Netherlands: Immigration minister plans speedier and tougher asylum process

Netherlands: Immigration minister plans speedier and tougher asylum process

Via DutchNews:

Immigration minister Gerd Leers is planning to tighten up the procedure for vetting asylum seekers and make it faster by cutting out several layers of the current process, he told the Volkskrant in an interview on Tuesday.

Leers wants asylum seekers to be vetted on all grounds, such as family life, medical condition and the situation in the country of origin, in one go. Their asylum claim could then be considered in one day, the minister says.

(source)

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Finland: Attitudes towards immigrants soften

Finland: Attitudes towards immigrants soften


Via YLE:

A new think tank report suggests that Finnish attitudes towards immigrants have become a little more open in recent years, after a spike in negative viewpoints at the end of the last decade.

The EVA pro-market think tank found in their latest survey that although attitudes have eased, Finns are still more likely to have a negative than receptive attitude towards immigrants.

 (...)

Nearly half of all Finns consider immigration to be a culturally enriching phenomenon. On the other hand, every other Finn believes that a tentative stance towards foreigners is "wise caution" rather than racism.(source)

(source)

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Italy: Immigrants say they are treated 'worse than animals'

Italy: Immigrants say they are treated 'worse than animals'

Via ANSA:

Immigrants held at a reception center in the southern Italian town of Bari said on Thursday that they were treated "worse than animals" by authorities at the structure.

The center for identification and expulsion, with a capacity of 119 people, is currently occupied by 196 foreigners awaiting deportation, the immigrants said.

(source)

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Finland: Higher threshold for some family reunification

Finland: Higher threshold for some family reunification

Via YLE:

Regulations governing the reunification of some families may be tightened. A report by the Interior Ministry says it is possible that in future, people resident on the grounds of humanitarian protection may have to prove sufficient income to support their families before being joined by spouses and children.

(source)

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Sarkozy: don't blame immigration laws for attacks

Sarkozy: don't blame immigration laws for attacks

Via AP:

France's president has dismissed the far-right's use of a recent killing spree as evidence of a need for tougher immigration laws, saying Monday the call makes no sense in the wake of the massacre by a "monster" who was French-born.

(...)

"We can't equate Mohamed Merah — who was born in France, and is French — with the children of immigrants who arrive by boat," Sarkozy told France-Info radio. "This Mohamed Merah, if you'll excuse me, was a monster."

(source)

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EU: Christian migrants outnumber Muslims

EU: Christian migrants outnumber Muslims

Via Reuters:

The study defined migrants as people living in another country in 2010 for over a year, including estimates of illegal immigrants and long-term refugees including Palestinians and their descendants.

"Perhaps contrary to popular perception, ... Christian immigrants outnumber Muslim immigrants in the European Union as a whole," the report said, indirectly referring to far-right parties that have long campaigned against Muslim newcomers.

Of the 47 million migrants in the EU, 26 million (56 percent) are Christians, double the 13 million Muslim migrants, who make up only 27 percent of the total, it said.

The gap narrows when intra-EU migration - for example, Christian Greeks to Germany or French-born Muslims to Britain - is excluded, but Christians migrating from outside the EU still outnumber non-EU Muslim migrants by about 13 million to 12 million.

(source)

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France: Sarkozy says 'we have too many foreigners'

France: Sarkozy says 'we have too many foreigners'

Via AFP (h/t DW):

PRESIDENT Nicolas Sarkozy says there are too many immigrants in France, as the country's presidential election campaign becomes caught up in issues of religion and identity.

Defending a re-election campaign promise to cut the number of new arrivals in half, Mr Sarkozy bluntly declared that France's attempts to integrate foreign arrivals into its culture and society had become paralysed.

"Our system of integration is working more and more badly, because we have too many foreigners on our territory and we can no longer manage to find them accommodation, a job, a school," Mr Sarkozy said.

(source)

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Sweden: Bracing for Somali family immigration boom

Sweden: Bracing for Somali family immigration boom

Via the Local:

The number of people seeking permanent residency in Sweden as relatives of immigrants already in the country will increase with 45 percent to 59,500 in 2012, a number comparable to 41,000 last year according to the latest predictions from Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket).

The main reason behind the expected increase is a recent verdict in the Migration Court of Appeal (Migrationsöverdomstolen) which is set to make it easier to seek a residence permit for people from countries where it is difficult to produce valid identification documents.

The larger part of the rise in applications is expected to come from Somalia.

(source)

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Netherlands: Cabinet keeps immigration figures artificially high, claims MP

Netherlands: Cabinet keeps immigration figures artificially high, claims MP

Via DutchNews:

The cabinet is exaggerating the number of migrants coming to the Netherlands by including children born here in the figures, GroenLinks MP Tofik Dibi said on Monday.

Dibi says ministers are inflating the figures to legitimise their relationship with the anti-Islam PVV, which wants sharp cuts in immigration levels in return for its support on the economy.

(source)

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Switzerland: Party files petition on immigration cap

Switzerland: Party files petition on immigration cap

Via the Local:

The far-right Swiss People's Party, the country's largest, on Tuesday filed a petition supporting a cap on immigration to Switzerland, where more than a fifth of the population is foreign.

Party leader Toni Brunner said he wanted to "spark a debate on immigration" as he filed the petition to the federal chancellery, ending a months-long campaign to gather the required 100,000 signatures.

If the authorities deem the document's proposals acceptable, it then goes to a popular referendum, as per Switzerland's unique system of direct democracy.

(source)

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France: Sarkozy vows to restrict immigration

France: Sarkozy vows to restrict immigration

Via the Local:

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy set the stage on Thursday for a re election campaign marked by a conservative social agenda, vowing to oppose gay marriage and euthanasia and restrict immigration.

(...)

Responding to the left's call for non-European immigrants to be allowed to vote in local elections, Sarkozy said: "It's really not the time, with all the risks associated with the rise of multiculturalism."

"In the same vein, I say very clearly that, unlike Mr Hollande, I am not in favour of regularising the situation of undocumented foreigners, which would immediately create fresh demand," he added.

He said he would introduce new qualification criteria to make it harder for a foreign-born spouse to obtain French nationality by marrying a citizen, and transfer immigration hearings to administrative courts from civil ones.

(source)

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