Word: asylums
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...absence of a common E.U. immigration policy, governments are racing to the bottom in the level of benefits they offer immigrants hoping to stay. While refugee-rights groups have criticized Britain's Labour government for issuing a meager $50 weekly to asylum seekers, two-thirds of it in vouchers, other countries' policies are even worse. Germany, for instance, has slashed monthly pocket money to $40 and requires would-be refugees to stay in detention centers for their first three months. At a time of upheaval throughout the developing world, Europe's parsimony has done nothing for its reputation. Last month...
...subject Europe's politicians would rather not talk about. No issue generates more emotion, and few others seem as confounding to solve. Take a stand on either side of the debate, and you're bound to get burned. Vowing to act tough on illegal immigrants and false asylum seekers plays well in the heartland; but crackdowns merely send refugees underground, forcing them to take ever-deadlier risks to get in. Easing entry requirements makes good economic sense, since Europe needs 75 million new workers over the next 50 years to replenish its aging population; but try telling that to downsized...
...they're still coming. Flung out of their native lands by war or persecution or poverty-or simply the promise of a better life-immigrants are crossing Europe's borders in unprecedented numbers. Last year 390,000 people applied for asylum in the E.U. Britain alone received 76,000 asylum applications, up from 4,000 in 1988. An estimated 500,000 foreigners entered the E.U. illegally last year, five times the number in 1994. And as the demand to enter Europe has widened, so have the opportunities for traffickers who would profit from these masses on the move. Scores...
...recurrence of such calamities appears to have convinced politicians that immigration can't be ignored. Last week justice and home affairs ministers from the E.U.'s 15 member states pledged to coordinate refugee policies to reduce the number of people falsely claiming asylum and staying in Europe illegally. That followed the announcement by the British and Italian governments that both countries would send their own immigration and police officials to the Balkans to help bust human trafficking rings, which are responsible for 10% of the illegal migration into Europe. On Friday Britain and France agreed to dispatch immigration officers...
...Those ideas would require plenty of diplomatic arm-twisting and would take years to implement. A common E.U. asylum policy isn't expected before 2004. Until then European countries will set their own standards, which isn't great news for immigrants. A new Spanish law that aims to crack down on smuggling also provides for the expulsion of immigrants residing in the country without legal permission. Italy has opened a broad front in its battle against illegal immigration: the government has established repatriation accords with East European and North African countries under which illegal immigrants apprehended on Italian territory...