members, homeless people or transients. Their deaths often pass without much notice. But Mr. Haiart was the son of a well-known Winnipeg surgeon and recent graduate of the up-market St. John's-Ravenscourt School. His death has sent a shiver of fear through Winnipeg's mostly white middle class. Ms. Van Dreser's mother, Susan, a Unitarian minister, said: "Society becomes sick when there's constant violence. We don't want to live in fear and anger all the time." According to those who live in Winnipeg's West End, where Mr. Haiart died, the area has long been in thrall to a gang known as the Mad Cowz, made up mostly of young African immigrants, many in their teens. Last year the gang reportedly split and a new faction, which styles itself the African Mafia, started pushing drugs on their turf. Police believe that the death of Mr. Haiart, and the wounding of another unidentified man who was walking near him at the time, came after gang members opened fire on rivals and missed. Officers raided the house from which the shots were fired and later arrested two young men, aged 17 and 19. Both appeared in court last week and the older one has been charged with second-degree murder. At the scene, broken glass showed the spot the bullets were fired from. Opposite a hole in the wall of an Italian restaurant marked the spot one of them had hit. Interviews with local residents and workers paint a chilling picture of a neighbourhood living in fear. In the Phat Cat video store, whose parking lot Mr. Haiart was walking through when he was shot, the owner, 27-year-old Donnie Cat, wears a bulletproof vest when he works evening shifts. "It's rough around here," he said. "You can't escape the violence." Henry, a 41-year-old aboriginal who works as a builder in the area, was one of several people interviewed scared to give their family names for fear of retribution. "I used to live here but it's too crazy now," he said. "I moved my kids out to the reserve. It's safer there." Mike, who owns the pizza store outside which Mr. Haiart collapsed, said he lives in terror. "Gang members come to eat at my place," he said. "You can tell if the guy is covered in jewellery and cellphones that he's a drug dealer. I just try to be polite even if they start wrecking the place." A few blocks down the street you'll find Rev. Harry Lehotsky, of New Life Ministries, who has been working in the area for 23 years. He said that in a poor area the status and financial rewards of joining a gang are often too seductive for teenagers to resist. "It's the roll of twenties a thousand dollars thick. It's the sports jersey. The camaraderie. Its walking with five or six buddies down the street watching people crossing over to avoid you and feeling like you own the place," he said. "The ultimate is to feel the cold steel of a gun in your belt and that feeling that nobody can touch you because you've got this piece. The illusion is that they're carving out a piece of turf and what they don't realize is that all they are carving out is a piece in the cemetery." Mr. Lehotsky believes that to defeat the scourge will take an overhaul of the major agencies involved. He thinks that police need more powers and that child-welfare officers ought to be retrained. But most of all he blames judges for being too lenient. Harsher sentencing is a call that resonates with Ms. Van Dreser. She mentions the case of a friend, Morgan Trudeau, who was beaten to death with a baseball bat two years ago in Winnipeg. The killer has already been released from prison. Mr. Haiart, too, had previously been a victim of crime. Last summer he was sitting in a car smoking a cigarette with a friend when a man with a gun jumped in the back. First the man took their money and then he demanded that they take him to a cash machine where he emptied Mr. Haiart's account. After dating for two years, Ms. Van Dreser and Mr. Haiart had moved in together this summer when Mr. Haiart finished school. They lived about a kilometre south of where he was killed. He got a temporary job as a roofer; she began waiting tables. The two were planning their future. They wanted to travel to Nicaragua this winter where Ms. Van Dreser's father lives. "Every day I have to think about how he was taken away from me," Ms. Van Dreser said, tears rolling down her face. "Kids shouldn't have access to guns. It's time to hold some rallies. To get some laws changed. I'm going to go as high as I can. I want people to know what I'm feeling right now." Muder capital According to a report by Statistics Canada, Canada's homicide rate jumped in 2004 after reaching a 30 year low in 2003. Five of the nation's largest census metropolitan areas accounted for the majority of last year's increase. Winnipeg has the highest per-capita murder rate among the county's nine largest urban areas. Homicides by census metropolitan area per 100,000 population. Winnipeg 4.89 Edmonton 3.39 Vancouver 2.58 Calgary 1.91 Toronto 1.80 Montreal 1.73 Ottawa-Gatineau* 1.14 Hamilton 1.30 Quebec 0.84 *refers to the Ontario part of Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA |
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Facts and Figures 2004 Immigration Overview
I am pleased to announce that our annual statistical publication, Facts and Figures 2004 is now available to the public on CIC ' s website at the following address: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/research/menu-fact.html Facts and Figures 2004: Immigration Overview - Permanent and Temporary Residents presents the annual intake of permanent and temporary residents to Canada from 1980 to 2004, as well as the temporary resident population in Canada on December 1st during this period. The main body of the publication is divided into two sections, each depicting selected characteristics for the permanent resident population or the temporary resident population during the ten-year period from 1995 to 2004. A glossary of terms and concepts used in the publication has also been included. This year, some tables have been added describing permanent residents' official language knowledge by province or region and permanent residents by leading mother tongues. An expanded library of Excel tables is also being prepared for electronic distribution, describing permanent and temporary flows to provinces and municipalities. An email will announce the availability of this data at a later date.
