Just tools
By Fernando Llanos, July 1st, 2008
The new immigration law related to illegal aliens in the European Union (EU) started on June 18. The new policy, called “Return Directive”, allows the different member states of EU to confine any illegal immigrant for up to 18 months before expelling them.
These new policies against “illegal immigrants” obey a new policy in EU to stop the massive immigration especially from East Europe, Africa and Latin America.
However, for a long time a lot of right wing and nationalist political parties from all Europe have been criticising the EU leaders’ “slack” policy about immigration.
The different assertions of these organizations, that claimed that the immigration generates crime, violence and poverty in European society, were rejected by Brussels and by the “establishment” like media, social organizations and political parties.
The EU has used “Human rights” as a motto, utilizing it as its international credential when the EU participates in different international affairs.
So, why has the EU made this radical change in its political philosophy about human rights, and why did they do it so fast? I think the answer is the economy.
Until now, the EU has not allowed the entrance of many illegal immigrants disguised as “tourists” from its airports or borders just because the customs officers are lazy or because they respect the free transit right of any person.
The EU didn’t release illegal immigrants who arrived to the coast of Italy, Greece or Spain just 30 days after they arrived because it was illegal to keep these people in detention.
The real reason is the “illegal immigrants” were the cheap labour workers that the European societies needed to develop their fluorescent economy. All these people were tolerated because they got the jobs that no one wanted to take.
The majority of these “illegal immigrants” just went to the EU to improve their lives. They got jobs as construction workers, agricultural labours and care givers who earn half the salary of the minimum wage, furthermore these workers never had social security, welfare or health insurance.
The “illegal immigrants” helped many businesses to profit more than expected and their hard labours, sometimes more than 10 hours per day, created the riches of many successful businessmen.
However, the new international economic crisis has changed this situation and now fewer businesses are building five-star hotels in the paradisiacal Spanish and Italian beaches and less people have enough money to pay someone to care for their elderly parents.
As simple objects that you use and then chuck out, the illegal immigrants are not useful anymore in Europe and now like criminals they will be jailed and then sent out of the land that they help to build.
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