Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-05-14-Speech-2-174"
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"en.20020514.9.2-174"2
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"Mr President, there is an urgent need for an effective European initiative to distinguish between the right to asylum of those fleeing situations of physical oppression and immigration with a view to seeking better economic conditions, for a European project that will prevent
solutions being proposed from country to country.
The case of the 13 Palestinians released from the Church of the Nativity and the Italian Government’s proposal to treat the solution of transferring them to Europe as a European matter is evidence, at last, of the intention to give the Union a role in issues which have hitherto been left to the Member States to resolve.
It is impossible to deny that a biblical exodus towards the Union countries is taking place. What might have seemed scenes from dramatic films until a few years ago are now images we see daily in the media: ramshackle old lighters, disused barges, sailing boats from the time of Sandokan the pirate and overflowing dinghies bring hundreds upon hundreds of despairing people to our shores who have often spent copious amounts of money to get that far and are subjected to days and days of deprivation and hardship. Many of them, men, women and children, die during the journey or are thrown into the sea by their captains, as happened along the coasts of Sicily and Puglia. And we are still wondering whether there is a need for legislation preventing illegal immigration. Without rules there is no freedom, and without freedom there is no progress and no dignity of life.
Europe is behind schedule in its implementation of the third pillar and it has thus far proved incapable of adopting a single political and legislative position, nor can it hide behind the Convention in the hope that it will be able to find quick solutions.
Problems there are, and we are quite aware of and support the efforts being made by the Spanish Presidency. A European corps of border police must be created as soon as possible, working cooperatively on land and at sea; it is right for there to be a database for entry visas but it is also right that every country should have a responsibility to identify all the people who do not cross its borders legally or who are not in possession of valid identity documents, using digital fingerprinting, amongst other techniques.
We must distinguish between the regular immigrants who have been living in our countries for years and those who enter them illegally, often without a real excuse, who are serving, sometimes even unwittingly, the purposes of certain criminal groups. Moreover, we must address the situation resolutely and take political action against those countries which are guilty of allowing immigration to continue as well as those countries in which there is a type of political system which places the lives and physical health of their citizens in danger.
The European Union must review its trade agreements with countries which fail to respect human dignity. We must all take up arms daily in a relentless political battle against international criminal groups – which raise funds by trafficking human beings."@en1
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"(Applause from the public galleries)"1
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