Elizabeth Ruddick ADirector General / Directrice générale p.i. Office / Bureau: JETS A1810 613-957-5907 | facsimile / télécopieur 613-957-5936 Elizabeth.Ruddick@cic.gc.ca Citizenship and Immigration Canada | 365 Laurier Avenue West Ottawa ON K1A 1L1 Citoyenneté et Immigration Canada | 365, avenue Laurier Ouest Ottawa ON K1A 1L1 Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada |
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Canada Opens Up Immigration Rules for Students & Families
By Ela Dutt The Hindustan Times, April 19, 2005 http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5967_1326876,001600060001.htm In a bid to attract more foreign students Canada announced new rules that make it easier for them to work while studying in the country and also relaxed the entry for parents and grandparents of immigrants. Announcing the new measures here Monday, Joe Volpe, minister of citizenship and immigration, said: 'International students who choose to stay in Canada after they graduate greatly contribute to our labour market. 'It is important that they be exposed to the Canadian work force at an early stage to increase their chances of success following graduation.' The announcement of relaxed immigration rules to Canada comes at a time when several European countries are trying to corner foreign students even as the US is concerned it is losing some bright incoming researchers. 'We are certain that these initiatives will help increase the global competitiveness of Canada by attracting and retaining more international students to our schools,' said Volpe. Volpe also announced measures to speed up the processing of sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents coming to Canada as family class immigrants. India is a major source country for immigrants coming here. With these new measures in place, it is expected that in both 2005 and 2006, the number of parents and grandparents immigrating to Canada will increase by an additional 12,000 each year. This triples the original 6,000 forecasted for 2005. Volpe also announced that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will be more flexible in issuing multiple-entry visitor visas to parents and grandparents. This will allow them to visit their families in Canada while their sponsorship applications are in process, as long as they are able to prove that they are visiting temporarily. Regular security and health screening will still apply and some parents and grandparents may require health coverage to be admissible to Canada. Canada has had over one million permanent residents since 2000. However, the number of sponsorship applications for parents and grandparents is growing and more applications are received each day than CIC can process, the agency admitted. 'To address this concern, the government of Canada is investing $36 million a year over two years to increase processing of parent and grandparent applications and to cover integration costs once they arrive in Canada. Additional processing will begin immediately. In the coming weeks, CIC will add temporary duty officers and support staff at visa offices with the largest number of applications.' The new initiatives in the area of foreign students include: 1. Allowing international students at public post-secondary institutions to work off-campus while completing their studies and 2. Allowing students to work for two years, rather than one year, after their graduation. This second initiative will apply outside Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver to possibly spread immigrants more widely rather than their current concentration in the above-named cities. Canada is investing $10 million a year for five years to support this announcement, the CIC said. The agency also announced other adjustments to its international study programme. For example, post-secondary international students can now transfer between programmes of study and institutions without applying for a change to the conditions of their study permit. Secondary-level international students can now obtain longer high-school study permits. As of May 16, 2005, international students who meet the eligibility criteria for a second year of post-graduation employment will be issued a two-year work permit. For these students, the two-year work permit will only be valid for one year since they will have already completed their first year of post-graduate work. As with existing pilot projects, the off-campus work initiative will be implemented bilaterally in each province and territory, following agreements with CIC. The measures include an investment of $69 million over two years to restore, by 2007-2008, processing times to an average of 12 months for a grant of citizenship and four months for a proof of citizenship. CIC is also exempting citizenship applicants from undergoing language ability and knowledge-of-Canada tests at 55 rather than 60 years of age. But the CIC said that in no way would the rigorous security screening requirements that all applicants for Canadian citizenship must go through before becoming citizens of Canada, be relaxed. |
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N.S. strengthens commitment to immigration By Murray Brewster The Canadian Press, April 19, 2005 http://www.canada.com/search/story.html?id=d61bc75b-05c4-41a6-be35-205e0c88e950
HALIFAX (CP) -- For the first time in its history as a province, Nova Scotia's death rate is expected to exceed its birth rate in 2006 and the seemingly dry statistic has huge social and economic implications, says the province's new immigration minister. It is a warning signal that should prompt the province to find ways to increase its population, said Rodney MacDonald. 'We have a declining population and it is a problem that needs to be addressed,'' he said Tuesday in announcing legislation to establish a provincial Office of Immigration. To make matters worse, Nova Scotia's population is aging somewhat faster than the national average, said MacDonald. As more baby boomers retire they pay fewer taxes and dip into the health care system more often. The bill introduced into the House of Assembly Tuesday is largely a housekeeping measure, but MacDonald said the government's commitment to immigration will become crystal clear with the budget. He said there will be a significant commitment of dollars, but refused to say how much. In January, the Conservative governmenmt launched a provincial strategy aimed at more than doubling the number of immigrants to Nova Scotia by 2010. About 1,500 arrive annually now, but only 40 per cent stay. Premier John Hamm said the province is hoping to increase the number to 3,600 a year and would like 70 per cent of those to remain permanently. In 2003, Nova Scotia attracted 1,475 immigrants, a drop of almost 2,100 people compared with 1995, according to provincial statistics. The province can no longer afford to ignore the shifting demographics, said Fred Morely, the chief economist of the Greater Halifax Partnership, a group dedicated to attracting business to the area. 