US embassy cable - 04BRUSSELS4012

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 BRUSSELS 004012 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/PRP - SBUSBY; EUR/ERA - KSHEARER; 
HOMELAND SECURITY FOR CIS/ASYLUM DIVISION - JLANGLOIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SMIG, PREF, PHUM, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: EU GRAPPLES WITH INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION: DUTCH 
PRESIDENCY TO PRESENT ROADMAP 
 
1. (U) Summary.  Approximately 250 experts in migration 
policy from throughout Europe and North America gathered at a 
conference hosted by the Dutch Presidency in Amsterdam, 
September 1-3, to discuss the current state of migration 
affairs in the EU and to recommend policy options in managing 
migration flows.  The Dutch Presidency will present a 
multi-year migration strategy paper at an upcoming EU Council 
meeting of Justice and Interior Ministers on November 5. 
While many speakers at the conference underscored the 
positive economic and demographic consequences of 
immigration, others focused on the political sensitivities 
which surround the social debate.  The inability of European 
countries to effectively patrol the EU's external borders 
fuels a popular backlash against migrants.  Asylum seekers 
are viewed with particular disdain as many are thought to be 
economic migrants making spurious (and costly) requests for 
international protection.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) Around four to six million foreigners (slightly over 
one percent of the population) are estimated to be in the EU 
illegally.  Although the percentage and numbers of illegals 
are lower when compared to the U.S. (around 3 percent or 12 
million illegal aliens), concern about immigration remains 
much stronger in Europe.  Even if illegals and other migrants 
work in jobs most citizens will not fill, including the 
critically needed domestic, health and care services, 
Europeans tend to display a lack of hospitality towards them. 
 
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Presidency Strikes Right Chord 
----------------- 
 
3. (U) In her keynote address, Dutch Minister for Immigration 
and Integration Rita Verdonk sketched out an ideal view of a 
Europe that was open to the world, yet secure.  She professed 
to be unhappy with "Fortress Europe" and said that there was 
no need for "a new iron curtain between rich and poor."  She 
also emphasized the need for Europe to maintain a 
humanitarian system, recommending that the best way to keep 
the hearts and minds of citizens open to the needs of the 
persecuted was to ensure swift and efficient asylum 
procedures.  Verdonk also said the EU should do more to 
encourage protection mechanisms in regions of origin, citing 
the attack on a refugee camp in Burundi as an example of why 
Europe needed to do more abroad. 
 
4. (U) Even in her rallying call to tackle illegal 
immigration, Verdonk injected a humanitarian note by 
referring to the hundreds of migrants intercepted in the 
Mediterranean on small boats and the many watery graves.  She 
said the growth of illegal immigration enriched organized 
crime groups which used profits to carry out other illegal 
enterprises that can "threaten the fabric of our society." 
According to Verdonk, illegal migrants living on the margins 
of society overwhelm -- or fall outside -- European social 
systems.  To secure the EU's borders, Verdonk said that 
travel and residency documents must be made more secure by 
incorporating biometric identifiers.  She also called for 
improved cooperation with neighbors and expressed hope that 
the new EU Border Agency would contribute to more secure 
external frontiers. 
 
5. (U) Verdonk underscored the positive aspects of legal 
immigration, including cultural ones.  She said the 
immigrants could contribute to stimulating the European 
economy and thus help the EU fulfill the Lisbon strategy. 
She also noted that immigration was part of the solution to 
reversing Europe's demographic decline.  Verdonk concluded 
her remarks by noting, "Immigration is something we can no 
longer live without, even if we want to live without it." 
 
6. (U) Despite the well-balanced speech, Verdonk was unable 
to respond convincingly to the questions from the audience 
which followed.  When a British Home Office participant asked 
how the EU could foster a greater acceptance of immigrants 
and asylum seekers among its citizens, Verdonk urged greater 
interagency and international cooperation to address 
problems.  When an Irish Justice Department official asked 
what political strategy the Dutch Presidency had developed to 
encourage closer standardization of asylum policies at the 
European level, Verdonk noted that enlargement had made that 
task more difficult than it was before.  Nonetheless, she 
concluded that the Member States had already agreed at the 
political level to move towards a European system, and thus a 
way had to be found. 
 
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EU: Already Home to (Productive) Immigrants 
----------------- 
 
7. (U) Policy briefs prepared for the conference illustrated 
via statistics that foreigners are currently present and 
productive throughout Europe.  States with the highest 
percentage of foreign-born residents (Luxembourg - near 40%, 
Austria - 25%, Switzerland - 23% and Germany - 13%) are among 
the wealthiest countries.  The percentages of foreign born 
(including naturalized and other citizens) in these countries 
surpass those of the U.S. (11%).  Other wealthy European 
countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and France 
come close to the U.S. composition with 8-9% foreign-born. 
Europe's total migrant population is estimated to be 36 - 39 
million people, the majority of which originate from outside 
Europe.  The largest blocks of foreigners living in the EU 
are Turks (2.6 million) and Moroccans (1.4 million). 
 
