Europe's tangle over immigration

Lorries have been used to smuggle people from mainland Europe into England at the Dover port

By Robin Oakley
CNN European Political Editor

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Europe could scarcely be in a greater tangle about immigration.

The economics, politics and social welfare policies of the continent are all in a state of flux, and immigration is becoming a crucial factor in them all.

People facing persecution or oppression in their native lands because of their race, political beliefs or religious faith are attracted to Europe's freedoms of speech, association and worship.

Europe is also an earnings magnet for people who face lives of grinding poverty in their home states, or those who suffer from war-torn economies and see European countries as lands of plenty.

Some have tried to blur the distinctions. Some of those seeking political asylum and claiming persecution are really economic migrants seeking better incomes.

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Inevitably, with 15 million people unemployed in the European Union alone, the influx of outsiders has been resented in some areas -- whatever the reasons for their arrival.

Some people fear that asylum seekers are too great a burden for their countries' social welfare systems to bear. Others voice alarm that economic migrants may take their jobs. Some resent the dilution of traditional local cultures when immigrants cluster in certain areas.

Racial tension

Social tensions have been evident with increasing numbers of racial assaults.

Right-wing parties like those of Jorg Haider in Austria, Pia Kjaersgaard in Denmark and Filip Dewinter in Belgium have prospered by playing on fears of a loss of national identity and campaigning against immigration.

Meanwhile, criminals have been cashing in on the desperation of political and economic migrants to change their lifestyles.

People-smuggling has become a highly organised and lucrative racket, sometimes resulting in tragedies like the asphyxiation of 58 Chinese would-be immigrants in a container lorry at the English port of Dover in June 2000.

Those who have used the criminals' services in the hope of starting a new life have found themselves exploited in "black economy" sweat shops, spending decades paying back with interest the smugglers' fees. Women and children seeking a new life have been lured into sex slavery and prostitution.

Labour shortage

But there is another dimension to immigration. Many European governments face a shortage of skilled workers in areas like information technology, and they have eased entry restrictions to attract qualified immigrants.

European governments are keen to attract skilled information technology workers

"We need immigration," declared German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who announced plans in 2000 to allow 20,000 non-German computer staff to settle.

Barbara Roche, the UK's immigration minister, has made it easier for non-British students to stay. "In the past we have thought purely about immigration control," she said. "Now we need to think about immigration management."

And it is not only high-tech immigration that is wanted. Some countries are short of cheap manual labour too. In Spain, where the indigenous population is declining, a migrant army of North Africans does much of the orange- and grape-picking, while Poles and Romanians are much in evidence on Madrid building sites.

In 2000, 250,000 people took advantage of the Spanish Government's amnesty for "sin papeles", or illegal immigrants.

In most European nations, people are living longer and having fewer children. Many governments have recognised they will not be able to fund their pension systems without large-scale immigration over the next two to three decades.

Jean-Pierre Chevenement, the former French interior minister, said Europe will need 50 million to 75 million immigrants during the next 50 years to fill jobs.

In Italy there were eight workers to every pensioner in the 1950s. There are less than four today and, without immigration, that number will dwindle to 1.5 by 2050.

Likewise, Germany will need 3 million immigrants a year to maintain the current ratio of workers to pensioners.

Little wonder, then, that the European Commission, the executive body of the 15-nation European Union, has said zero-immigration policies are out of step with reality and declared: "Our aim is to open as large a debate as possible on immigration and asylum."

The EU is seeking agreement on a more unified immigration and asylum policy by the end of 2001. But the politics of the issue are potentially explosive, and politicians in most European countries have done little to prepare their citizens for the changes to come.

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