Taking into consideration the tightened refugee and migration situation due to political situations in Libya, Egypt and

Tunisia, as well as internal EU differences regarding the management of migration, how should the EU consider its migration policy in order to adequately face contemporary challenges of both legal and illegal immigration into Member States? Mutual solidarity Under the Treaty of Lisbon, Member States should assist if a member state is subject to a terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster (but any joint military action is subject to the provisions of Article 31 of the consolidated Treaty of European Union, which recognises various national concerns). Europe is currently absorbing 2 million migrants each year more as a proportion of its population than any other part of the world, including North America. This inux is altering the make-up of member-states populations more than birth rates or death rates. Who is a refugee? According to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is someone who: -Has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her Race, Religion, Nationality, -Membership in a particular social group, or -Political opinion; -Is outside his/her country of origin and is unable or unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country, or toreturn there, for fear of persecution. Integration is the key to successful immigration Integration as a two-way process should be promoted, conforming to the Common Basic Principles on Integration. The participation of immigrants should be enhanced, while social cohesion and approaches to diversity in the host societies should be developed. To this end, the EU and its countries should:

consolidate the EU framework for integration; support the management of diversity and the evaluation of the outcomes of integration policies in EU countries; promote integration programmes targeted at new immigrant arrivals; ensure equal advancement opportunities in the labour market for legal non-EU workers; apply social security schemes equally to immigrants and to EU nationals; develop means to increase the participation of immigrants in society; review Council Directive 2003/86/EC on the right to family reunification; continue applying the EU asylum policy, while developing the measures further, in particular through the Policy Plan on Asylum. Problems -XENOPHOBIA. The EU must find a way of reconciling migration with cultural and political cohesion. In recognition of this, EU governments named 2008 as the European Year of Inter-cultural Dialogue. There are few greater challenges. The arrival of millions of

foreigners in the EU over two decades has coincided with a rise in racism and xenophobia that has at times spilled over into the political arena. Since the attacks of September 11th 2001, most attention has focused on a clash of cultures with political Islam. But other racist trends predate this. The EUs Fundamental Rights Agency is responsible for monitoring levels of racism, xenophobia and anti-semitism in Europe. Article 7 of the current EU treaty allows the member-states to suspend the voting rights of governments which fail to respect EU principles of democracy, the rule of law and human rights, including the rights of minorities, refugees and immigrants. And European legislation requires each member-state to have its own commission for racial equality. But EU efforts are merely supplementary to national ones. - ZERO-TOLERANCE TO IMMIGRATION. The 2004 elections to the European Parliament returned 25 MEPs from ten anti-immigrant, neo-Nazi and extreme right-wing parties across seven member-states, including three new members. On the accession of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, they were joined by several more ultra-nationalists and formed a separate political grouping in the parliament: Identity, Sovereignty and Tradition (which collapsed a few months later due to national differences).

AFRICA. - Political Crisis and Reasons for Migration

Africa is the continent that matters most to EU policy-makers working on migration. The member-states can do precious little to manage the growing numbers of African migrants coming to Europe each year without help from African governments. The EU needs African countries to strengthen border controls, take back illegal immigrants, increase local employment opportunities and help protect refugees. Hence migration was a key item on the agenda when EU and African leaders met in Lisbon in December 2007. 1 1 European Union and African Union, Africa-EU partnership on migration, mobility and employment, December 2007. The summit the rst EU-Africa summit since 2000 decided to move beyond declarations on migration to serious action. Previous meetings had already gone some way towards this: EU and African ministers dealing with immigration, development and nance issues met throughout 2006 to formulate a joint plan for managing the ow of people between Africa and Europe better. At meetings in Rabat and Tripoli in 2006, EU and African immigration ministers agreed on action to ght human trafckers in the region. Some EU governments have also offered money and expertise to Libya to help patrol its 4,000 kilometre land border and 2,000 kilometre sea border. (Along with Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Senegal are a gateway for thousands of sub-Saharan migrants in transit to Europe.) At another meeting in 2006, in Burkino Faso, EU and African governments set out plans to improve job opportunities in the African regions with the highest outward migration. The EU has promised to fund education and training programmes focused on local needs. For their part, African governments have agreed to help migrants nd jobs nearer to home by opening up their labour markets to each other. And the EU is working to establish a number of job centres throughout Africa. These offices will warn migrants of the hardships and disappointments involved in illegal migration. But they will also provide job training, help with transferring money from diasporas abroad, and nd returned migrants employment in the local labour market. The rst EU job centre opened in Mali in 2008.