8. (U) Like the U.S., Europe's net population gain in 2003 
(1.3 million people) is attributed principally to 
immigration.  In absolute numbers, Germany, the UK and Italy 
received the largest numbers of immigrants.  However, 
relative to population size, growth was seen most in Cyprus 
( 14 per 1000 inhabitants), Ireland ( 7), and Portugal ( 6). 
Only in the Baltics and Poland did EU Member States see more 
emigration than immigration. 
 
9. (U) Unlike the U.S., most of those coming to Europe 
legally do not do so for family reasons.  Family formation 
(marriage) and reunification accounts for about 30% of 
Europe's legal immigrants.  Numbers in this category are 
particularly high in Sweden, Belgium and Denmark.  A related 
group includes those coming because of ethnic ties (such as 
returnees from the former Soviet Union to Germany). 
Surprisingly, the group singled out by the media for the most 
criticism -- refugees and asylees -- comprises the smallest 
number of Europe's legal residents, under 10% of all 
immigrants. 
 
10. (U) The majority of those immigrating legally to Europe 
come for economic reasons.  When including illegal aliens, 
labor migrants account for over half the foreign population. 
Economic streams of immigration are particularly strong in 
Italy, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Greece.  According to a 
European Commission (EC) report dated 7-16-2004, migration 
helps the EU sustain economic growth.  Migrants from outside 
Europe contributed 22% to employment growth for the period 
from 1997-2002 even though they only comprise 3.6% of the 
total EU work force.  The report concludes that "given the 
extremely high levels of employment already reached by 
skilled EU nationals, third countries' labor is increasingly 
appearing as a major potential which can be tapped to respond 
to the growing demand for skilled labor while continuing to 
respond to the demand for low skilled labor." 
 
11. (U) When looking at the EU 15, immigrants (particularly 
from developing countries) are over-represented in the 
low-skilled end of the labor market and the high-skill end of 
the market (mainly immigrants from other developed 
countries).  The following statistics show the ratio between 
immigrants and native born citizens across the EU 15 average: 
-- Immigrants:  low skills (52%), medium skills (28%), high 
skills (20%) 
-- Natives:  low skills (46%), medium skills (38%), high 
skills (16%) 
 
12. (U) Several speakers at the Amsterdam conference 
predicted that Europe would increasingly have to compete to 
attract needed laborers to fill market gaps.  Professor 
Rainer Munz of the Hamburg Institute of International 
Economics suggested the EU might also consider ways to 
attract back the 450,000 European scientists and researchers 
currently working in the U.S. -- or copying the U.S. 
technique of smoothing transition of foreign students from 
universities into the labor market.  Other suggestions and 
challenges for policymakers outlined by Munz in his policy 
brief included: 
 
-- facilitating access to permanent residency and citizenship 
in order to attract needed high skilled immigrants; 
--adopting a "point system" in selecting immigrants as done 
by Canada, or experimenting with "earned regularizations" 
(which gives residency permanents to illegals who are 
employed); 
-- reduce the reliance of the low skills job market on 
self-selecting illegals; 
-- help the ten new EU Member States prepare for their 
transformation into countries of destination for 
international migrants; and, 
-- target measures so that certain immigrant groups which 
perform below the norm in terms of employment and 
assimilation (Turks and North Africans) acquire needed skills 
and abilities to become productive. 
 
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Politics Intrude 
---------- 
 
13. (U) Despite the strong case for immigration, the majority 
of Europeans would prefer not to open their countries to 
foreigners.  Some say there already too many unemployed 
(although studies show these will not take jobs filled by 
low-skilled migrants).  Others find the religious values, 
particularly of Muslim migrants, troubling or repulsive 
(despite European claims to toleration and 
multi-culturalism).  Finally, the perceived lack of effective 
tools to control borders leads to resentment of those who 
enter without authorization and as lawbreakers.  For these 
reasons, anti-immigrant parties have flourished and done well 
and virtually every national election in the past few years 
throughout the EU. 
 
14. (U) Rocco Buttiglione, incoming EU Commissioner for 
Justice, Freedom and Security ignited a fierce debate in 
early September after suggesting that camps for migrants 
attempting to enter the EU illegally be set up in Libya and 
Tunisia.  His comments came as German and Italian interior 
ministers were discussing a similar initiative.  The plan 
revives a proposal made last year by the UK and ultimately 
rejected by the EU because of legal, practical and 
humanitarian concerns.  Sweden and UNHCR criticized the lack 
of adequate protection mechanisms ) a problem intensified by 
Buttiglione,s identification of Libya as a possible venue. 
(Note.  In his native Italy, the government is also working 
bilaterally with Libya to stop the flow of migrants from 
North Africa, the new gateway to Italy for illegals.  End 
Note.)  Member of the European Parliament Baroness Sarah 
Ludford (UK Liberal) assailed the plan as &wacky8 and 
during a BBC interview noted that it had already been 
rejected by the Commission for good reasons.  She said the 
Buttiglione can expect a rigorous grilling during his 
confirmation hearing before the Parliament later this month. 
Nevertheless, Germany and Italy continue to support the idea 
(even though the Green party in Germany has broken with 
Interior Minister Schilly on this point). 
 
