PICUM Newsletter June 2006 Finalized on 9 June 2006
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PICUM Newsletter June 2006 Finalized on 9 June 2006 This newsletter focuses on news items and policy developments concerning the basic social rights of undocumented migrants in Europe. It is currently available in Word format and on the PICUM website (www.picum.org) in the following languages: English, German, Dutch, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. You are invited to distribute this newsletter widely. Do you want to contribute to a humane policy of respect of human rights of undocumented migrants? DONATE TO PICUM! Your contribution means we can continue to fight the marginalisation and exploitation of undocumented migrants. You are invited to donate to PICUM by transferring your singular or regular contribution to account number 001-3666785-67 (Fortisbank, Schepdaal (B), IBAN: BE93 001366678567). Please mention your name and address, and reference: “donation”. THANK YOU ! Index 1. Death at the Border 2. News from EU Member States + Switzerland + U.S.A. 3. European Policy Developments 4. Upcoming Events 5. Publications 6. Miscellaneous Please note that there will be no edition of the PICUM newsletter in July 2006. The next edition of this newsletter will be in August 2006. 1. Death at the Border • A small truck packed with undocumented migrants from Afghanistan and Bangladesh crashed into a parked transport truck in southeastern Turkey on 19 May, leaving 42 people dead and six injured, authorities said. The migrants killed had entered Turkey from Iran and were to be transported into Bulgaria and then Greece. Dozens of migrants, estimated to be between the ages of 20 and 25, had made the journey standing in the back of the truck, covered by tarpaulin. They were provided with PICUM Newsletter June 2006 plastic bottles for urination during the more than 2,000 kilometers of travel, authorities said. Most of the migrants died of brain trauma or internal bleeding, doctors said. The Turkish driver was killed and another Turk who were crushed to death in the compressed cabin of the truck. The migrants said they had been on the road for three days and that the truck driver had not slept in several days and was speeding when the accident occurred, Anatolia reported. http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=44026 • Eight months after the events in Ceuta and Melilla, in which hundreds of undocumented migrants tried to enter Europe on the Spanish-Moroccan border by climbing the fences, the organization kein.org has published interviews with two protagonists of the events. The first interview, entitled 'We are all a collective combination something ...', features M.K, who succeeded in entering into Ceuta and today lives in Madrid. The second interview is with Paola Domingo who has lived in Ceuta for six years and is now a nun of the Carmelito Verdona religious order. http://www.noborder.org/item.php?id=364 • The US-Mexico Border is a guide that has been recently included in the Migration Information Source, with updates on regional population numbers, border crossings, border enforcement, and the economic ties between the United States and Mexico. http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=407 2. News from EU Member States + Switzerland + U.S.A. General • Three Italian organizations (NAGA, Area sanitaria Caritas, OIKOS) have made a proposal for a resolution in the European Parliament concerning the extension of health care to all foreigners present in the European Union, even if they are not legally residing in Europe. This proposal, which is directed at undocumented migrants, has been made to guarantee the full realization of the right to health for all within the European Union. Organizations and individuals are invited to sign the proposal, which has already been signed by 80 MEPs. A meeting with these MEPs and NGOs will be held in Strasbourg on 5 July. For more information and to sign the proposal, contact: Dr. Pierfranco Olivani, NAGA, tel. +39/338/65.57.057 or [email protected] • The Jesuit Refugee Service recently held a competition for student journalists throughout Europe to write about issues concerning refugees, with the aim of tackling a significant humanitarian problem in Europe and helping to break down misunderstandings and myths. The winners, who were decided by a panel of professional journalists, were presented with their prizes at the European Parliament on 18 April. The first prize went to Kasper Tveden, studying in Denmark, for his article “Suicidal Silence,” about the rise in number of attempts of suicide amongst asylum seekers in Denmark. www.jrseurope.org • Teenagers in German speaking countries can gain insight into the trauma of fleeing persecution and seeking asylum experienced by refugees across the world in a new interactive game from the UN refugee agency. The internet-based game, which can be found free of charge at www.LastExitFlucht.org is designed to appeal to the youth market. The