| 1. EU Parliament reviews migration and
development
On 14-15 March, the European Parliament's Civil Liberties,
Justice and Home Affairs Committee and the Development Committee
held a joint hearing entitled Migration,
Integration and Development: Towards an EU policy? Experts
from governments and inter-governmental organisations made presentations
relating to human rights; employment, migration and development;
and migration policies within the EU. The need to stem illegal
immigration and integrate legal migrants into EU societies was
discussed and opening channels for legal migration was seen
as the best way to reduce illegal immigration flows.
One of the key documents used to inform the discussion was
Patrick
Gaubert's report for the Civil Liberties Committee on the
links between legal and illegal migration and integration of
migrants (2004/2137(INI))(this is available here as a PDF file,
see bottom of page about reading PDF files).
Gaubert notes that between 2010 and 2030 the active population
in the EU's 25 member states will decline, resulting in 20 million
fewer workers which will impact on economic growth. He recommends
"for demographic and economic reasons and with a view to
reducing illegal immigration, legal immigration channels should
be created by Member States on the basis of absorbtion capacity."
He also supports the creation of a common framework of minimum
standards for non-EU nationals working in the EU and notes that
particular attention must be paid to victims of trafficking.
The European Parliament will vote on the draft report in April.
2. NGOs call for EU states to ratify the
UN Convention on migrant workers
December 18 is inviting NGOs to co-sign their statement which
calls for European states to ratify the UN Convention on
the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their
Families and a rights-based approach to labour migration.
Those organisations that wish to support this action should
send the name of their organisation, their name and that of
their country to info@december18.net
by 13 April 2005 at the latest.
The signatures will be handed over to the European Commission
with reference to the Green Paper on Economic Migration; to
EU Commissioners Frattini (Justice, Freedom and Security) and
Spidla (Employment and Social Affairs); to EU Member States;
and to the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, Louise Arbour,
who will be visiting the EU at the end of April. The statement
and the list of signatures to date can be found on the December
18 website.
3. Last chance to strengthen Council of
Europe Convention on trafficking
Amnesty
International, Anti-Slavery International, International Federation
Terre Des Hommes and La Strada International issued a statement
expressing their concern that many of the key provisions in
the draft European Convention on Action Against Trafficking
in Human Beings fail to significantly enhance the assistance
and protection of trafficked persons.
The NGOs called on the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers
to strengthen provisions when they met on 23 March 2005 to review
the draft with a view to adopting the Convention.
4. China announces release of 9,000 abductees
The Bangkok Post reported on 17 February 2005 that,
according to official figures released in Beijing, the police
rescued some 9,000 kidnapped women and children last year from
human trafficking gangs. More than 5,400 kidnapped women were
recovered in nearly 2,500 cases, while 3,500 children were rescued
from their captors in 1,975 cases. The assistant minister of
the Public Security Ministry, Zhan Xinfeng said that trafficking
is undergoing intense changes with more abductees being forced
into street crimes like begging, prostitution and robbery.
5. UK Parliament debates migration and development
On 24 February 2005, the International
Development Committee's report on migration and development
was debated in the House of Commons. The Government responded
positively to the recommendation for an annual report on migration
and the proposal for cross party dialogue on migration, which
it said could be tested when it consults on its policy paper
on migration and development.
6. The Cambodian Government denies women
were abducted
The BBC reported on 18 February 2005, that the Cambodian Government
issued a report on the alleged kidnapping of dozens of sex workers
from a safe house in the capital Phnom Penh in December. It
says the women left the facility of their own accord. The organisation
which ran the safe house has criticised the report's findings
as a cover up. The US is considering downgrading Cambodia's
status on its anti-trafficking list, which could result in sanctions.
7. Publication, reports and research
The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre has produced the Preliminary
Research Findings of an Expert Workshop on Child Trafficking
in Europe (March 2005). This research looks at the problem
of child trafficking in more than 50 countries.
On 28 February 2005, the US State Department released the 2004
Country
Report on Human Rights Practices. Each country section
includes information on trafficking in human beings.
During the 2005 World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil,
Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Europa COATNET project (Network
of Christian Organisations Against Trafficking in Women)
organised a conference on Trafficking in Human Beings. Problems,
Possible Solutions. The report of the conference includes
presentations on trafficking from different regions; conclusions
regarding advocacy goals; information on COATNET; and contacts
for various organisations working on trafficking. For a copy
of the report please e-mail info@coatent.org.
The March 2005 newsletter for id21 looks at migration and remittances
and includes the following articles with links for more information:
Making
Temporary International Migration Work for All
Exploiting
Remittances: Good for Mexico's development?
Remittances
and Development: Providing funds for the poor
Migration
and Asylum Policies in Crisis: Time for a rethink?
|