15. (U) Buttiglione,s view probably reflects that of the 
average European.  At the Amsterdam conference, other 
measures were discussed to strengthen the EU,s border 
controls and to effectively curb abuse in the asylum system. 
In a workshop on EU borders, participants discussed several 
proposals for enhancing an integrated approach to the 
European frontier, including creation of a pool of 
multinational external border inspectors, establishment of an 
EU multinational coast guards corps and development of common 
consular offices and even a single EU visa.  The workshop 
also explored ways of building  effective partnerships with 
migrant-sending and transit countries. 
 
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Ensuring Protection: Here and There 
------------------------ 
 
16. (U) A separate workshop on asylum and refugee protection 
focused on the development of a single procedure 
incorporating refugee and other &subsidiary8 protection 
mechanisms.  While many noted the challenges of consolidating 
all protection procedures into one, there was general 
consensus that a single "protection8 procedure is far 
preferable to disparate ones.  Neverthelss, finding consensus 
on asylum in Europe has been one of the EC's biggest 
challenges (with Germany often spoiling the consensus). 
 
17. (U) The second half of the workshop focused on a recent 
EC communication on improving access to durable solutions for 
refugees, which proposes establishment of an EU-wide refugee 
resettlement program and an increase in EU resources devoted 
to enhancing protection for refugees in their regions of 
origin.  While governments spoke generally in favor of these 
ideas, many voiced skepticism about the ability of migration 
ministries to affect overseas assistance and development 
programs.  Others (e.g., France) were more blunt, stating 
that EU citizens and their governments were unlikely to 
significantly increase their support for overseas refugee 
programs unless they see clear benefits to themselves (i.e., 
a reduction in the number of spontaneous arrivals by asylum 
seekers on their territories). 
 
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Provocative Conclusions 
--------------------------- 
 
18. (U) The conference concluded with several provocative 
presentations on the way-ahead for Europe on migration 
policy.  Antonis Kastrissianakis, Director of Employment 
Strategy and European Social Fund policy Development and 
Coordination, DG Employment and Social Affairs, European 
Commission, reminded the audience of the demographic 
challenges facing the EU for the next several decades and 
stressed that increased immigration, while not a cure-all to 
this problem, could help.  He encouraged member-states to 
look at more effective ways of attracting skilled labor 
(including from the U.S.) and integrating existing migrants. 
Jan Karlsson, co-chair of the Global Commission on 
International Migration, summarized the work of the 
Commission and said his chief lesson learned to date was the 
importance of taking into account the perspective of the 
migrant in seeking to develop effective migration policies. 
Migrants, he noted, do not always respond to the same 
incentives and disincentives that policymakers in the 
developed world think they do.   A representative from the 
Dutch Ministry of Justice closed the proceedings by noting 
that the Netherlands would seek to incorporate the various 
recommendations made at the conference into the formal 
conclusions to be developed at the Justice and Home Affairs 
Council session in November. 
 
------------------------ 
Comment 
------------------------ 
 
19. (U) The Dutch Presidency, despite its excellent effort to 
ensure that a balanced view of migration was presented at the 
conference, should stress measures to beef up the union's 
external frontiers when it presents its multi-year strategy 
in November.  Likewise, its recommendations on international 
protection should underscore activities the EU can undertake 
in refugee producing regions.  Acknowledged, but not 
effectively addressed at the conference, were measures the EU 
must take to promote the integration of migrants into 
European societies.  That the most visible immigrants come 
from countries whose values and ways of life frequently 
collide with host societies, compounds the problem.  Whether 
it be disputes over the use of headscarves by Dutch 
waitresses or French schoolgirls, the rise in anti-Semitic 
violence linked to immigrants or the growth of Islamophobia, 
Europeans have not yet found a way to smooth away the rough 
edges associated with international migration. 
 
20. (U)  Migration management and the embracing of immigrants 
to contribute to the social and economic fabric is one area 
where Europe looks to the U.S. for a possible model. 
Although Europeans have traditionally resisted the notion 
that they are an "area of immigration," the reality is 
otherwise; EC officials are now begin to perceive the need to 
highlight the benefits of controled immigration in order to 
foster greater toleration of migrants by European citizens. 
 
SCHNABEL