game does this by getting teenagers to go through the experience that millions of refugees have faced. As well as the testimonies of refugees, LastExitFlucht is a lively educational tool, designed with both teachers and students in mind. It charts the history of asylum in Europe and explains the difficulties refugees in Europe currently face in upholding their rights. http://www.unhcr.org/cgi- bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&page=home&id=440c89014 PICUM Newsletter June 2006 • In Western Europe, every country has more people entering than leaving, and the same is true for many of the Central European countries that joined the European Union in 2004. Rainer Muenz of the Hamburg Institute of International Economics takes a detailed look at the latest European population data in Europe: Population and Migration in 2005. http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?id=402 • Approdi: The Implications of European Enlargement on Migration Phenomenon Communicated through Comics, is a new project aiming to raise knowledge about the enlarged Europe, with a special view to new destinations of legal and illegal migration flows. This initiative wants to promote awareness among the citizens of Malta, Cyprus, Italy and Spain about illegal immigration issues: reasons and ways beyond this event, the answers EU provided and is providing to face these questions and fears with an approach based on tolerance and reciprocal understanding. Comics will be designed on these issues and distributed in schools, youth centers, universities, etc. More info: www.approdi.net or [email protected] • MIREM, Migration de retour vers le Magrhreb (Return migration to North Africa) is a new project that aims to develop greater understanding concerning return to countries of origin. The project will produce tools to analyze and understand the factors at stake in the reintegration process of migrants in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. Information will be freely available on the project’s website in order to encourage a constructive debate on this issue. http://www.mirem.eu or [email protected] • In November 2005, different activist networks from around Europe (especially from Spain and Italy) came together in Ceuta, Spain, for the first European Caravan against the "Valley of Death and for the Freedom of Movement". The caravan was organized in response to the deaths of numerous migrants trying to cross into the European Union from Morocco. The Second European Caravan for Freedom of Movement will be held from 23-25 June in Barcelona. For more information in Spanish, English, French, Italian, Arabic, and German, visit: http://www.communia.org/caravana/ France • The French Parliament has given strong backing to a controversial immigration bill that will make it more difficult for the unskilled to settle in France. According to the bill, only highly qualified newcomers from outside the EU have the right to receive residence permits. The proposed law also requires immigrants from outside the European Union to sign a contract agreeing to learn French and to respect the principles of the French Republic, and makes it more difficult for them to bring their families over to join them. Deputies in the National Assembly approved the bill by 367 votes to 164 but it must also be passed by the Senate. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4990962.stm • Support committees have been formed throughout France on behalf of undocumented children who are faced with the threat of deportation as of 4 July, once the summer vacation officially begins in the school system (see PICUM Newsletter May 2006). In light of this increased national mobilization of teachers, pupils, parents and other actors, Minister of the Interior Nicholas Sarkozy announced on 6 June that approximately 720 families (between 2,000 and 2,500 people) could receive authorization to remain in France and receive an ID card. This regularization would most likely concern families in which the children have no attachment to their countries of origin, since they were born in France or arrived in France at a young age, are presently enrolled in the school system in France, and who only speak French. http://www.lemonde.fr/web/imprimter_element/0,40-0@2- 3224,50-779983,0.html However, on 7 June, Mr. Sarkozy justified the deportation of two Kurdish PICUM Newsletter June 2006 children aged 3 and 6 and their mother to Norway within the framework of the Dublin convention, as the family had originally applied for asylum there. The FCPE (Federation des Parents d’élevès) denounced the deportation, stating that such measures make it difficult to believe Mr. Sarkozy’s announcement about a partial regularisation for undocumented migrants with school-age children. http://fr.news.yahoo.com/07062006/290/nicolas-sarkozy-justifie-l-expulsion-de-deux-enfants- kurdes.html Contact: [email protected] • Mr. Sarkozy estimated on 6 June that there are between 200,000 and 400,000 undocumented migrants in France.