Situation of migrant workers in Europe

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Allow me to intoduce myself. I am Estrella and I am representing MIGRANTE - Europe. MIGRANTE-Europe is a network of progressive Filipino organizations of migrants and refugees. We stand for the rights and welfare of this sector. In the long term, we are working for a Philippine society where Filipinos do not have to be separated from their families because of forced migration and we are for a sovereign and democratic Philippines.

Today I would like to focus on the issue of undocumented migrant workers and refugees in Europe. The reasons - first, they make up a very vulnerable sector and second, because they constitute a sizeable number with hundreds of thousands of undocumented throughout Europe. In the Netherlands, the amnesty campaign for the "out-of-procedure" 26,000 asylum seekers is still going on.

Undocumented workers are workers without rights! They are deprived of their employment rights such as pension, unemployment, sickness and maternity benefits. Moreover, they do not have social rights like the rights to housing, education for the children and health care. They are exploited and are easily exploited by their bosses because they do not have any legal rights. In cases when they are abused, they cannot stand up to their bosses to complain. If they do there is only one way to go- that is to get fired. They are thrown into a very vulnerable situation.

In the Netherlands, there are 70,000 undocumented workers. They are mostly employed in the greenhouses (greenhouse agriculture) where they grow vegetables and in flower fields. One district with a lot of greenhouses is in Westland near Den Haag. There the number of undocumented workers has grown rapidly. In recent years, there are more Bulgarians, Polish and Ukrainians. The bosses no longer want Turkish and Moroccan undocumented workers because they ask for 6-7 Euros/hour while the East Europeans are given only 3-4 Euros/hour.

Undocumented workers in Westland work 12 hours/day, 7 days a week. They pick flowers, tomatoes, paprika, cucumber. According to OKIA (Support Committee for Illegal Workers), a greenhouse owner saves 20,000 Euros per worker per year.

The exploitation of these workers has aggravated with the entry of uitzendbureaus. It used to be that workers were hired directly by the bosses. Now they are employed by the uitzendbureaus. These employment agencies earn 5 Euros/ hour/worker. As a result, the migrant workers are exploited twice. First by the boss and next by the uitzendbureau.

Mustafa Agyun in an interview said: "If I can work legally with a work permit, I don't have to be exploited by an uitzendbureau. But now I cannot fight back because I do not exist juridically. Who wants to work for 5 Euros an hour? ... I always have to follow what my boss says. We are the modern slaves of the Netherlands."

Undocumented Filipino workers also belong to this category. Filipino migrant workers in Europe has increased significantly since the 70's to an estimate of 800,000 Filipinos.Thay are spread out in big European cities like Rome, Milan, Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam, London , Athens. 85% are women. A large majority work as domestic helpers and at the least 50% are undocumented.

Under the Koppelings Wet which took effect in the Netherlands in 1998, all undocumented including Filipino domestic helpers lost their social rights, and their employment rights. With no medical insurance, they cannot afford to get sick while young adults cannot afford to build a family.

Their lives are far from normal. Many women migrant workers are separated from their children and their husbands for 5,10 or 20 years. They do not have a right to family reunification the way other expatriate workers do. Many end up with broken families, and children end up as juvenile delinquents back home. The social costs of migration are incalculable.

As the political climate in Europe steadily turned rightist, other governments introduced similar anti-migrant laws like those in the Netherlands. In Italy, the Bosi-Fini law crimininalized the undocumented. The police may arrrest and detain an undocumented migrant not because he committed a criminal act but because he did not have a valid visum.

Of course these anti-migrant national laws were the extensions of the Fortress Europe policies of the European Union, established by the Maastricht Treaty in 1993. With Fortress Europe, restrictive and repressive immigration controls were set up to guard Europe's external borders. Migrants and refugees were since then to be locked out from the European Union.