'It's a challenge,'' he said. 'Declining population affects us in a number of ways, most notably in our ability to deliver basic services, such as health and education.'' Every province in the country receives transfer federal payments from Ottawa based on population and fewer people 'means you're going to get a smaller piece of that pie,'' he said. Last year, the province received a rude shock when its equalization payments were adjusted by the federal government because of population shifts. The reworked payments, stretched over three years, cost the provincial government $160 million. MacDonald claimed the province is already experiencing some success with its immigration strategy and pointed to the provincial nomineee program. But NDP critics said the program, which is designed to bring skilled immigrants to Nova Scotia, has only attracted a handful of applicants. Applicants must make a $100,000 contribution to a qualified employer for a six-month term before they are accepted. The Halifax company doing the recruiting must also be paid $28,000. The low number of takers is 'proof that not many people are interested in coming here ... and getting almost nothing in return,'' said Kevin Deveaux, NDP immigration critic. Recent public opinion polls have also suggested that people in the province could be more welcoming to immigrants. Deveaux said he's seen nothing, to date, that suggests the government intends to address that. |
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New E.U. remains a closed shop for many migrant workers Deutsche Presse-Agentur, April 20, 2005 The free movement of workers is a fundamental tenet of the European Union which permits nationals of one E.U. state to work without restriction in any other with the same rights as a citizen of that country. However prior to the expansion of the E.U. on May 1, 2004, most of the 15 existing member states adopted or maintained legislation imposing restrictions on free movement of workers from eight new eastern E.U. states - the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Citizens of Cyprus and Malta were excluded. In most cases, countries chose to extend existing restrictions, commonly requiring job seekers to obtain work and residence permits, for a 'transitional period', most commonly two years. Below are outlined the main restrictions applicable in each of the member states concerned. Austria: New E.U. citizens working in Austria need a restricted work permit for which their would-be employer must apply. A worker must then stay with that employer for a minimum of one year before being allowed to change jobs. The restrictions initially apply for two years and are expected to be extended to five. Belgium: Workers from the new eastern E.U. members must have a work permit for which their employer in Belgium must apply. A permit will only be granted if no suitable worker can be found on the domestic labour market to fill the vacancy. These restrictions are applicable for up to two years after May 1, 2004. Britain: There is no restriction on the free movement of workers from E.U. member states seeking employment in Britain. However job seekers are required to register with the Home Office and access to certain social security benefits has been limited. Workers from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia - called 'A8' states - must register within one month of finding a job and must stay in continuous employment for a year in order to obtain right of residence. A8 citizens working legally in Britain before May 1, 2004, are exempt. Denmark: Job seekers from the eight new E.U. states can stay in Denmark for up to six months, but cannot access benefits. Residence and work permits are required to stay longer. Residence permits are valid for no more than one year. Work permits are issued for specific jobs only - if a worker wishes to change jobs he or she will need a new permit. If the employment is terminated, the permit is no longer valid. For areas where there is a shortage of workers, such as medical staff and engineering, workers who obtain a job can immediately obtain a work permit as well as a residence permit valid for up to three years. Finland: Work permits are also required for Finland, and only granted if a Finnish worker cannot be found for the same job within a reasonable time. The restrictions apply for a transitional two-year period, with a decision on a possible extension to be made before the end of the second year. Citizens of the eight new E.U. member states affected, who were in possession of work permits prior to accession, are exempted. France: France also observes the two-year transitional period with an evaluation to be carried out in 2006. Salaried workers require permits, which must be obtained by the employer and allow foreign workers access to the same social security benefits as French citizens. Job seekers are not allowed to come to France without relevant permits. There are no restrictions on non-salaried (self-employed) new E.U. citizens. Germany: The German labour market is all but closed to citizens of the new E.U. states for at least two years following accession, and probably longer, with the exception of Cypriot and Maltese nationals and in cases where bilateral worker agreements already exist, such as with Poland. In exceptional cases however, normally where a German national cannot be found to fill a post, work permits may be granted. Greece: Work permits must be applied for by employers and may not be granted unless the relevant area is one in which there is a skills shortage - this restriction applies for two years. Citizens of new E.U. states who had worked continuously in Greece for at least one year prior to accession are exempt. Ireland: Ireland does not apply any restrictions on access to its labour market by citizens of new E.U. states. Job seekers are however not entitled to immediate social benefits and are advised to take heed of the high cost of living before coming to Ireland. Italy: Italy established an extra quota of 20,000 new E.U. workers, who must obtain work permits through an employer. Certain occupations and job categories are exempt from the quota - university lecturers, executive-level staff, nurses and translators - as were citizens of the eight new E.U. states who could prove one year's legal employment in Italy prior to accession. Luxembourg: Again, job seekers from the new E.U. states