Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-10-12-Speech-3-045"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20051012.12.3-045"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, we have seen terrible things happening over recent days in Ceuta and Melilla, but Ceuta and Melilla are no more than the tip of the iceberg. In Mayotte, Malta or Lampedusa, and all over the place, we can see streams of refugees, but the new Member States in the East of the European Union have also recorded constantly increasing numbers of people who have no legal right to be there.
The only reason why their problem has not been exposed to public view is that the images are less compressed and pack less of a punch. All these images, though, represent human beings with their individual fates, and they put us on the spot. One of the tasks of politicians is to prevent certain abuses from occurring in the first place, and instead to give help as quickly as possible.
What we see at present are the consequences of sins of omission and of action on the basis of false premises. Addressing the symptoms alone is no sort of solution; we also have to face up to the underlying causes. Both now and in the future, we will have a great deal of pressure from migration to cope with; managing the flow of migrants is one of the European Union’s most pressing tasks. Any European immigration policy must have as its objective the management of legal migration, the provision of humanitarian aid in accordance with the Geneva Convention on Refugees and, at the same time, the prevention of illegal migration. It follows that any European immigration rules must guarantee not only the security of our external borders but also the consistent combating of the practice of smuggling and trafficking in people, and a clear returns policy.
Carting people off into the desert is inhumane and an admission of defeat in the face of all the things we have not yet dealt with. Nor, though, does it help to let a few hundred or a few thousand illegals in Ceuta and Melilla into the EU in the belief that we have thereby solved the problem. According to the UNHCR, there are 4.6 million refugees in Africa. Non-governmental organisations work on the basis of estimates according which 20 000 people are waiting in Morocco.
There is, unfortunately, no single solution to this; what we need is a package of solutions. The EU must lay down unambiguous rules for migration, while, at the same time, giving more aid to the countries from which migrants come and through which they pass, but it must also be equally consistent in ensuring adherence to the rules applicable to the crossing of our external borders. That will involve not only a consistent policy on return but also the conclusion by the EU of readmission agreements with countries of origin and of transit.
These are all things that we must resolve together; one cannot always pick out the bits that fit the passing moment and win public approval. This is our task, and we must face up to it!"@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples