EU: Beratungen über Einwanderer und neues Vatikan-Statement
Innen- und Sozialminister der EU beraten in Brüssel zum ersten Mal gemeinsam über
die Einwanderung nach Europa. Die EU-Kommission will die Kriterien für die Aufnahme
von Einwanderern in den einzelnen Mitgliedstaaten der Union vereinheitlichen. Dabei
sollen mehr Qualifizierte und weniger Illegale den Weg nach Europa finden. Im Gespräch
mit der „FAZ“ betont EU-Kommissar Franco Frattini, Europa sei längst ein „Einwanderungskontinent“.
Eine künftige europäische „Blue card“ soll dazu beitragen, dass sich „hochqualifizierte
Arbeiter und Einwanderer“ in der EU nicht einem Berg von bürokratischen Problemen
gegenübersehen. Frattini wörtlich: „Mit der Blue Card wird ein indischer Ingenieur,
der nach Spanien gekommen ist, nach zwei Jahren eine Arbeit in Frankreich annehmen
können, ohne den Visumsantrag und die ganze bürokratische Prozedur wiederholen zu
müssen.“
(faz 06.12.2007 sk)
Zum Thema Einwanderung gibt es auch
eine neue Stellungnahme des Heiligen Stuhls. Vatikan-Diplomat Erzbischof Silvano Tomasi
erinnerte auf der Ratssitzung der UNO-Migrantenbehörde in Genf an ethische Aspekte
des Themas. Wir dokumentieren hier seine Stellungnahme im englischen Original-Wortlaut.
1.
The diversity of population movements around the world has increasingly caught the
attention of international organizations and States: temporary and permanent migrant
workers, refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons, trafficked women
and men, multinational corporations transferred personnel. New categories emerge
like internal and cross-borders’ displaced people forced to move by the degradation
of the environment, certain types of development projects and climate change. The
Delegation of the Holy See appreciates the strategic choice made by the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) to address the migratory phenomenon from “an integral
and holistic perspective” while focusing on its specific mandate. While targeted
responses render effective the protection and assistance due to all uprooted persons,
a comprehensive perspective is needed. In fact, today’s economic and political interdependence
has shown that international migrations have become a structural component of modern
societies. In particular, the global labour market attracts workers from an ever
wider range of countries, making the migration for work the largest segment of all
population movements. People vote with their feet, searching to meet their aspirations
for security and a decent life for themselves and their families.
2. Estimates
now give more than 200 million persons in the world living and working in countries
different than the one in which they were born or were citizens and the 90 million
workers among them are almost three percent of the three-billion strong labour force.
The numbers, in a way, are the tip of the iceberg revealing the complexity of a phenomenon
that affects countries of origin, transit and destination, laws and administrative
regulations, cultural, religious and social modalities of coexistence. A cooperative
approach to migrations becomes unavoidable and it should be inclusive of States, intergovernmental
bodies, civil society. Non-governmental organizations and faith-communities in particular,
with their ear to the ground and a geographically diversified experience, can provide
insights and collaboration both in policy formation and in operational assistance.
This Delegation appreciates as a positive development the formalized process for exchange
of views and information on the part of the Heads of United Nations’ agencies with
responsibility for one or the other aspect of human mobility. But coherence among
the various players seems still at an initial stage and it would be beneficial if
some participation of representatives of migrants’ organizations and interests would
be included at all levels of policy development.
3. Migrant workers, skilled
and unskilled, have taken central place in many current debates. This type of migration
is looked at as a positive force for development of countries of origin, especially
through the billions of dollars in remittances sent home by the migrants, – US$ 167
billion sent to developing countries in 2005 – as well for the economy of receiving
countries. In fact, for a growing number of countries, immigrants have become a necessity
to compensate for the dwindling workforce and for their demographic deficit. But the
pragmatic advantages accepted through the admission of migrants are on several occasions
overshadowed by an ambivalent attitude that is manifest in media and public opinion
that allow for stereotyping and negative generalizations of newcomers. Fairness in
recognizing the contribution immigrants make can serve as a good base for their integration.
4.
Two important dimensions of contemporary migrations are not adequately discussed and
paid attention to in the formulation of policies: the victims of migration flows and
the priority that persons have over the economy. The whole system of protection and
of human rights is relegated to a secondary supporting role instead of serving as
it was intended, as an assurance that the dignity of all human persons must take precedence.
Just a few days ago, 64 migrants drowned before the shores of Yemen, where the previous
month another 66 desperate asylum seekers had died or were missing after being thrown
overboard by traffickers. Some media report that about 500 persons have met their
death this year in the dangerous enterprise of crossing illegally from Mexico into
the United States. As many as 6,000 people have died or disappeared in 2006 alone
just trying to cross the waters from the West coast of Africa to the Canary Islands.
Unaccompanied children are found in these traumatic flows across seas and borders.
New creative forms of prevention, of humanitarian assistance and protection mechanisms
are called for.
5. An inclusive approach that takes into account all components
of the migrants’ journey: the decisions to emigrate and of how many immigrants to
admit; the modalities of participation of various types of migrants in the host society;
the role played by migrants in the economic development and in society; the migrants’
entitlement to protection and the exercise of their rights, seems the appropriate
way to proceed. Present political trends appear clear and slanted in the direction
of responding to the more emotional and vocal demands of public opinion for control
and integration. In the long run, however, a fair and effective solution will come
from a comprehensive approach that embraces all policy components: the rights of the
State and of the receiving community, of the migrants, and of the international common
good. A growing consensus supports the convenience of such an inclusive approach and
the necessity to pay more attention to migrants themselves and not only to their economic
role as temporary workforce or permanent settlers. International treaties and conventions
that directly, or in a general way, include references to the rights of migrants have
adopted the centrality of the human person as their supporting base. In a parallel
way, the social teaching of the Catholic Church, and in fact that of all religious
traditions, looks at migrants as human beings in the first place and then as citizens
or guests, or as economic and cultural agents. The ethical dimension in the discussion
of migration results from a larger anthropological framework in which secular and
religious people can find a common ground in order to address the inevitable tension
between different principles. In the case of migrants, this tension appears in the
moral obligations of governments to ensure the safety and well-being of their own
populations and a more universal ethic that values the well-being of all mankind and
of each person. In this sense, the High Level Dialogue on Migration and Development
could state: “Respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of all migrants was
considered essential for reaping the full benefits of international migration.”
6.
As the concerted effort to refine ways and means to manage the different aspects of
human mobility moves forward, the Delegation of the Holy See considers it more urgent
to muster the political will to ratify and implement the human rights’ instruments
already developed and to make them the foundation of a truly humane and comprehensive
policy. Education can play a major role. Migrants, aware of their rights, can be more
secure in offering their services and talents and the receiving community, well informed
and respectful of these rights, will feel freer in extending its solidarity in order
to build together a common future.