All such efforts are worthy and necessary. But this edgling cooperation must become far more robust in the years ahead. However hard European countries work to stem illegal immigration, more powerful forces are driving African emigration, and will continue to do so. African population levels are expected to rise rapidly over the next 20 years. And, according to UN projections, the continent will be the worlds worst affected by climate change. Based on fairly modest increases in temperature, African crop yields and fresh water supplies are due to drop by more than 20 per cent by 2050. 2 2 United Nations, Climate change 2007: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007. The 20112012 Egyptian revolution took place following a popular uprising that began on Tuesday, 25 January 2011. The uprising was mainly a campaign of non-violent civil resistance, which featured a series of demonstrations, marches, acts of civil disobedience, and labour strikes. Millions of protesters from a variety of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Despite being predominantly peaceful in nature, the revolution was not without violent clashes between security forces and protesters, with at least 846 people killed and 6,000 injured. The uprising took place in Cairo, Alexandria, and in other cities in Egypt, following the Tunisian revolution that resulted in the overthrow of the long-time Tunisian president. On 11 February, following weeks of determined popular protest and pressure, Mubarak resigned from office. Grievances of Egyptian protesters were focused on legal and political issues including police brutality, state of emergency laws, lack of free elections and freedom of speech, uncontrollable corruption, and economic issues including high unemployment,food price inflation, and low minimum wages.The primary demands from protest organizers were the end of the Hosni Mubarak regime and the end of emergency law; freedom, justice, a responsive non-military government, and a say in the management of Egypt's resources.Strikes by labour unions added to the pressure on government officials. Countries facing massive migration
According to CAPMAS estimates, the total number of permanent Egyptian migrants in non-Arab countries is slightly more than 0.8 million (824,000). About 80 percent of them are concentrated in five countries: USA (318,000 or 38.6 percent), Canada (110,000 or 13.3 percent), Italy (90,000), Australia (70,000), and Greece (60,000). The other 20 percent are mainly in Western European

countries, such as Netherlands, France, England, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Spain (CAPMAS, 2001). Italy has been sending back the vast majority of Tunisians and Egyptians who have arrived in recent weeks, saying they don't qualify for asylum or refugee status since there are no wars or humanitarian crises in their countries. Italy has demanded Europe as a whole share the burden of coping with the immigration flows, saying it shouldn't be expected to cope alone. As it is, the number of Tunisians on the tiny island of Lampedusa 4,800 as of Monday was almost the size of the 5,000-strong population itself. Lampedusa's residents are getting increasingly angry over the government's failure to help ease their burden. They have refused plans to set up a tent camp on the island, saying the migrants should be taken elsewhere.. Greece, Italy, Spain and Malta are bearing the brunt of migration pressure from North Africa, and the political unrest that has rocked Tunisia, Egypt and Libya in recent months has raised
fears of an even greater influx.

Cyprus is another member state that has asked for more effective EU action to lessen the burden on those countries on Europe's immigration frontline. Although it has not been affected by the crises in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt it has said it does advocate solidarity on migration policy. "We consider that solidarity between member states is essential," said Cyprus President Demetris Christofias. "We also consider essential the cooperation between the EU and its southern neighbours, as well the advancement of bilateral cooperation between the EU and countries of origin of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants." He said there was a need for "better coordination and cooperation between EU member states" on tackling immigration. European Council president Herman Van Rompuy said the EU could do more to assist southern Mediterranean countries tackle an influx of illegal migration in the region. "I agree that we need to develop new or improved partnerships with the countries in the southern Mediterranean," Rompuy told reporters after meeting Cyprus President Demetris Christofias. Italy in particular has stepped up appeals for help to Brussels after being swamped with Tunisian refugees. More than 25,000 migrants have arrived on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa in fishing boats from North Africa since the start of the year and most have been moved to detention centres on the Italian mainland. Conclusion Immigration will always be a touchy political subject. What is vital is that mainstream political parties do not ignore genuine public concern over the issue, thus handing the issue over to the political ringe. Governments manage attitudes to immigration best when they combine a liberal approach with safeguards in which the public can have condence. EGYPT Population (2011): 82.5 million Major Languages: Arabic GDP per Capita PPP (2010): USD 6,180 Remittances (2011 estimate): USD 8,047 million Net Migration Rate (2010-2015): -0.9 migrants /1,000 population Immigrants (2010): 0.3% Women as a Percentage of Immigrants (2010): 46.6% LIBYA Population (2011): 6.4 million Major Language: Arabic GDP* per Capita PPP (2009): USD 16,987 *Gross Domestic Product Remittances (2011 estimate): USD 19 million Net Migration Rate (2010-2015): 0.6 migrants /1,000 population Immigrants (2010): 10.4% Women as a Percentage of Immigrants (2010): 35.5% TUNISIA Population (2011): 10.6 million Major Languages: Arabic (official); French GDP per Capita PPP (2010): USD 9,550 Remittances (2011 estimate): USD 1,867 million Net Migration Rate (2010-2015): -0.4 migrants /1,000 population Immigrants (2010): 0.3% Women as a Percentage of Immigrants (2010): 49.3%

Ramona Comanescu Member of the LIBE Committee

Sources: EU migration policy: An A-Z by Hugo Brady IOM website ( www.iom.int ) www.en.wikipedia.org www.usatoday.com