Support for Swiss move to regularise children

From a Swiss news website:


Political support is growing to improve the plight of thousands of children of illegal immigrants who have spent most of their lives in Switzerland.

An estimated 10-30,000 young “sans papiers” live in Switzerland without legal status. They can attend the state school system, but as a rule only until 16 - the end of compulsory schooling. Professional training and apprenticeships are out of reach.

“It really is a ticking social time bomb,” Green Party parliamentarian Antonio Hodgers told swissinfo.ch.“We let these young people finish their [compulsory] schooling but give them no training prospects or access to a job even if they grow up here.”

At the end of last year Hodgers filed a motion at the House of Representatives pushing for young sans papiers to have access to professional training and for those born in Switzerland to be legally recognised.

His proposal, which has cross-party support, urges the government to apply the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to the children of illegal immigrants. Switzerland ratified the pact in 1997.

“I invite the government to read Article 2 of the convention, which states that children should not be victims of the legal status of their parents,” he said.“Someone who decides to live illegally in a country knows that it’s going to be tough, but that’s their choice which they have to assume. “But a child hasn’t made that choice; they just followed their parents, so they shouldn’t be punished for their parents’ decision.”

Belgian regularisation begins - and Ireland introduces "bridging visas"

Belgium's regularization programme began on Tuesday and will continue until the middle of December, during which time thousands of undocumented migrants will be brought back within the scope of the law. Like the Strangers into Citizens proposal, eligibility rests on length of stay in the country, ability to speak the language, and integration into the community.

Ireland has also recognised the need to bring undocumented migrants out of the shadows, by confirming earlier this week that they will be introducing "bridging visas". Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern announced that these visas, which give temporary legal residence, will be available for people who have become undocumented "through no fault of their own". Read more about it here - another country recognising the need for routes out of irregularity.

Regularisation is 'the civil rights issue of the 21st century'

... according to Will Sommerville, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington DC, in a thoughtful piece for the Guardian online.

The problem is what to do with the huge illegally resident population in the US, estimated at 12 million, or one in three of the total foreign-born population. (Compare this to the UK, where the estimate is closer to one in 10.) It is a forbiddingly complex policy problem, made even more so by the fact that most illegal immigrants are Hispanic and many live in "mixed-legal" households.

It may be counterintuitive, but the desire to see the problem fixed means people will accept a solution that includes regularisation. In fact, according to the campaigning organisation America's Voice, even swing voters favour comprehensive action on immigration over "enforcement-only" by a margin of 60 to 40.

In the end, though, the most compelling reason reform can succeed lies in the personality and huge ambition of the current White House. For many, and seemingly for the Obama team, immigration reform has become the civil rights issue for the 21st century. This is the prize that makes reform more likely than not, and sooner rather than later.

New Commons speaker backs SiC

The new speaker of the House of Commons, the Conservative MP John Bercow, is a longstanding supporter of Strangers into Citizens. He is one of the first signatories of the early day motion.

Destitution is not a policy

Sandy Buchan, Chief Executive of Refugee Action and longstanding SiC supporter, on a new report by the Asylum Support Partnership which offers yet more upsetting news on how government policies are failing to protect those who are in most need of sanctuary.

"What makes the current policy so ineffective is that the government is treating all refused asylum seekers the same, so instead of coming up with different solutions for different people in different circumstances, everyone is being told to sign to return home or to lose support and leave their homes. Many are choosing the latter option.

Today's Destitution Tally by the Asylum Support Partnership (ASP), to which Refugee Action has contributed, focuses on solutions that will help the government to reform this woefully inadequate system. This includes giving temporary leave to those from very dangerous countries, and supporting others to take steps to return home rather than throwing them onto the streets and cutting off all contact."

Making people destitute is not helping reduce immigration levels while forcing people deeper into vulnerable situations.

Each individual has a story. To fail to hear the story of why they came -- which is almost never in search of benefits -- is to fail to recognise their humanity.

For the full article, click on the title above.

News from America

Thousands of people will take to the streets to support immigrant rights across the US. From Miami to Chicago to Los Angeles (and everywhere in between), folks will be showing their support for President Obama's plan for immigration reform in 2009.

For more info on this action in America see http://www.anewdayforimmigration.org/

Australia cuts immigrant intake - the Brits are affected

So it seems that British workers are not just working in Britain. Ironically, the Australian has decided to cut down on the number of foreign workers in industries like construction by about 14%, reports the BBC.

Apparently Britons were taking their work abroad and tradesmen in the construction industry will no longer be able to benefit from Australia's programme.

How ironic is it that while British public opinion thinks that immigration is unnecessary, there are Britons that are taking off to improve their life, the same way that thousands seek to do so in the UK every year?

Ideas for the 21st century

Compass have collected many ideas for a new 21st century democracy. We have contributed our own idea regarding immigration policies and the lack of acknowledgement for irregular migrants in the present political climate.

How would like to see democracy evolve in the 21st century?