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May 17, 2009

European Foundation Centre
Immigration Issues Draw Attention From Grant Makers

One backdrop to the conference was the topic of immigration in Europe, and in Italy in particular.

Last week, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s government continued its crackdown on illegal immigration, making an arrangement with Libya to deport migrants to Libya before they arrive on Italian shores.

Those actions have been met by dismay and anger by human-rights activists in Italy and elsewhere.

The controversy was evident at the European Foundation Centre’s conference, when, during the opening plenary, Giorgio Napolitano, president of the Italian Republic, spoke about the dangers of xenophobia and intolerance.

That sentiment was underscored two days later at the conference’s closing session, where Emílio Rui Vilar, the newly elected chair of the European Foundation Centre, read a statement on behalf of conference participants that Europeans must work together to defend the human rights of immigrants.

The statement, which was met with enthusiastic applause from foundation officials in the audience, said: “It is with great regret that we witness the emergence of a climate in Italy, which is symptomatic of a general trend throughout Europe, which leads to measures relating to undocumented migrants that undermine people’s basic human rights….”

“We recognize that migration is a complex and challenging issue for all European member states…. We strongly encourage the governments of all member states to work individually, together and with the institutions of the European Union to build a framework for addressing migration in ways that truly respect the dignity of all human beings as defined in the European Convention on Human Rights.”

— Marty Michaels

Sunday May 17, 2009 | Permalink

Comments

1. Reply from the European Foundation Centre

   When the decision was made (around one year ago) that “Fighting Poverty – Creating Opportunities” should be the focus of this year’s EFC Conference, it was always intended to address both the causes and the impacts of poverty in all their diversity.

   In his speech to the opening session of the EFC Conference on May 14th, Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Italian Republic, spoke about the need to combine action against poverty with measures to tackle “exclusion”, which is a word commonly used in Europe to describe the various forms of discrimination and disadvantage faced by members of certain groups — including minorities and migrants.

   Addressing our Conference in Rome, President Napolitano noted how in Europe “the diversity of the social fabric, in terms of national and ethnic origins, religions and cultural backgrounds, has increased”. He warned that “the risk of translating diversity into a factor of exclusion is always present”, and said this is “aggravated by the rise of a public rhetoric which does not hesitate – also here, in Italy – to include intolerant or xenophobic overtones.”

   Napolitano’s remarks were widely reported in the Italian press, and many participants at the EFC Conference expressed an interest in making some kind of response to show their strong agreement with the President’s message. This became clear at the special plenary session on Migration and Poverty on Friday morning (May 15th).

   The EFC’s Management Committee decided that a short statement (drafted by EFC members) should be presented to all delegates at the closing session of our Conference on May 16th. With their applause, delegates showed their agreement with the text, which reflects concerns that are widely shared — across the European foundation community and beyond.

   The Conference Statement is consistent with the EFC’s firm attachment to the principles of social justice, human rights, non-discrimination, and the eradication of poverty.

   Ben Carlin
   Communications Officer
   European Foundation Centre
   Brussels, Belgium
   bcarlin@efc.be

   — Ben Carlin    May 17, 05:55 PM    #

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