More recently in October 2006, the former Minister for Integration, Rita Verdonk introduced a policy to crackdown on the undocumented to be implemented by the Dutch police ? called, the prestatie contract ( the performance contract). The prestatie contract prescribed that the Dutch police should arrrest and detain a certain number of undocumented foreigners every year. Should the police not reach the quota, then it will not be given a bonus ( an extra salary) at the end of the year. The goal was to reach a quota of 40,000 arrests each year 12,000 of which were to be detained. The prestatie contract was put on hold because politicians, the media and migrants protested against this razzia. By the way Rita Verdonk was the architect of immigration policies which allowed the police to arrest and detain foreigners without valid papers. Eleven of which detained, died in the fire that burned down the controversial detention center near Schiphol airport.

This criminalization of the undocmented caused a lot of unrest, fear and anger among Filipino migrant organizations. But together with other migrant groups, we fought back and with the support of some political parties and concerned groups, the policy prestatie contract is on hold.

In this connection, I would like to raise the case of Prof. Jose Maria Sison.

"On 28 October 2002, the Council of the European Union added Prof. Sison to its list of 'terrorists". This decision was taken by written procedure, without any hearing and due process, without motivation whatsoever. Unjust measures have been taken against Prof. Sison, including the violation of his civil and political rights, banning him from work, terminating his social benefits (living allowance, housing, health insurance, civil liability insurance and old age pension), the freezing of funds and other financial assets or economic resources, stigmatization as a "terrorist" and threats to his moral and physical integrity."

"The blacklisting of Prof. Sison and various anti-imperialist organizations by the European Union does not bode well for democracy in Europe. Groups and individuals who express and concretise their solidarity with them may be the next victims. The democratic rights to freedom of expression and of association are under attack. The highest sense of solidarity among all peoples is under challenge."

We demand from the European Union and its member states:

• the removal of Prof. Jose Maria Sison' s name from the list of the Council Common Position 2002/847/CFSP and Council Decision 2002/848/EC;
• full respect for the democratic rights of Jose Maria Sison as a recognized refugee under the relevant international conventions;
• encouragement to the resumption of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations in accordance with The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 as the framework agreement and respect for the 1997 and 1999 resolutions of the European Parliament supporting the aforesaid peace negotiations;
• refusal of any possible demand for his extradition or expulsion from The Netherlands.

We demand from the European Union and its member states to refrain from undertaking any action that curtails or violates the democratic rights and legitimate political activities of organisations and individuals."

We would like you to join in the Europewide campaign to stop the unjust terrorist listing and persecution of Prof. Sison. Sign the "Appeal to Remove Prof. Sison from the EU Terrorist List". Ask your friends to do the same. Your solidarity is needed.

No to deportation!

No to exclusion and exploitation!

No to Fortress Europe!

Defend the rights and welfare of migrants and refugees!

Estrella del Pais

25 May 2007

http://no-racism.net/article/2156/

[Ban Hammer 14,073]

and apparently no to following the law. if you want sympathy, estrella, try the dictionary.

[Danno 1,228]

THese people can't be serious.... they demand maternity leave too.

I guess it makes sense... how else would they repopulate Old Europe quickly.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

THese people can't be serious.... they demand maternity leave too.

I guess it makes sense... how else would they repopulate Old Europe quickly.

I'm sure you've got some ancestors in your lineage who immigrated into another country without going through any immigration process.

[Pooky 3,865]

They are illegal aliens. They took their chances getting to Europe on the promise of a better life, probably from someone who they paid a lot of money. Should Europe relax its legal right to refuse entry to immigrants, or refuse to legalise those there already? Hell, no.

Immigration law is not something to be disregarded in every case, just because the immigrant believes so. The sovereign nations that constitute the EU formulated their policy and have every right to implement and enforce it. As should the USA.

And if the illegal immigrants don't like it, they can go back to where they came from, or try somewhere else that does not have the same immigration conditions. Their choice.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

They are illegal aliens. They took their chances getting to Europe on the promise of a better life, probably from someone who they paid a lot of money. Should Europe relax its legal right to refuse entry to immigrants, or refuse to legalise those there already? Hell, no.

Immigration law is not something to be disregarded in every case, just because the immigrant believes so. The sovereign nations that constitute the EU formulated their policy and have every right to implement and enforce it. As should the USA.