wishing to work in Luxembourg must obtain employment before arriving, and their employment must apply for a work permit. The granting of work permits is dependent on labour market conditions at the time. These restrictions will, like in many other E.U. states, be in force for a two-year transitional period. The Netherlands: During the first two years, a work permit is required for workers from the eight restricted E.U. newcomers. The granting of a permit may be subject to a check that the job could not be performed by a Dutch national or citizen of an 'old' E.U. state. Some sectors are exempt from this check and job seekers can be granted a permit within two weeks. The list of exempt sectors is evaluated and renewed every three months. Occupations on the list for the first six months of 2004 were varied and included slaughtermen, seamen and radiography attendants. It is the responsibility of the employer to apply for a permit. Portugal: Portugal also imposes the two-year restriction, with the additional stipulation that any work permits to new E.U. nationals must fall within the annual quota of permits to all non-E.U. workers. Work permits are conditional on a contract of employment being granted and are issued by the Portuguese consulate in the job seeker's country. Spain: Due to Spain's high unemployment levels, Madrid also imposed the two-year rule describing it as a 'period of analysis and rearrangement'. Workers must have a firm offer of employment which must be pre-approved by Spanish authorities. The criteria for approval depend on the labour market conditions in Spain for the sector in question. Citizens of new E.U. states already working in Spain at the time of accession were to be 'fully integrated' during the two-year period. Sweden: Sweden does not apply any restrictions on access to its labour market by citizens of new E.U. states. Job seekers from Central and Eastern Europe are entitled to register with labour offices and to receive assistance in seeking work. |
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Howard sticks to guns on immigration By Nicholas Watt and Michael White The Guardian (UK), April 20, 2005 http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1463549,00.html
Michael Howard declared yesterday that he would continue to be 'vigilant' about immigration to ensure that race relations in Britain are not damaged by unease about the highly sensitive issue. Unbowed by harsh criticism from a television audience on Monday about his hardline stance, the Tory leader said that good community relations went 'hand in hand' with firm controls on immigration. 'If we are to continue to have good community relations in this country you have to be vigilant,' Mr Howard said at the Conservatives' daily press conference. 'And if people lose confidence in the system and believe it's out of control, I believe that breeds a sense of insecurity and that's damaging to good community relations.' Immigration returned to the fore after Mr Howard came under fire on ITV's Ask the Leader programme and after the Guardian reported that frontbenchers had asked him to tone down his hardline policy. Mr Howard denied that such representations had been made. 'No, we have had no such calls, neither to me nor to my office,' he said. The Guardian understands, however, that a number of frontbenchers did contact a Howard aide to ask for a 'broadening' of the party's election campaign. Mr Howard, who yesterday pledged to crack down on binge drinkers, will today attempt to show that he has a broad campaign by offering help to middle income earners. At his morning press conference the Conservative leader will pledge to scrap the council tax revaluation which is due to take place in 2007. This would save people in band D properties £270 a year. The announcement came amid a dawning realisation across the party that the Tories may be heading for another heavy defeat after a Populus poll in the Times showed that Labour has increased its lead from two to nine points. Few Tories believe that Mr Howard has made a strategic blunder in the way that William Hague alienated middle ground voters with his warning about Britain turning into a 'foreign land'. But there are fears that he has made tactical errors, such as concentrating too much on immigration and opening the party up to charges that its brief manifesto looks more like a list of grievances than a programme for government. David Curry, a supporter of the former chancellor Kenneth Clarke who resigned last year from Mr Howard's shadow cabinet, said he was pleased that the party was concentrating on the 'real issues' of schools, hospitals, crime, tax and immigration. But the former minister indicated that the leadership needed to do more to show how it would 'stitch' its policies together into a vision for Britain. 'What we need to do is put them together into a proper account or narrative of the things a Conservative government would stand for. We need to tell a coherent story about the purposes of a Conservative government. There fore we need to stitch together those issues in a way which people can say, when we think of the Conservatives, this is what we would get with the Conservatives.' There is also irritation about the tight circle around Mr Howard, whose members make the main decisions about the campaign without consulting many members of the shadow cabinet. The circle consists of Lynton Crosby, the campaign director, Rachel Whetstone, Mr Howard's political secretary, Stephen Sherbourne, his chief of staff, and Guy Black, his press secretary. Derek Conway, a supporter of David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: 'There is criticism of Howard's tight circle and that probably happens for every leader. All they've got to make sure is that they've got it right. Because if they don't get it right then they'll all be tarred.' He added: 'I personally don't think the results are going to be as bad as the polls are showing.' While Mr Conway's remarks indicate that he is not holding his breath for a Tory victory, he is happy with the direction of the campaign. A strong believer in lower taxes, he said the Tory right was prepared to accept the party's election pledge to cut taxes by a modest £4bn. 'It is like 1974 and 1979. The electorate weren't ready for trade union reform in 1974. By God, they were gagging for it by 1979. Howard's calculation is right: that the electorate is not ready yet for a radical tax cutting agenda. But I think they will be by 2009.' While doubts are being voiced, all sides of the party agree that Mr Howard is fighting a much more professional campaign. Stephen Dorrell, a former cabinet minister, said: 'It's normal in a campaign that the Tory party complains endlessly about party HQ and the way the campaign is being fought incompetently. This time there is a perception, a correct per ception, that we have a highly professional campaign.' The doubts about the focus on immigration and crime are balanced by shadow ministers and backbenchers who are delighted with Mr Howard's campaign. One candidate from the south-west said that crime, immigration and high council tax bills were resonating. 