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http://www.nationalvanguard.org/story.php?id=11608
EU Job Center to Solely Help African Immigrants Get Jobs
Report; Posted on: 2007-02-11
[ Printer friendly / Instant flyer ]
It's part of the EU strategy to deal with the increasing flow of
migrants from Africa
The European Union development commissioner, Louis Michel, is in Mali
for talks to set up the EU's first job centre for African migrants.
The idea is to match potential migrants with job offers in sectors
like agriculture, building or cleaning.
France and Spain have already pledged to advertise seasonal vacancies
there.
It's part of the EU strategy to deal with the increasing flow of
migrants from Africa, with other centres planned for Senegal and
Mauritania.
Deadly journey
Mr Michel is holding talks on the centres with Malian President Amadou
Toumani Toure Mali the capital, Bamako.
Last year, 31,000 Africans made the hazardous sea crossing to the
Canary Islands to enter the EU illegally, according to figures from
the Spanish government. A further 6,000 died trying.
The countries on the EU's southern flank - Italy, Malta and Spain -
have been pleading for help.
The EU is stepping up border patrols, both on land and at sea.
But it's also looking at ways of increasing legal migration - both to
fill gaps in the European labour market and to reduce the number of
migrants trying to enter the EU illegally.
If migrants leave with proper contracts and visas, this makes them
less vulnerable to exploitation
Jean-Philippe Chauzy
International Organisation for Migration spokesman
The International Organisation for Migration, which assists migrants
and governments around the world, says it's a "constructive step in
the right direction."
"You can't manage migration flows by simply having tougher border
controls," says IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy. "If you're trying
to undercut the people smugglers, the best way is to open up legal
opportunities (for migrants)."
The working document on the African centres, obtained by the BBC, says
the job centre project will be co-financed by the EU and member
states, although it doesn't give any figures.
It says the centres, and matching supply and demand in the labour
market, are an "integral part" of the European Commission's "Global
Approach on Migration".
Relieving pressure
Initially the Malian job centre will be in Bamako, but later it will
establish regional offices in outlying towns or villages, where
migrants begin their journey.
But the idea goes far filling the gaps in the EU labour market. It's
also aimed at relieving pressure on the EU by creating opportunities
for Africans at home.
The European Commission wants the centre to include a micro credit
facility - possibly run by the Grameen Bank, which pioneered the idea
of small loans to help people out of poverty by allowing them to set
up their own business.
The centre will also help the people who get jobs to get the necessary
papers, including visas and residence permits.
"If migrants leave with proper contracts and visas, this makes them
less vulnerable to exploitation," says Mr Chauzy. It also means
they're likely to earn better wages and have more money to send home
to help their families.
But while Mali may welcome the centre, others are less enthusiastic.
"This is very strange, even a bit crazy" says centre-right Polish MEP
Jacek Protasiewicz, author of a report in the European Parliament on
the discrimination faced by workers from the post-Communist countries
which joined the EU in 2004.
"The first thing the European Commission should do is to diminish
barriers for the free movement of workers from within the EU, and then
open job centres in other parts of the globe," he says.
Even now, people from countries like Poland, Slovakia and Lithuania -
as well as Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU this year - can't
work freely in all EU member states.
"Many millions of Poles, Lithuanians, Romanians (and others) would be
happy to have low-skilled jobs in agriculture within the EU," he adds.
Full article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6341487.stm
From a V-Reader: There are obvious powers at work that are putting the
interests of illegal (and even legal, albeit foreign) African immigrants over
the interests of native Europeans, many of whom still seek work. If there were
a center that offered jobs solely to native Europeans, it would certainly be
labeled racist.
Source: BBC News
2006 NationalVanguard.org.
EU Job Center to Solely Help African Immigrants Get Jobs
Report; Posted on: 2007-02-11
[ Printer friendly / Instant flyer ]
It's part of the EU strategy to deal with the increasing flow of
migrants from Africa
The European Union development commissioner, Louis Michel, is in Mali
for talks to set up the EU's first job centre for African migrants.
The idea is to match potential migrants with job offers in sectors
like agriculture, building or cleaning.
France and Spain have already pledged to advertise seasonal vacancies
there.
It's part of the EU strategy to deal with the increasing flow of
migrants from Africa, with other centres planned for Senegal and
Mauritania.
Deadly journey
Mr Michel is holding talks on the centres with Malian President Amadou
Toumani Toure Mali the capital, Bamako.
Last year, 31,000 Africans made the hazardous sea crossing to the
Canary Islands to enter the EU illegally, according to figures from
the Spanish government. A further 6,000 died trying.
The countries on the EU's southern flank - Italy, Malta and Spain -
have been pleading for help.
The EU is stepping up border patrols, both on land and at sea.
But it's also looking at ways of increasing legal migration - both to
fill gaps in the European labour market and to reduce the number of
migrants trying to enter the EU illegally.
If migrants leave with proper contracts and visas, this makes them
less vulnerable to exploitation
Jean-Philippe Chauzy
International Organisation for Migration spokesman
The International Organisation for Migration, which assists migrants
and governments around the world, says it's a "constructive step in
the right direction."
"You can't manage migration flows by simply having tougher border
controls," says IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy. "If you're trying
to undercut the people smugglers, the best way is to open up legal
opportunities (for migrants)."
The working document on the African centres, obtained by the BBC, says
the job centre project will be co-financed by the EU and member
states, although it doesn't give any figures.
It says the centres, and matching supply and demand in the labour
market, are an "integral part" of the European Commission's "Global
Approach on Migration".
Relieving pressure
Initially the Malian job centre will be in Bamako, but later it will
establish regional offices in outlying towns or villages, where
migrants begin their journey.
But the idea goes far filling the gaps in the EU labour market. It's
also aimed at relieving pressure on the EU by creating opportunities
for Africans at home.
The European Commission wants the centre to include a micro credit
facility - possibly run by the Grameen Bank, which pioneered the idea
of small loans to help people out of poverty by allowing them to set
up their own business.
The centre will also help the people who get jobs to get the necessary
papers, including visas and residence permits.
"If migrants leave with proper contracts and visas, this makes them
less vulnerable to exploitation," says Mr Chauzy. It also means
they're likely to earn better wages and have more money to send home
to help their families.
But while Mali may welcome the centre, others are less enthusiastic.
"This is very strange, even a bit crazy" says centre-right Polish MEP
Jacek Protasiewicz, author of a report in the European Parliament on
the discrimination faced by workers from the post-Communist countries
which joined the EU in 2004.
"The first thing the European Commission should do is to diminish
barriers for the free movement of workers from within the EU, and then
open job centres in other parts of the globe," he says.
Even now, people from countries like Poland, Slovakia and Lithuania -
as well as Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU this year - can't
work freely in all EU member states.
"Many millions of Poles, Lithuanians, Romanians (and others) would be
happy to have low-skilled jobs in agriculture within the EU," he adds.
Full article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6341487.stm
From a V-Reader: There are obvious powers at work that are putting the
interests of illegal (and even legal, albeit foreign) African immigrants over
the interests of native Europeans, many of whom still seek work. If there were
a center that offered jobs solely to native Europeans, it would certainly be
labeled racist.
Source: BBC News
2006 NationalVanguard.org.
