Monday, November 3, 2008

EU immigration policy and illegal immigration (Miun-Pisa Discussion Forum 7)

7 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Hi,
I would like to write an essay related to this topic but not precisely about illegal immigration as such although I think this may come up as an aside. I would like to concentrate on EU immigration policy and human-trafficking and also discuss the role of translators and interpreters in combatting this fastest growing sector in organised crime. As a translator myself who provides pro bono work for anti-slavery and human rights charities I have a personal interest in these issues. The role of the translator and interpreter in combatting human-trafficking is often underestimated and in some countries the interpreters and translators provided are not professionally trained and have no qualifications other than the fact that they can speak two languages. This lack of professional training can cause emotional distress to the translator/interpreter and may also be counterproductive in the cases involved.

I would also like to consider the implementation of the EU Convention on human rights and the Convention on the rights of the child in connection with these issues. There are interesting anomalies in the different official translations of the ECHR (European convention on human rights) into the various languages of the EU member states which may eventually lead to significant differences in application and interpretation.
Another element that may be considered in the essay is the forced incarceration and deportation of asylum-seekers often to extremely unstable situations.
Finally I would also briefly like to consider to what extent other member states of the EU should respond to abuses of human rights in other member states. Should they turn a blind eye or should there be significant sanctions and penalties, not to mention court proceedings.
Any thoughts on this topic would be greatly appreciated.
Greta

Unknown said...

In response to Greta:

Hi,
it's Francesca and Matteo here, we study political science and international relations so our point of view it's quite different and focused on the political and legal aspects.
Despite the fact that many treaties have been closed, for example Maastricht, Amsterdam, Nice and Schengen, the European Union hasn't yet developed an effective strategy to face the problem of immigration. It seems that the European Union wants to give the right of entry only to people with good economic resources and it is not interested in the refugee's destiny. It also seems that the European Union has not found an effective way to help countries like Spain and Italy to fight illegal immigration. As far as the European Convention on human rights is concerned, the anomalies in the different translations don't change the enforcement of the treaty because in a lot of treaties there is an article which says that in case of dispute the English or French version is the legally binding one.
Cheers.
Francesca and Matteo

ANDREA said...

In response to Medebys ...
Hi! Andrea and Francesco here.

The EU Convention on human rights represents the first attempt to establish a system of rules providing protection for those individuals who feel their rights have been violated by a member State. It is a historical document: for the first time an individual becomes an actor in the international arena.
In 1950, beside the Convention, the European Court of Human Rights was created as an operative instrument within the treaty.
Moreover, we should consider the different protocols which are linked to the treaty. For example protocol 6 prohibits the death penalty except in time of war and also the safeguard of liberty and security of individuals is guaranteed.
Neverthless, this international organization has a regional function and it prosecutes only member States on the basis of the convention.
A permanent tribunal which has the function of prosecuting individuals is the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
This tribunal was established in 2002 and, historically, judged several individuals accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes...
In conclusion we think the international community should enforce the role and the activity of the ICC, enlarging its composition ( so far 40 countries have signed but not ratified the statute) and accepting the jurisdiction of the court.
We know this is a very technical issue; by the way, only by improving the global governance on immigration policy and human-trafficking will the International Community reach a fair and a real safeguard of human rights. What do you think about the fundamental role of global governance??

Ele said...

In response to Greta..

Hi!
This Eleonora and Isabella.
In our opinion in Italy there is a huge absence of an effective international policy. Furthermore Italian foreign policy does not have a clear identity and as a consequence a precise program, because of the political class's inability to understand the changes in society.
What's more, italian people see in the immigrants only a danger for themselves but we don't care about the human-trafficking and the bad conditions in which they arrive in Italy or the reasons that urge them to come to a foreign country.
According to us a good politician should address his work to resolve the problems that the immigrants have in their countries, by starting an international policy of cooperation.
In order to realise that, the role of the interpreters might be enhanced because they are the link between different cultures and countries. But this is not easy to achieve because in Italy too they are undervalued: for istance a friend of mine that would like to be a translator is paid only 10-15 euros per translation!!

Eleonora and Isabella

Unknown said...

In response to Francesca and Matteo, the English or French versions are taken but there are anomalies between those two languages not to mention the other languages.

On a more general note however I doubt my intended subject will fit within the format of the essay I have to write so I will have to reassess my field and write something on a different subject instead. It is an interesting topic however and personally I think closer international cooperation is required, the combatting of human trafficking is too often viewed within national borders and that is not at all helpful in a globalised world. I strongly believe that the EU should have more effective power to act in certain cases and the court in the Hague is an extremely important development and its jurisdiction must be protected over and above nationalistic courts.

G.

maria said...

In response to Greta

Hi! I don't know EU immigration policy deeply. In Italy cases of human trafficling are few and especially linked to prostitution. Here we have some immigration problem, I think, because Italy began to receive immigrant recently.
I agree with you about the key rule of translators. I know a foreign girl that decided to bacome interpreter and now works in a pubblic office where she helps immigrants to get information and acclimatized.
How does your work try to avoid slavery and human rights? Do you collaborate with security forces?
Maria