La Strada Documentation Center

PICUM's Main Concerns about the Fundamental Rights of Undocumented Migrants in Europe

Document number
2284
Date
2009
Title
PICUM's Main Concerns about the Fundamental Rights of Undocumented Migrants in Europe
Author/publisher
PICUM Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Guidelines/Recommendations, Research/Study/Analysis,
Keywords
Irregular Migration, Feminization of migration, Economic migration, Labour migration, Free movement, Undocumented migrants; Undocumented labour; Migrant rights; Migration management; Comprehensive approach to migration; Migration policy; Restrictive migration measures,
Summary
Internally, EU policy makers developed a common returns policy aimed at facilitating the removal of irregular migrants and introduced sanctions in the field of irregular employment. Both the processes and outcomes of these developments were subject to intense criticism from civil society groups most directly exposed to the daily realities facing undocumented migrants. The EU has simply adopted a ‘lowest common denominator' approach to the rights of migrants in detention and introduced employers' sanctions measures which have been tried, tested and failed in other world regions (such as the United States). This report highlights PICUM's concerns regarding the opportunistic use of human rights discourse in both debates and offers solutions to effectively introduce a rights-based approach into these policy domains.
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