And if the illegal immigrants don't like it, they can go back to where they came from, or try somewhere else that does not have the same immigration conditions. Their choice.

This is prevailing issue that has been going on for a long time and neither the EU nor the US seems to have viable solution. It's driven by economics - supply and demand. There in lies a solution.

[Pooky 3,865]

They are illegal aliens. They took their chances getting to Europe on the promise of a better life, probably from someone who they paid a lot of money. Should Europe relax its legal right to refuse entry to immigrants, or refuse to legalise those there already? Hell, no.

Immigration law is not something to be disregarded in every case, just because the immigrant believes so. The sovereign nations that constitute the EU formulated their policy and have every right to implement and enforce it. As should the USA.

And if the illegal immigrants don't like it, they can go back to where they came from, or try somewhere else that does not have the same immigration conditions. Their choice.

This is prevailing issue that has been going on for a long time and neither the EU nor the US seems to have viable solution. It's driven by economics - supply and demand. There in lies a solution.

The UK has its own solution, a 22 mile wide stretch of water, at its narrow point, called the English Channel. The implementation and enforcement of immigration controls has been more successful than most, and a large number of those that try making it to the UK, in trucks, on trains, in containers, etc. are caught and deported. And the French get to dismantle the shanty towns that grow up around the ferry ports and rail terminals every so often.

The mood in Europe is hardening. Illegal immigrants will find it progressively harder to find their way to the EU and harder to find their way in the EU. The economy is a harsh mistress.

[Ban Hammer 14,073]

THese people can't be serious.... they demand maternity leave too.

I guess it makes sense... how else would they repopulate Old Europe quickly.

I'm sure you've got some ancestors in your lineage who immigrated into another country without going through any immigration process.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

They are illegal aliens. They took their chances getting to Europe on the promise of a better life, probably from someone who they paid a lot of money. Should Europe relax its legal right to refuse entry to immigrants, or refuse to legalise those there already? Hell, no.

Immigration law is not something to be disregarded in every case, just because the immigrant believes so. The sovereign nations that constitute the EU formulated their policy and have every right to implement and enforce it. As should the USA.

And if the illegal immigrants don't like it, they can go back to where they came from, or try somewhere else that does not have the same immigration conditions. Their choice.

This is prevailing issue that has been going on for a long time and neither the EU nor the US seems to have viable solution. It's driven by economics - supply and demand. There in lies a solution.

The UK has its own solution, a 22 mile wide stretch of water, at its narrow point, called the English Channel. The implementation and enforcement of immigration controls has been more successful than most, and a large number of those that try making it to the UK, in trucks, on trains, in containers, etc. are caught and deported. And the French get to dismantle the shanty towns that grow up around the ferry ports and rail terminals every so often.

The mood in Europe is hardening. Illegal immigrants will find it progressively harder to find their way to the EU and harder to find their way in the EU. The economy is a harsh mistress.

The Right Wing approach isn't the solution. All it's doing is further marginalizing them.

[Pooky 3,865]

They are illegal aliens. They took their chances getting to Europe on the promise of a better life, probably from someone who they paid a lot of money. Should Europe relax its legal right to refuse entry to immigrants, or refuse to legalise those there already? Hell, no.

Immigration law is not something to be disregarded in every case, just because the immigrant believes so. The sovereign nations that constitute the EU formulated their policy and have every right to implement and enforce it. As should the USA.

And if the illegal immigrants don't like it, they can go back to where they came from, or try somewhere else that does not have the same immigration conditions. Their choice.

This is prevailing issue that has been going on for a long time and neither the EU nor the US seems to have viable solution. It's driven by economics - supply and demand. There in lies a solution.

The UK has its own solution, a 22 mile wide stretch of water, at its narrow point, called the English Channel. The implementation and enforcement of immigration controls has been more successful than most, and a large number of those that try making it to the UK, in trucks, on trains, in containers, etc. are caught and deported. And the French get to dismantle the shanty towns that grow up around the ferry ports and rail terminals every so often.

