ISSN 1463 9696 Summer 2007 • Bulletin No 60 EUROPEAN RACE BULLETIN Election special A survey of relevant results and themes in national and local elections from October 2006 to May 2007 in a selection of European countries. Contents Editorial 2 France 3 Netherlands 11 Other country summaries 18 The IRR is carrying out a European Race Audit supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Specific research projects focus on the impact of national security laws and the war against terrorism on race relations and the impact of the EU’s new policy of ‘managed migration’ on refugee protection. The Institute of Race Relations is precluded from expressing a corporate view: any opinions expressed here are therefore those of the contributors. Please acknowledge IRR’s European Race Audit Project in any use of this work. For further information contact Liz Fekete at the Institute of Race Relations, 2-6 Leeke Street, London WC1X 9HS. Email:
[email protected] © Institute of Race Relations 2007 Editorial The recently-launched Strangers into Citizens campaign in the UK is having an impact. Its call for a path to citizenship for long-term, refused asylum-seekers and visa overstayers became part of the Labour Party’s deputy leadership contest, with three of the six candidates declaring themselves in favour of the idea. However, powerful voices within the Labour Party are warning against the perils of such an approach. One such is that of immigration minister Liam Byrne. In a Fabian Society pamphlet published in April 2007, Byrne warned that the issue of migration could lose New Labour the next general election.