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May 8 , 2006 • VOL. 44, NO. 9 • Oakland, CA
Church leaders
in Europe urge
migrant workers' protection
LONDON (CNS)
-- British and French church officials have urged legislators to remember
immigrants and migrant workers, often society’s most vulnerable,
when they consider proposals to change immigration legislation.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor of Westminster, England, called
for amnesty for illegal immigrants who work but do not have a criminal
record.
The cardinal said the presence of hundreds of thousands of undocumented
workers in London had created “social misery.”
The suffering of migrants has been marked by exploitation, low pay and
an absence of rights and benefits, the cardinal said during a May 1 Mass
for migrant workers in London’s Westminster Cathedral.
He said human traffickers who charged large sums of money to smuggle migrants
into the United Kingdom condemned many to a “modern version of slavery,”
striving to repay crippling debts.
“It is very necessary to reiterate that foreign migrants are not
to be considered merchandise or merely manpower,” he said. “Every
migrant enjoys inalienable fundamental rights, which must be respected
in all cases.
“Illegal migrants should not be treated as criminals; no one leaves
their country in search of work in another country unless they are desperate
to do so,” the cardinal said, adding that migrants should have the
opportunity to contribute tax money while receiving the same rights and
benefits as the rest of the population.
Meanwhile, in France, church leaders said legislation proposing to curb
immigration and asylum would have “serious consequences” for
the most vulnerable in France.
“We regret this bill contains only measures which will further restrict
the possibilities of regularization for foreigners,” said Catholic,
Protestant and Orthodox leaders in a letter to Prime Minister Dominique
de Villepin. Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux, president of the
French bishops’ conference, was among the signers of the letter.
“The existence of ‘sans-papiers’ (undocumented workers
without papers) is an irreversible reality, estimated today at several
hundred thousand. Can we propose nothing more than to send them back to
their countries of origin by consent or force?” they said in the
April 25 letter.
The church leaders said migration posed a challenge for the future of
Europe and should be tackled alongside a global development policy for
the Third World.
They also said they were concerned about legislation proposing to terminate
residency permits of foreigners who lost their jobs, restrict legal appeals
against deportation and reduce the protection available to immigrant victims
of domestic violence.
“This would destabilize many families and work against the interests
of the most vulnerable, including children. Proper integration into our
society requires stability and security,” they said.
The church leaders said that the proposal for an immigrant “card
of competences and talents” would encourage “rigorous inequality”
by discriminating in favor of immigrants “with diplomas and high
standards.”
In an April statement, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon condemned the
bill as “absolutely un-Christian” and said the proposed clause
to “keep better migrants and send back the worse” violated
human dignity.
France’s 4.3 million immigrants make up 7. 4 percent of its population
and include up to 400,000 who are in France illegally, according to government
data.
Around 45 percent of immigrants come from other European countries, with
39 percent from Africa and 13 percent from Asia. Two-thirds hold French
citizenship, and six out of 10 live in permanent unions.
The Catholic Church has urged fairer treatment for refugees and asylum
seekers, as well as for ethnic minorities, among whom unemployment runs
as high as 30 percent in some regions.