The mood in Europe is hardening. Illegal immigrants will find it progressively harder to find their way to the EU and harder to find their way in the EU. The economy is a harsh mistress.

The Right Wing approach isn't the solution. All it's doing is further marginalizing them.

And your by rote trotting out of the "Right Wing Approach" shows how little you know and understand the European mindset and how blind your bias makes you. The current government in the UK is left wing and has been for the past 12 years. Under this government, the UK introduced its citizenship testing, which makes it way harder for legal immigrants. Labour has taken the battle to the French, most notably at Sangatte, to get them to dismantle the transitory camps that were acting as a staging post for illegal immigrants' attempts to reach the shores of the UK.

If, by further "marginalising" illegal immigrants, the EU stem the number of people trying to enter the EU illegally, and persuades numbers of those already there to leave, good. There is no right to free travel free immigration in this world. Illegal immigrants need to understand that simple fact.

It is not a Right Wing approach. It is the right approach.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

They are illegal aliens. They took their chances getting to Europe on the promise of a better life, probably from someone who they paid a lot of money. Should Europe relax its legal right to refuse entry to immigrants, or refuse to legalise those there already? Hell, no.

Immigration law is not something to be disregarded in every case, just because the immigrant believes so. The sovereign nations that constitute the EU formulated their policy and have every right to implement and enforce it. As should the USA.

And if the illegal immigrants don't like it, they can go back to where they came from, or try somewhere else that does not have the same immigration conditions. Their choice.

This is prevailing issue that has been going on for a long time and neither the EU nor the US seems to have viable solution. It's driven by economics - supply and demand. There in lies a solution.

The UK has its own solution, a 22 mile wide stretch of water, at its narrow point, called the English Channel. The implementation and enforcement of immigration controls has been more successful than most, and a large number of those that try making it to the UK, in trucks, on trains, in containers, etc. are caught and deported. And the French get to dismantle the shanty towns that grow up around the ferry ports and rail terminals every so often.

The mood in Europe is hardening. Illegal immigrants will find it progressively harder to find their way to the EU and harder to find their way in the EU. The economy is a harsh mistress.

The Right Wing approach isn't the solution. All it's doing is further marginalizing them.

And your by rote trotting out of the "Right Wing Approach" shows how little you know and understand the European mindset and how blind your bias makes you. The current government in the UK is left wing and has been for the past 12 years. Under this government, the UK introduced its citizenship testing, which makes it way harder for legal immigrants. Labour has taken the battle to the French, most notably at Sangatte, to get them to dismantle the transitory camps that were acting as a staging post for illegal immigrants' attempts to reach the shores of the UK.

If, by further "marginalising" illegal immigrants, the EU stem the number of people trying to enter the EU illegally, and persuades numbers of those already there to leave, good. There is no right to free travel free immigration in this world. Illegal immigrants need to understand that simple fact.

It is not a Right Wing approach. It is the right approach.

Europe has been moving toward the Right for awhile now.

I did read where France has a regularization process for undocumented workers. I'm not sure about the exact details, but basically, if you have pay stubs that show you are gainfully employed and have been for some time, you may qualify for regularization.

The problem isn't with the migrant workers themselves, but many countries don't want those migrant workers to use their services, so they become marginalized. Again, it's a supply and demand issue and therein lies a solution.

[britty 1]

I am so tired of illegal immigrants whining. You accept certain conditions with your illegal status, one of them being savvy business people paying you shite wages and giving you crappy jobs. There is a simple fix if you are not entirely satisifed with your lot and that is to return home.

[Pooky 3,865]

They are illegal aliens. They took their chances getting to Europe on the promise of a better life, probably from someone who they paid a lot of money. Should Europe relax its legal right to refuse entry to immigrants, or refuse to legalise those there already? Hell, no.

Immigration law is not something to be disregarded in every case, just because the immigrant believes so. The sovereign nations that constitute the EU formulated their policy and have every right to implement and enforce it. As should the USA.

