The migrants Europe WANTS 🔧🍅🧹
Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)
We work for a world where everyone can enjoy their human rights, whatever their migration status.
It’s no secret that Europe has become a more hostile place for people seeking safety or livelihood: from strengthened border surveillance to the criminalisation of migration and solidarity with migrants, from the obsession with deportations to externalisation deals like the one in place between Italy and Albania, the list is long.
"At the same time, European governments across the political spectrum are silently opening the door to non-EU workers as they desperately try to fill ever expanding labour shortages. In 2023, about 85% of occupations studied by EURES were identified as shortage occupations by one or more EU countries.
Germany is on track to grant 200,000 visas and permits with the purpose to work or find workby the end of the year, with the stated intention to tackle widespread labour shortages. The Italian far-right government has opened 452,000 spots for the period 2023 to 2025, the highest number ever, while admitting the actual need for workers is almost double.
Poland, governed until 2023 by the far-right nationalists of Law and Justice, has recorded a boom in work permits for non-EU citizens, culminating in the peak of 275,000 work permits issued in 2023 alone to workers arriving from Asia and Latin America: a leap of 401% compared to 2019 levels.
In 2023, Greece passed a measure to regularise some 30,000 undocumented workers with the explicit intent of addressing labour shortages.
Only weeks ago, Spanish socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez toured West Africa to strike new labour migration deals with Gambia, Mauritania and Senegal, while new measures are expected to allow some 900,000 undocumented people living in Spain to regularise their situation and work regularly in the next three years.
This trend shows the hypocrisy of political forces who present migration as a problem to be stopped, while in reality it is direly needed for Europe’s continued prosperity. A big risk in this context is that labour migration reforms take a purely utilitarian approach, with precarious permits, restrictions that make workers dependent on their employers, and limited family and social rights. To make labour migration work for all, policies should promote decent work and social inclusion.
CRIMINALISATION
Sweden unveils blueprint for obliging public sector workers to denounce undocumented migrants
The Swedish government presented the findings of a public inquiry outlining how a potential new law could oblige some public sector workers to denounce undocumented people they come in contact with to the immigration authorities. The inquiry suggests that the Swedish government introduce reporting obligations for various public agencies, including the Public Employment Service, Social Insurance Agency, and Tax Agency. While exemptions are proposed for health services, schools and social services, civil society has condemned this move as any reporting obligation sows fear and mistrust among undocumented people and in society more broadly. Read more in our press release.
DETENTION AND DEPORTATIONS
UNHCR opens to deportation hubs
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) told EU Observer that EU "return hubs" in non-EU countries could encourage rejected asylum seekers to return home voluntarily. These hubs would serve as interim locations for those who refuse to leave the EU before their final repatriation. Civil society has already warned of potential human rights abuses and high costs, citing past failures of schemes to externalise asylum processing in Australia, the UK, and Italy.
New EU Commission plan for voluntary repatriation of Syrians
The European Commission unveiled plans to increase “voluntary returns” of Syrians, following calls by Italy and other member states. The plan includes the appointment of a special envoy and funding for basic facilities in Syria. The plan was discussed at a meeting with member states representatives at the end of October and is yet to be published.
Somalia and Germany negotiate deportation deal
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reached an agreement to speed up deportations of undocumented Somali nationals, which Scholz himself said represent a tiny fraction of those living in Germany. The deal also comes as the German foreign ministry continues to discourage travel to Somalia because of high risks of terrorist attacks, kidnappings and other violence. Germany recently struck similar deals with India, Morocco and Kenya.
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES
UK: campaigners warn of AI uses in immigration enforcement
The UK Home Office's AI tool, IPIC, used to recommend immigration enforcement actions, has drawn criticism for potentially enabling officials to rubberstamp life-altering decisions without proper scrutiny. The tool processes personal data, including biometrics and criminal records, to prioritize cases for removal action, currently impacting about 41,000 people. Campaigners argue the system lacks transparency and accountability, with people often unaware AI is involved in their cases, and call for the tool’s withdrawal.
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HEALTH
Italy-Albania deal: NGOs call on doctors not to collaborate
A coalition of 14 sea rescue organizations, including Doctors Without Borders and Sea-Watch, has urged health professionals to avoid complicity in the Italy-Albania deal's implementation. The NGOs highlight that many migrants have endured severe trauma, including torture and abuse, on their journeys, and argue that the screenings conducted during transfers to Albania lack proper medical facilities, private spaces, and diagnostic tools. The NGOs also point out the World Health Organization's warning that immigration detention poses health risks due to inadequate care standards and the potential spread of diseases.
In the meantime, Italian personnel in the centres is moving back to Italy as the centres are effectively empty.
REGULARISATION
Belgian lawyers call for work-based regularisation
The French- and German-speaking bar association of Belgium has called for a regularisation mechanism to address labour shortages. The plan would allow undocumented people to obtain a work permit for jobs in sectors with critical shortages, such as hospitality, construction, and tech, if they have a job offer. The proposal has garnered interest from employers, given the 38,800 unfilled job vacancies and 162 shortage occupations in Wallonia alone. However, political support remains uncertain.
Spain: new measures may regularise 300,000 undocumented people per year
The Spanish Government approved a reform of the country’s migration rules which should simplify requirements for non-EU nationals living undocumented in Spain to obtain residence and work permits. The government estimates that the reform will allow some 300,000 people to regularise their status each year over the next three years, once it comes into action in May 2025. At the same time, civil society is asking the government to keep working on a broad regularisation programme as promoted by the movement RegularizacionYa!.
WORK
New EU ban on forced labour products leaves out migrant workers
In a final vote on 19 November 2024, the EU Council passed a new EU Regulation banning products made from forced labour (either inside the EU or imported from outside the EU). The ban targets products, not forced labour itself. The Regulation does not foresee consultation or engagement with workers involved, nor does it foresee remediation or access to better conditions. Migrant workers whose residence status is dependent on the employer or undocumented workers could risk immigration enforcement as a result of investigations around cases of forced labour. Read more in our press release.
Germany to grant 200,000 job-seeking visas by end of year
By the end of the year, Germany is on track to have granted 200,000 visas and permits with the purpose to work or find work in the country, with the stated intention to tackle widespread labour shortages. This includes more than 2,500 of a new job-seeking visa - called an 'Opportunity Card' - which provides people with up to one year to find employment that would be eligible for a work permit in Germany and apply for the permit. To be eligible, people must have a minimum level of German or English language skills, be able to show funds of about €1,000 per month for the duration of their stay, and have completed at two least years of vocational training or a university degree. Either these qualifications should be fully recognised in Germany or the person should accumulate at least six points from a point-based system with criteria linked to age, education and work experience, qualifications related to a shortage occupation, language skills, previous stay in Germany, and if a joint application is made with a partner/ spouse. Visa holders may work for up to 20 hours per week and take part in 2-week job trials.
PUBLICATIONS
International Commission of Jurists, Never in the best interests of the child: Risks of child detention in the screening and border procedures under the 2024 EU Migration Pact
International Rescue Committee and others, Safeguarding the rights of unaccompanied children at EU borders under the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum
BOOKMARKS
On EU Observer, independent researcher Hope Barker reports about systematic violence of Serbian police against migrants, while Frontex strengthens its ties with the country’s authorities.
In a new podcast, researchers at the I-CLAIM research project discuss the definitions of irregular migration and why they matter.
On openDemocracy, Lorenzo D’Agostino explores how Italian anti-mafia tactics and tools are being applied to criminalise migration and solidarity with migrants.