Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-10-12-Speech-3-048"
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"en.20051012.12.3-048"2
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".
Mr President, let me say that I agree with most of what Mr Watson from the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe has said, and it is unfortunate that we were not holding hands when the title of this debate was being discussed, but that is just by the by.
My group would like to extend heartfelt thanks to the Commission for the prompt despatch of a delegation to the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta. The situation there is indeed a tragic one, and concerns the whole of Europe. I would like to hear from the Commission, though, whether it has also been to take a look at the border region between Morocco and Algeria, which is where a huge number of migrants are being abandoned without food or drink in the desert, in no man’s land.
Whilst the Spanish Foreign Minister is behind the idea of bussing people back to their countries of origin, the big problem is that, very often, they never arrive at their destinations. We in this House cannot refuse to check where people are taken. We owe it to ourselves and to the people of the European Union to know where people are taken and whether people perish in the desert.
I would also like to know whether the delegation has looked into the legitimacy of Spain transferring migrants to Morocco. As far as I know, the bilateral readmission agreement only allows Spain to extradite Moroccans to Morocco, not people from Ghana, Liberia or Mali, as is the case here. Is that acceptable? Among those migrants, are there also people who have applied for asylum? Is that being looked into or are we talking about a kind of wholesale deportation? In fact, why did this delegation only contain people who are mainly involved in border control? Did it also comprise human rights experts and did it examine how people are treated by the local authorities?
Here in the European Union, we are always delighted when people seize opportunities, develop themselves or look for new prospects, but whenever those who do this are people from outside the European Union who try to seize opportunities within it, they are treated as virtual criminals. I share Mr Watson’s view that it is time we looked for a legal migration channel. Have we given any consideration to the kind of people that are involved? It is mainly young men who have learned a trade and who know that there is no future for them in their own countries. We all need to set down to develop a legal migration channel. That would benefit not only the channelling of illegal migration, but also the dynamism of our European economy.
Let me close by saying that the European project has to do with civilisation – a civilisation that should not be for Europeans alone. It is really high time we rolled up our sleeves and focused, not merely on stricter border controls or tighter rules, but rather on the opportunities we can offer people who desperately want to enter the European Union."@en1
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