And if the illegal immigrants don't like it, they can go back to where they came from, or try somewhere else that does not have the same immigration conditions. Their choice.

This is prevailing issue that has been going on for a long time and neither the EU nor the US seems to have viable solution. It's driven by economics - supply and demand. There in lies a solution.

The UK has its own solution, a 22 mile wide stretch of water, at its narrow point, called the English Channel. The implementation and enforcement of immigration controls has been more successful than most, and a large number of those that try making it to the UK, in trucks, on trains, in containers, etc. are caught and deported. And the French get to dismantle the shanty towns that grow up around the ferry ports and rail terminals every so often.

The mood in Europe is hardening. Illegal immigrants will find it progressively harder to find their way to the EU and harder to find their way in the EU. The economy is a harsh mistress.

The Right Wing approach isn't the solution. All it's doing is further marginalizing them.

And your by rote trotting out of the "Right Wing Approach" shows how little you know and understand the European mindset and how blind your bias makes you. The current government in the UK is left wing and has been for the past 12 years. Under this government, the UK introduced its citizenship testing, which makes it way harder for legal immigrants. Labour has taken the battle to the French, most notably at Sangatte, to get them to dismantle the transitory camps that were acting as a staging post for illegal immigrants' attempts to reach the shores of the UK.

If, by further "marginalising" illegal immigrants, the EU stem the number of people trying to enter the EU illegally, and persuades numbers of those already there to leave, good. There is no right to free travel free immigration in this world. Illegal immigrants need to understand that simple fact.

It is not a Right Wing approach. It is the right approach.

Europe has been moving toward the Right for awhile now.

I did read where France has a regularization process for undocumented workers. I'm not sure about the exact details, but basically, if you have pay stubs that show you are gainfully employed and have been for some time, you may qualify for regularization.

The problem isn't with the migrant workers themselves, but many countries don't want those migrant workers to use their services, so they become marginalized. Again, it's a supply and demand issue and therein lies a solution.

Europe has been moving right because left doesn't work.

And your supply and demand "solution" doesn't work. The native populations affected by the issue won't let it. Europe has found that out already. The USA will follow, the only question is will it follow in time, or not?

[one...two...tree 2,762]

They are illegal aliens. They took their chances getting to Europe on the promise of a better life, probably from someone who they paid a lot of money. Should Europe relax its legal right to refuse entry to immigrants, or refuse to legalise those there already? Hell, no.

Immigration law is not something to be disregarded in every case, just because the immigrant believes so. The sovereign nations that constitute the EU formulated their policy and have every right to implement and enforce it. As should the USA.

And if the illegal immigrants don't like it, they can go back to where they came from, or try somewhere else that does not have the same immigration conditions. Their choice.

This is prevailing issue that has been going on for a long time and neither the EU nor the US seems to have viable solution. It's driven by economics - supply and demand. There in lies a solution.

The UK has its own solution, a 22 mile wide stretch of water, at its narrow point, called the English Channel. The implementation and enforcement of immigration controls has been more successful than most, and a large number of those that try making it to the UK, in trucks, on trains, in containers, etc. are caught and deported. And the French get to dismantle the shanty towns that grow up around the ferry ports and rail terminals every so often.

The mood in Europe is hardening. Illegal immigrants will find it progressively harder to find their way to the EU and harder to find their way in the EU. The economy is a harsh mistress.

The Right Wing approach isn't the solution. All it's doing is further marginalizing them.

And your by rote trotting out of the "Right Wing Approach" shows how little you know and understand the European mindset and how blind your bias makes you. The current government in the UK is left wing and has been for the past 12 years. Under this government, the UK introduced its citizenship testing, which makes it way harder for legal immigrants. Labour has taken the battle to the French, most notably at Sangatte, to get them to dismantle the transitory camps that were acting as a staging post for illegal immigrants' attempts to reach the shores of the UK.

If, by further "marginalising" illegal immigrants, the EU stem the number of people trying to enter the EU illegally, and persuades numbers of those already there to leave, good. There is no right to free travel free immigration in this world. Illegal immigrants need to understand that simple fact.

