Criminalising migration in Europe

Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights for the Council of Europe, writes in New Europe of the current wave of xenophobia in Europe, criminalising irregular migrants – including those seeking political asylum – under the guise of managed migration policies.

The Commissioner recommends member states to accede to the 1990 International Convention on Migrant Workers, the most comprehensive, international treaty on migrant workers reaffirming and establishing basic human rights. To date it has been ratified by four and signed by two Council of Europe member states, even though many European countries actively participated in its drafting.

East European migrant workers face ‘modern slavery’

Migrant workers from the EU’s Eastern member states face systematic discrimination when moving to work in ‘old Europe’, according to a new report presented on Monday 15 September at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels (CEPS).
Discrimination against those workers is “a pan-European phenomenon,” says Professor Carby Hall, the author of the report, who cited abuses ranging [...]

Return of the Free Movement blog

Great news: the Free Movement blog is back, with inside knowledge, news, gossip and commentary on the wonderful world of UK migration controls, from a barrister specialising in immigration law.

Migrants Rights Network newsletter Sept 08

September 2008 edition of Migrants Rights News
The Migrants Rights Network is working for a rights-based approach to migration, with migrants as full partners in developing [...]

IPPR Report on The local economics of migration

Your Place or Mine? The local economics of migration
This working paper, published 4th September 2008, is the first from ippr’s Economics of Migration project.
The project aims to improve understanding of the economic impacts of migration in the UK, and how policy should respond to that migration in order to maximise its economic benefits, and minimise [...]