MIGRATION-SOUTH
AMERICA:
Summit Protests EU
‘Return Directive’
By Marcela Valente
SAN MIGUEL DE TUCUMÁN,
Argentina (IPS) -
European Union
immigration policy was
unanimously rejected in
strong terms by the
presidents of the
Southern Common Market (Mercosur)
and associate countries,
meeting in Argentina.
At the six-monthly
summit meeting, held
this time in the
northwestern Argentine
city of San Miguel de
Tucumán, negotiators
made progress on
integration issues in
preparatory sessions,
while the leaders’
summit focused on the
world food crisis and
the new EU policy of
restrictions on
undocumented immigrants.
At the summit, the
presidents agreed to
extend the passport-free
movement of their
citizens, who will be
able to travel on
presentation of their
national identity
documents across all the
borders of South
America, except Guyana
and Suriname. The
measure facilitates the
movement of persons in
the region, in contrast
to the restrictive
attitude taken towards
them by the EU.
The leaders of the
bloc’s four full member
countries were present
in the capital of the
province of Tucumán:
Cristina Fernández of
the host country, Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva of
Brazil, Nicanor Duarte
of Paraguay, and Tabaré
Vázquez of Uruguay. Also
attending the meeting
was Hugo Chávez of
Venezuela, which is in
the process of acquiring
full membership.
Representing associate
members of Mercosur were
Chilean President
Michelle Bachelet,
Bolivian President Evo
Morales, and Foreign
Ministers José García of
Peru and María Isabel
Salvador of Ecuador.
Mexico, which has
observer status, sent
Foreign Minister
Patricia Espinosa.
The 35th Mercosur Summit
released a declaration
Tuesday condemning the
European Parliament’s
Return Directive. The
original text, which
only expressed "deep
concern," was changed at
the last minute at
Morales’ suggestion to
include the term
"rejection" in the first
paragraph.
The document states that
the countries of the
region "regret" that
European countries which
in the past themselves
generated migration
currents "should not
recognise now, on the
basis of historical
reciprocity, the shared
responsibility between
countries of origin,
transit and
destination."
The leaders commented on
the "valuable
contribution" made by
migrants to the
development of their
countries of residence,
and recommended that
"broadly inclusive
policies" be drawn up,
with the participation
of immigrants. They also
rejected any attempt to
treat foreigners living
in the EU without proper
documents as criminals.
The Return Directive was
approved on Jun. 18 by
the European Parliament,
and EU countries have a
period of two years to
incorporate it into
their national laws. It
authorises EU
governments to detain
undocumented immigrants
simply on an
administrative order,
and retain them for up
to 18 months prior to
their deportation.
Finally, the Tucumán
summit stressed that
industrialised countries
should adopt policies to
prevent the economic
asymmetries that fuel
emigration from the
developing South.
In that context, it
condemned the enormous
subsidies paid to
farmers in the North
"that distort
competitiveness," and
the lack of openness of
EU markets to products
from developing nations.
"The cold wind of
xenophobia is again
bringing false solutions
to the challenges of the
economy and society,"
Lula said emphatically,
referring to the
controversial European
directive, when he took
over the rotating
presidency of Mercosur
from Fernández for the
next six months.
The Argentine president
said that the directive
was "inadmissible," and
Bachelet said it "could
seriously harm the human
rights of immigrants"
because of the
"degrading" treatment it
allows, including the
possibility of even
children and teenagers
being deported to third
countries.
Vázquez, in turn, said
that "nobody emigrates
for pleasure, but
because they are forced
to," and recalled the
days when Europeans
flowed in great number
to South America. "My
grandparents were
Galician (a region in
Spain), French and
Italian," and they were
welcomed "with open
arms" in all the
countries of the region,
he said.
Morales, the first
indigenous president in
Bolivia’s history, in
spite of the fact that
the majority of the
population is of
indigenous origin, had
harsher words.
"They said that Indians
had no souls," he said,
referring to debates in
Europe after the
discovery of the
Americas, "but where is
the European soul?" he
asked, urging the bloc
to reject the policy.
The most "radical," in
his own words, was
Chávez, who proposed
action rather than
rhetoric, including
considering the "return"
of European investments
in the region.
In Chávez’s view, the
directive "legalises
barbarism." The
Europeans must be urged
to reflect, he said. "We
already have a wall of
shame in Mexico," he
said, alluding to the
border fence put up by
the United States, "but
it will be much harder
for the Europeans
because they will have
to build it in the
Atlantic ocean."
The presidents agreed on
the need to hold talks
with European
governments to urge them
to retreat from the
decision taken by the
bloc’s Parliament.
The toughly worded
declaration by the South
American countries
matches the concern
shown by the
Organisation of American
States (OAS), which has
decided to send a
special high-level
mission to Europe to
press for a change in
the policy.
The OAS delegation, led
by the regional group’s
secretary general, José
Miguel Insulza, has been
mandated to gather
information and seek
"practical solutions,
through dialogue," to
the concerns expressed
by member country
representatives,
according to a
resolution approved at a
Jun. 26 meeting in
Washington.
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