It is not a Right Wing approach. It is the right approach.

Europe has been moving toward the Right for awhile now.

I did read where France has a regularization process for undocumented workers. I'm not sure about the exact details, but basically, if you have pay stubs that show you are gainfully employed and have been for some time, you may qualify for regularization.

The problem isn't with the migrant workers themselves, but many countries don't want those migrant workers to use their services, so they become marginalized. Again, it's a supply and demand issue and therein lies a solution.

Europe has been moving right because left doesn't work.

And your supply and demand "solution" doesn't work. The native populations affected by the issue won't let it. Europe has found that out already. The USA will follow, the only question is will it follow in time, or not?

The EU has not solved their issues with undocumented workers. Isn't it incredible, the human capacity for survival? That in spite of incredible odds, people are willing to risk a lot just to survive. That's at the heart of the issue. And let's not forget the UK's great history of exploiting Third World countries. God forbid some of those natives come to the UK in hope for a better life. Astonishing the nonchalant view of its historical context.

[britty 1]

They are illegal aliens. They took their chances getting to Europe on the promise of a better life, probably from someone who they paid a lot of money. Should Europe relax its legal right to refuse entry to immigrants, or refuse to legalise those there already? Hell, no.

Immigration law is not something to be disregarded in every case, just because the immigrant believes so. The sovereign nations that constitute the EU formulated their policy and have every right to implement and enforce it. As should the USA.

And if the illegal immigrants don't like it, they can go back to where they came from, or try somewhere else that does not have the same immigration conditions. Their choice.

This is prevailing issue that has been going on for a long time and neither the EU nor the US seems to have viable solution. It's driven by economics - supply and demand. There in lies a solution.

The UK has its own solution, a 22 mile wide stretch of water, at its narrow point, called the English Channel. The implementation and enforcement of immigration controls has been more successful than most, and a large number of those that try making it to the UK, in trucks, on trains, in containers, etc. are caught and deported. And the French get to dismantle the shanty towns that grow up around the ferry ports and rail terminals every so often.

The mood in Europe is hardening. Illegal immigrants will find it progressively harder to find their way to the EU and harder to find their way in the EU. The economy is a harsh mistress.

The Right Wing approach isn't the solution. All it's doing is further marginalizing them.

And your by rote trotting out of the "Right Wing Approach" shows how little you know and understand the European mindset and how blind your bias makes you. The current government in the UK is left wing and has been for the past 12 years. Under this government, the UK introduced its citizenship testing, which makes it way harder for legal immigrants. Labour has taken the battle to the French, most notably at Sangatte, to get them to dismantle the transitory camps that were acting as a staging post for illegal immigrants' attempts to reach the shores of the UK.

If, by further "marginalising" illegal immigrants, the EU stem the number of people trying to enter the EU illegally, and persuades numbers of those already there to leave, good. There is no right to free travel free immigration in this world. Illegal immigrants need to understand that simple fact.

It is not a Right Wing approach. It is the right approach.

Europe has been moving toward the Right for awhile now.

I did read where France has a regularization process for undocumented workers. I'm not sure about the exact details, but basically, if you have pay stubs that show you are gainfully employed and have been for some time, you may qualify for regularization.

The problem isn't with the migrant workers themselves, but many countries don't want those migrant workers to use their services, so they become marginalized. Again, it's a supply and demand issue and therein lies a solution.

Europe has been moving right because left doesn't work.

And your supply and demand "solution" doesn't work. The native populations affected by the issue won't let it. Europe has found that out already. The USA will follow, the only question is will it follow in time, or not?

The EU has not solved their issues with undocumented workers. Isn't it incredible, the human capacity for survival? That in spite of incredible odds, people are willing to risk a lot just to survive. That's at the heart of the issue. And let's not forget the UK's great history of exploiting Third World countries. God forbid some of those natives come to the UK in hope for a better life. Astonishing the nonchalant view of its historical context.

They did, and lived it up on benefit checks, free cars, and child support payments.... while the taxpayer suffered the consequences.