Doc. 8797
6 July 2000

Clandestine migrants

Motion for a resolution

presented by Mr Mutman and several of his colleagues

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

1. Clandestine migration has become a permanent feature in most Council of Europe member states. Exact figures are not available for obvious reasons, however the number of foreign nationals residing unlawfully in Europe is estimated at several millions, and this figure continues to rise.

2. The growing economic, social and demographic disparities between countries on the one hand, and the increasing demand for illegal low-paid, unskilled labour in many European countries on the other, result in flows of clandestine migrants who have no chance to migrate legally.

3. Illegal entry to a given country often involves the activity of highly organized international networks of traffickers, which also often act as intermediaries in illegal employment of clandestine migrants.

4. Moreover certain restrictive practices of governments concerning residence permits and family reunion push many migrants who have arrived in a legal way into clandestinity.

5. The dangers of clandestine migration, and the resulting problems for both illegal migrants and the receiving society are numerous and serious.

6. The dramatic situation of millions people deprived of their basic legal, economic, social and civil rights remains in clear contradiction with the spirit of numerous international instruments safeguarding human rights, in particular the European Convention on Human Rights.

7. On the other hand this situation represents an infringement of the safeguards to which legal residents and in particular workers of a given country are entitled, a distortion of the rules of competition between enterprises jeopardising the national economy as a whole, and a deceit inflicted on society by employment of low-cost labour without paying social security charges and taxes.

8. Moreover, the presence of illegal migrants is a source of social and ethnic tensions. It is often exploited by some political forces to stir up racism and xenophobia.

9. The Parliamentary Assembly is deeply concerned with this situation and urges the Governments to undertake a number of short, medium and long term solutions, and in particular:

- to improve the situation of illegal migrants in specific areas involving the most basic human rights by ensuring them, for example free access to health care and education for children;

- to promote legalisation of illegal migrants;

- to combat clandestine labour more effectively;

- to introduce on a larger scale temporary and seasonal contracts and jobs for migrants in co-operation with governments of countries of origin in order to promote seasonal work without involving long-term or permanent migration;

- to create a legal framework and to encourage entrepreneurs to employ short-term migrants on short-term contracts in areas where there is a shortage of local workers;

- to impose severe sanctions on traffickers and to strengthen international co-operation in combating illegal networks;

- to promote, in co-operation with the countries of origin concerned, information campaigns addressed to potential illegal migrants, discouraging them from leaving their countries;

- to promote an information campaign against xenophobia.

Signed : ¹

Mutman, Turkey, SOC

Christodoulides, Cyprus, UEL

Cilevics, Latvia, SOC

Connor, Ireland, EPP/CD

Fernandez Aguilar, Spain, EPP/CD

Gross, Switzerland , SOC

Iwinski, Poland, SOC

Judd, United Kingdom, SOC

Lopez Gonzalez, Spain, SOC

Paslaru, Romania, SOC

Stoisits, Austria, SOC

Tabajdi, Hungary, SOC

Telek, Turkey, EDG

Tkac, Slovakia, EDG

Vermot-Mangold, Switzerland, SOC

¹        SOC: Socialist Group

      EPP/CD: Group of the European People’s Party

      EDG: European Democratic Group

      LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers’ Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left

      NR: not registered in a group