'It's a very different feeling from last time,' he said, adding that 'it's OK to talk about immigration in London. Whether people like it or not, they want it controlled.' Another MP/candidate in a safe Midlands seat said that mistrust in Tony Blair and issues like violent crime and education were playing well with voters. 'The campaign is more subdued than in the past,' he conceded. One ex-minister on the left of the party sees working class Labour voters deserting in response to the Howard message on crime and immigration, but middle class New Labour and Lib Dem voters resisting it strongly. Mr Howard's January recovery plan could only have started on the right and moved towards the centre ground, he conceded. 'If he'd started on the middle ground in January he'd have been rolled over in the rush.' |
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UN says
Tory plans will boost flow of asylum seekers |
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Howard denies party pressure to change tactics By Toby Helm The Telegraph (UK), April 20, 2005 A bad press, a tough day. But still Howard is defiant on immigration By Andrew Grice The Independent (UK), April 20, 2005 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=631194 Conservatives use 'cheap' migrant leafleters By Barrie Clement The Independent (UK), April 20, 2005 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=631196 Immigration is key issue for Tories but Labour lead holds By Peter Riddell The Times (London), April 20, 2005 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,1-1577079,00.html 'I'm Right to Campaign on Immigration' - Tory Leader By James Lyons The Press Association, April 19, 2005 http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4423505 |
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Tory who 'echoed Enoch Powell' faces inquiry By Nigel Morris, Marie Woolf and Andrew Grice The Independent (UK), April 20, 2005 http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=631197
The Commission for Racial Equality has been asked to investigate a Tory candidate who demanded 'send them back' in a provocative advertisement denouncing 'asylum cheats'. In a joint complaint to the CRE, Labour and Liberal Democrats in Castle Point, Essex, have accused Bob Spink of using language 'reminiscent of the rhetoric of Enoch Powell'. But the Conservative leader, Michael Howard has refused to disown his candidate, who has a track record of wading into controversy over abortion, capital punishment and homosexuality. The move against Mr Spink, who is defending a majority of less than 1,000, threatens fresh embarrassment for Mr Howard, who has been accused of pandering to voters' worst instincts with his continuing focus on immigration and asylum. In his advertisement, the Tory candidate demanded an end to 'asylum abuse'. It says: 'What bit of 'send them back' don't you understand Mr Blair?' In their joint letter, Labour's Luke Akehurst and Liberal Democrat James Sandbach asked for an investigation. They said: 'Using phrases like 'send them back' sends out an appalling message, not only about the potential denial the right to asylum, but also to the wide community of citizens from ethnic minority backgrounds. The policy implications behind the phrase is one of forceable repatriation - it is language reminiscent of the rhetoric of Enoch Powell.' Castle Point has one of the lowest ethnic minority populations in southern England, with whites making up nearly 99 per cent of the population. Mr Sandbach, a human rights lawyer, said people in the constituency had been 'upset and offended' by the advertisement. 'If Mr Spink is seeking to represent the whole constituency he should be sensitive in the way he talks about asylum seekers. Many asylum-seekers in genuine fear of their lives, and could be tortured if repatriated. They should not all be branded as illegals.' Alan Milburn, Labour's campaign chief, said: 'Bob Spink's unscrupulous single issue campaign speaks volumes for Mr Howard's Tories. It is all about exploiting issues, not dealing with them. Their campaign deserves to lose.' Michael Howard vowed to keep immigration at the forefront of the Tories' election campaign despite growing criticism of his hardline stance. He told The Independent: 'I am sure there are people who would prefer me not to talk about it. I am not going to be intimidated. I am going to continue to talk about all the issues which I believe are important to the future of the country.' He added: 'I have thought this through very carefully. I know that some people disagree with my view. They are perfectly entitled to their view. I am entitled to talk about it. All I want is an honest debate.' Mr Howard insisted no Tory frontbencher or candidate had asked him to tone down his language on immigration. 'It is completely untrue,' he said. 'There have been no such calls to me or my office.' He defended his remarks to ITV's Ask the Leader programme on Monday in which he suggested there might be more race riots if the immigration problem is not tackled. 'You can't specify what might happen but I believe, as I've made clear very many times, that if we are to continue to have good community relations in this country you have to be vigilant. If people lose confidence in the system and believe it's out of control, I believe that breeds a sense of insecurity and that's damaging to good community relations.' Mr Spink said: 'My constituents are focused on this issue. I must respond to that appropriately and I have done so. I believe failed asylum-seekers should be returned - that's what I said and I stand by that.' He dismissed claims of Powellite language, adding: 'Unless the main parties are prepared to grasp this issue and deal with it, then we will see the rise of the nasty fringe parties.' The Commission for Racial Equality said it would look seriously at any complaints it received and would approach the Tory party directly if it believed there was cause for complaint. Meanwhile senior Conservatives last night tried to halt a mid-election wobble in the Tory ranks by announcing they would scrap the revaluation of the council tax which threatens to raise the tax on millions of homeowners. The Tories claimed scrapping the revaluation due in 2007 and removing the statutory requirement for any further review