Thread: EU Riles Migrants, EU Offices In South America Mobbed

Seems we're experiencing a global entitlement mentality. Apparently, these fools believe if they screech, protest and demonstrate enough, they'll suddenly be seen as having fulfilled their responsibility as citizens or legal emigrants. Somehow, they believe just because a job exists somewhere, they have rights. But the world is waking up, even the European Union.

Originally Posted by Oscar Avila, The Chicago Tribune (click masthead)

EU riles migrants across Atlantic
Oscar Avila, Chicago Tribune correspondent, July 6, 2008

LIMA, Peru — For years, South Americans have flocked to European embassies for visas that would let them migrate and escape their poverty. But a few days ago, scores of Peruvians mobbed the European Union's office in Lima for another reason: to protest a new EU plan to crack down on illegal immigrants. The European Union's directive—the provisions of which include lengthy detention—has aroused anger among leaders and ordinary citizens in South America. With the U.S. tightening its borders after the 2001 terrorist attacks, an estimated 1.2 million South Americans have moved across the Atlantic in recent years, mainly from Andean nations including Peru.

Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the Organization of American States, said Europe's directive felt like a slap, given a lengthy shared history since Spanish conquistadors arrived in the continent five centuries ago. "I was not denying that they have a right to control their borders," Insulza said in an interview. "But the fact that Europeans have come by the millions to Latin America without any kind of obstacles plays a role in creating the irritation we see." The outcry from South America echoes complaints from Mexico that the U.S. government treats Mexicans unfairly.

Detentions up to 18 months

But just as U.S. citizens have grown more vocal over the surge of illegal Immigration from Mexico, European officials have raised red flags over newcomers flooding in from Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. Officials say the impact of the new policy, which would take effect in 2010, is unclear. The measure is expected to win approval from European justice ministers later this year. The Immigration directive, approved by the European Parliament on June 18, would allow nations to jail illegal immigrants for as long as 18 months before deportation. Deported immigrants also could face a five-year ban on re-entering, one of several measures decried by human-rights groups, which say that would remove opportunities for immigrants to reunite with relatives living abroad legally.

Individual EU members could keep more lenient laws, however. Europe has not reached a consensus on Immigration. Italy has been among the toughest, including a government proposal to make illegal Immigration a jailable offense. Naples residents even burned camps housing the Roma people of Eastern Europe. Spain, the landing point for most Latin American immigrants because of a common heritage and language, has been more accommodating. In 2005, the Spaniards angered some European neighbors by approving amnesty for about 700,000 illegal immigrants.

While the approaches in Europe have been divided, the directive has resulted in nearly universal condemnation in South America. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened to cut off oil exports and wondered if Europe wanted to "build a wall in the Atlantic Ocean." Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called the directive "a cold wind of xenophobia." European officials defended the directive after a contentious South American summit last week, saying it guaranteed minimum protections for immigrants in addition to letting nations increase penalties. "The directive shouldn't be reduced to a caricature," EU justice affairs spokesman Michele Cercone told Agence France-Presse. Insulza said an OAS delegation hopes to meet with European counterparts to persuade them to complement the crackdown with new visa programs that would open up legal Immigration avenues.

In Peru, the emotions have been raw. On a Lima radio show last week, the hosts interviewed a Peruvian man working illegally in Paris who had been detained once. The man described the feeling of fear and paranoia among Peruvians there and their relatives back home. "This new policy is like something of the Nazis," he said. In La Paz, the Bolivian capital, economic development experts worried that a crackdown would cause a drastic drop in remittances, the money that immigrants send home. The Bolivian non-profit group Qharuru has worked with banks to help Bolivians in Spain send money home at lower surcharges than those offered by Western Union and similar companies. Immigrants send more than $5 billion annually from Spain, the fastest-growing source of remittances to Latin America, according to the Inter-American Development Bank. "If they are going to send many of our people back, those numbers are going to drop. It's only logical," organization manager Luis Carriaga said.

Applications still heavy

And at the Spanish Embassy in La Paz, hundreds of Bolivians continue arriving before dawn to apply for visas. Those picking up documents often come out staring at their prize as if it were a lottery ticket. This month Luis Bejarano was one of the lucky ones, having taken a 19-hour bus ride across the country after hearing that Spain had approved his application. Bejarano had been working illegally for two years as a maintenance man in a Barcelona tennis club. Fearing deportation, he returned to Bolivia last month to obtain a work visa. He sends about $400 a month to relatives in Bolivia, a hefty sum in a nation where the average monthly income is less than $100. Much of the money goes to his daughter, who dreams of attending medical school. Bejarano, 35, said he understood the EU's right to control who comes into its territory. But he wished leaders would agree with him that Immigration provides an economic boost to sending and receiving countries. "People don't go over there to beg but to work," he said. "Why should we be marginalized for that?' Source (click here)

With the U.S. tightening its borders after the 2001 terrorist attacks, an estimated 1.2 million South Americans have moved across the Atlantic in recent years, mainly from Andean nations including Peru.

The borders have not been tightened since 9/11 They have remained wide open under Bush.

W

No country can absorb people in unlimitied numbers--especially if they are under-educated and take more than they contribute to society. The job and remittance magnets must be made less appealing--tax remittances.

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

With the U.S. tightening its borders after the 2001 terrorist attacks, an estimated 1.2 million South Americans have moved across the Atlantic in recent years, mainly from Andean nations including Peru.

The borders have not been tightened since 9/11 They have remained wide open under Bush. W

I agree much of the "enhanced" security is a myth. I've even read where Mexican children actually ride a bus across the border port, attend an American school, and then ride the same bus back to Mexico at the end of the day. Is this a great country or what.

Jose Miguel Insulza, secretary general of the Organization of American States, said Europe's directive felt like a slap, given a lengthy shared history since Spanish conquistadors arrived in the continent five centuries ago

An excellent example of using out of context arguments and historical revisionism to argue a current point.