would save seven million homes from soaring council tax bills. They warned that a typical household could face a rise of £270 a year if the revaluation goes ahead. Oliver Letwin, the shadow Chancellor, is also storing up a further £1bn in tax cuts to regain the momentum of the Tory campaign. The Tory leadership is expected to target the money raising tax thresholds for key workers, such as nurses and teachers who have been dragged into the higher tax bracket of 40p in the pound by Gordon Brown. MP with aggressive stance on asylum The years have not mellowed Bob Spink, who admits his hostility to asylum-seekers could lead to him being 'improperly branded racist'. Thirteen years after first arriving in Westminster, he still uses the provocative and aggressive language that appals his enemies but admirers say go down well in his Essex constituency. He came to national prominence in 1995, and embarrassed his leadership, for saying he could accept the death of an innocent person if capital punishment was brought back. He was the parliamentary aide to Ann Widdecombe, the Prisons Minister at the time, and had contradicted his ultimate boss, the Home Secretary, Michael Howard, who had voted against the return of hanging. He has railed against lax abortion laws for being used widely as 'a secondary form of contraception' and vehemently opposed official recognition for homosexual couples. 'I do not wish to institutionalise gay relationships,' he said. It appeared his parliamentary career was over when he he lost his Castle Point seat in 1997. The self-made millionaire spent four years working for a company of management consultants and continued nursing his constituency, a south Essex seat with a tiny ethnic minority population. Mr Spink was rewarded when the seat swung back into Tory hands by a tiny 985 majority four years ago. Before that successful campaign he condemned the cost of bogus asylum claims, saying the cash should go to pensioners. He said: 'I may be improperly branded for speaking out on this issue ... I will not be silenced by politically correct Labour cronies. Someone must speak for the people.' He comfortably survived a deselection attempt. |
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McDowell defends immigration policy Ireland On-Line, April 19, 2005 http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/story.asp?j=140310440&p=y4x3yyy46
Justice Minister Michael McDowell mounted a strong defence of his views on immigration after being heckled by anti-racism campaigners in Belfast last night. The campaigners, who criticised Minister McDowell's hardline stance on deportations, attempted to disrupt an address given by the minister at an SDLP meeting. Speaking against a backdrop of heckling, Minister McDowell insisted his policies were 'based on the fair implementation of a fair law'. |
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Caborn intervenes in immigration case Sportinglife.com (UK) April 19, 2005 Sports minister Richard Caborn has stepped in to help the case of an African asylum seeker who has been prevented from playing for Tranmere by immigration rules. Calvin Zola, 20, came to Britain as a boy with his mother and was taken on by Newcastle before moving to Tranmere where he broke into the team as a striker. However, his right to stay in the country was taken away by the Home Office in November after they rejected his mother's asylum application. . . . http://www.sportinglife.com/football/nationwide2/news/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=soccer/05/04/19/SOCCER_Tranmere.html |
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Eager, tired and cheated: E.U. migrant workers in Ireland Deutsche Presse-Agentur, April 19, 2005 CORK, Ireland (DPA) -- When Daniel Karcz Krakow packed his bags in Krakow two months ago, he left behind his wife of two months and a job in the Polish army. He had 200 euros to tie him over; a cousin already in Cork had told him there was a hotel job waiting. 'But when I arrived in Ireland I found there was no job,' says the 24-year-old. Asked what he told his wife, he averts his eyes: 'Ah, that was a very bad day ... Our first baby is due next month.' Daniel's case is not unique. According to SIPTU, Ireland's largest trade union, about 60,000 migrant workers have arrived in the country since the European Union's eastern enlargement one year ago. About half of them are from Poland, followed by Lithuanians, Latvians and Slovaks, SIPTU Secretary Mike Jennings, who looks after migrant workers nationwide, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. Many of the workers are recruited via employment agencies or respond to advertisements in the press. 'You cannot open a newspaper in Poland without seeing an advert for work in Ireland,' says Siobhan O'Donoghue of the Dublin-based Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI). Unfortunately, the promises often turn out to be untrue, she adds. 'The reality of coming here is never discussed with the migrants, the difficulties of finding accommodation, the high cost of living. And quite a few have absolutely not a word of English.' Daniel was lucky because his cousin put him up when his job fell through, but the money he brought with him was soon gone. Increasingly desperate, he walked the streets looking for work. He now works five to six hours every night in a supermarket and another three hours in the morning as a kitchen porter in a new pizza restaurant in downtown Cork. There he quickly became friends with three other Polish workers in their 20s. The four, among them two computer specialists and an aeronautical engineering student, earn 7 euros (8.90 dollars) per hour at the restaurant, exactly the minimum wage allowed in Ireland. That makes them the lucky ones. Many non-national workers earn less than the minimum wage, and an even larger group are paid less than Irish workers for doing the same job, according to SIPTU. Wages half or 60 to 70 per cent of the standard level are common in construction, hotels and the catering trade, which employ most of the foreigners, 80 per cent of them from the E.U. accession countries, says Jennings. One female worker from Ukraine, beyond the Eastern E.U. border, was assaulted by her boss when she asked for a raise after working for him for several years - 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 3.50 euros per hour. Jennings refuses to give further details as her case is still under police investigation. SIPTU receives 20 complaints about substandard pay or other exploitation of non-nationals per week. Cases vary from one individual complaints to ones involving hundreds of employees. Even at one of the government's largest building projects, the Dublin Port Tunnel, Polish workers employed via Warsaw-based contractor Format Industrial Construction Ltd received only half the pay of their Irish counterparts, the newspaper Irish Examiner reported. The case is now being investigated by government labour inspectors. In another case involving the Turkish construction firm GAMA, up to 800 Turkish construction workers have had pay totalling up to 30 million euros withheld, according to SIPTU. The union also says the government is not tackling such complaints properly as it has only 21 labour inspectors - half the number of public dog wardens in Ireland, as SIPTU points out. Daniel hopes to send 400 euros home to his wife every month, leaving very little to spare besides the 50 euros per week in rent payments, money for groceries and cheap internet phone calls home. Nonetheless, he and his colleagues - Robert Sobczak, 21, from Warsaw and Simon Mikuta, 21, and Lukasz Pajak, 22, from Lodz - are glad at least to have a job. 'It's not fair but we knew it would be like this. And it is still good money for us. In a few days we have as much as in one month in Poland,' says Lukasz. 'To find work in Poland is so hard.' Despite the adverts, however, finding work in Ireland is not always easy. Very often, arranged jobs fall through, and some companies simply refuse to pay their migrant staff, SIPTU and MRCI told dpa. In such cases, the migrants are not even entitled to basic welfare benefits, as a habitual residence law introduced before the E.U. enlargement stipulates immigrants have to live in Ireland for two years before receiving benefits. 'Some migrant workers literally end up homeless on the streets,' Sean Regan of the Galway-based Community Workers Co-operative, one of Ireland's 10 national anti-poverty networks, told dpa. For Daniel, the possibility of losing his job is not the main problem at present. The restaurant is doing well and has just employed two more workers - from Lithuania. Like many migrant workers, however, he misses home. He also worries about his wife who has a heart complaint. She is afraid when she thinks of the coming birth, he says. 'Maybe, I can visit home when the baby is born,' he adds and his eyes light up: 'It will be a boy - Antoni.' |
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Hotel Fire Sheds Light on France's Illegal Immigrants By Craig S. Smith The New York Times, April 20, 2005 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/20/international/europe/20hotel.html PARIS -- The fire at the Paris Opéra hotel on Friday, which claimed 24 lives and left dozens injured, started with a drunken, drug-laced party held by the night watchman and several friends, the Justice Ministry and survivors of the fire said Tuesday. It spread quickly up the hotel's only staircase, trapping some people in windowless rooms. But the tragedy has thrown light on more than the uncertain safety of the cramped one-star hotels that dot this city. It has also illuminated a dim corner of Europe's broader illegal immigration debate: what to do with the Continent's swelling tide of undocumented aliens, known in France as 'sans papiers.' The hotel was part of a circuit of low-end lodgings contracted by government-financed agencies to house asylum seekers or aliens whose requests for residency had been denied. 'As they have no legal status and we have to put them somewhere, we put them in hotels while they are waiting for a permanent solution,' said Xavier Emmanuelli, who heads the quasi-governmental agency SAMU Social. Aicha Alouache, 40, is part of that netherworld. Looking like a middle-class housewife, with neatly coiffed hair and faux pearl earrings, she said she and her husband had moved to France from Algeria three years ago 'to live better.' Her family has moved through nearly 10 different hotels since then. 'There are times when it's time to go home and I have to think, 'Where do I live?' ' she said, sitting outside yet another hotel. Ms. Alouache said her asylum request was refused last year and is pending appeal. She is angry that she still has no papers, but she said she was not about to go back to Algiers. Here, her son, Mohamed, 4, attends a public nursery school, and her family gets 100 euros a month, as well as food, clothing, housing and free medical care from the state. Until the fire, she spent her days in city parks with friends, waiting for her son to get out of school while her husband, 42, played soccer and acted as an informal coach for boys. She and her husband are not allowed to work, but many illegal immigrants do. Like most European countries, France rarely resorts to deportation, so people like Ms. Alouache hang on, often for years. SAMU Social handles about 3,000 such people in Paris, half of them children, Mr. Emmanuelli said. Through these agencies, he said, the state feeds, houses and clothes 9,000 to 10,000 immigrants lacking papers in Paris alone. 'It's difficult to deport as soon as these people have kids in school,' Mr. Emmanuelli said. So far, France has offered residency only to illegal immigrants case by case, but offers of residency to large numbers by Italy and Spain have increased pressure on other European countries to do the same. 'I think we will reach that point in France,' Mr. Emmanuelli said. According to this country's Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons, France is the world's leading destination for asylum seekers, with more than 65,600 requests in 2004. Several organizations representing these immigrants hold regular demonstrations to protest their plight. On Tuesday, city workers removed 18 illegal immigrants, including a dozen who have been on a hunger strike for more than a month, from the French branch of Unicef, where they had been camped since March 4. SAMU Social said the Paris Opéra hotel was one of about 150 private hotels around the city with which it had contracts to provide housing for 16 euros a person daily. The hotels provide rooms according to availability, requiring immigrants to move when business picks up. Ms. Alouache arrived at the hotel six weeks ago. She was assigned a top-floor room with uncomfortably sloped ceilings and complained, then was able to get a room on the third floor, a move that may have saved her life. She described tiny rooms with no bathrooms infested with cockroaches and mice, and complained that the night watchman shut down the elevators on weekends. On Thursday evening, she said, he and several friends were drinking and laughing until late at night and smoking something that she said smelled strange. A judicial official confirmed that drugs were involved. She said she awoke after midnight when a neighbor shouted, 'Fire!' 'I opened the door and it was black with smoke, and it was black outside the window,' she said, 'so I pushed my son into the bathroom' to keep him from the smoke filling the room. 'I was afraid for my son,' she said. 'If he died in front of me, I would have thrown myself out of the window.' She eventually climbed onto a third-floor ledge while her family waited inside. On Tuesday she hobbled on crutches, her left foot bandaged from burns. She said a woman had jumped from the floor above her, landing on the pavement below. Eventually firefighters rescued Ms. Alouache and her family. Her husband remained hospitalized with more serious burns. The Paris prosecutor's office announced Tuesday that a young woman taken into custody on Monday had said that she might have started the fire, which the city authorities said was the deadliest in Paris since a subway fire killed more than 80 people in 1903. The woman, whom the prosecutor's office described as the watchman's girlfriend, said she had made up the hotel's breakfast room for a party with a dozen candles, some on the floor. Later that night, after a violent argument with her drunken boyfriend, she said, she knocked clothing from a table onto the floor where candles were burning and left the building. The watchman, caught in the fire, is now in a coma. Eleven of the dead were children, including one whose remains were raked from the wreckage on Sunday. Prosecutors have started an inquiry for possible involuntary manslaughter. The woman was expected to appear before a magistrate to be placed under official investigation, a step short of pressing charges. |
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Belgians could get dual citizenship under Onkelinx Expatica News, April 20, 2005 http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=24&story_id=19303 BRUSSELS -- Belgian Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx wants Belgians who obtain foreign citizenship to be allowed to keep their Belgian passports as well, the Gazet van Antwerpen reported on Wednesday. Onkelinx is strongly in favour of a so-called generalisation of Belgian citizenship law, her cabinet indicated at a Senate justice meeting on Tuesday. But to make her dream of dual citizenship possible, the Belgian government would have to amend a May 1963 accord. That document stipulates that any Belgian person who voluntarily adopts the nationality of another country will have to give up their previous nationality. |
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Former envoy blames government for visa affair Deutsche Presse-Agentur, April 20, 2005 http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=26&story_id=19298 BERLIN (DPA) -- Germany's former ambassador to Russia blamed the German government on Wednesday for a visa scandal in which hundreds of thousands of east Europeans entered Germany as tourists under dubious circumstances from 2000 to 2003. Ernst-Joerg von Studnitz, who was due to testify at a parliamentary probe into the affair later on Wednesday, said German embassies had not been given the means to deal with the wave of applicants following orders to loosen formerly tight rules on issuing visas. 'It was not possible to master the rush with the limited means made available to the embassy,' said von Studnitz in a Bavarian radio interview. Von Studnitz said the German parliament and finance ministry were directly to blame for insufficient staff at embassies following the decision to push for a 'strong opening up of the country' after Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's centre-left government was elected in 1998. Three current German ambassadors were also testifying on Wednesday to the visa committee, which is trying to determine whether the looser visa policy aided illegal labour, forced prostitution and human trafficking. Following reports of mass abuses, the German government abruptly cancelled the policy and re-imposed tougher visa controls in 2003. The German ambassador to the Vatican, Gerd Westdickenberg, told the probe that Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer had headed a meeting in November 1999 which paved the way for the controversial March 2000 visa liberalisation. Battle lines in the investigation have clearly been set: diplomats say the German government is at fault over the policy whereas Fischer outraged many of his staff by telling reporters in February that the embassies in Russia and Ukraine may have made mistakes. On Thursday, former deputy foreign minister Ludger Volmer - who resigned in part over the visa scandal - will be questioned. Fischer has been summoned to testify at the probe on Monday. In a related development, a poll showed Fischer's popularity has plunged following daily media reports over the affair since last December. At the start of 2005, about 51 percent of voters backed Fischer's policies, in March this had slipped to 49 percent and at present just 34 percent back the minister, said the Allensbach poll for the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper. |
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Slovaks return to work in E.U.-sparked economy Deutsche Presse-Agentur, April 20, 2005 BRATISLAVA (DPA) -- In the decade before European Union enlargement, Slovakia's western border with the Czech Republic was a well-worn door of opportunity to a better life. Since the country joined the E.U. in May 2004, however, thousands of Slovaks who had moved west for jobs and higher salaries have started coming home. Recent government statistics show a dramatic reversal in Slovak immigration to the Czech Republic, underscoring the link between enlargement and economic revival in one of Europe's most depressed countries. While Slovakia had a net loss of 6,000 citizens to its western neighbour in 2003, the door swung the other way last year for a net gain of 6,000. The turnaround, experts say, is all about jobs and prospects of jobs tied to the arrival of foreign manufacturers. |
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Catholic priests join India's outsourcing bandwagon Reuters, April 19, 2005 http://www.keralanext.com/news/indexread.asp?id=183770 BOMBAY (Reuters) -- Catholic priests in flowing white cassocks are the latest to join India's booming outsourcing bandwagon. Faced with a shortage of clergymen and dwindling churchgoers, Catholic churches in Europe, the United States and Latin America are seeking the services of Indian priests to run parishes and say Mass, church officials said. 'I would call it a twist of history. It's a reversal of roles taking place,' Father Paul Thelakkat, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in southern state of Kerala said. The Syro Malabar Church in Kerala, with an estimated 3.3 million followers, is a major contributor of clergymen for overseas missions. The |
