To live and to work in a multicultural Europe

For an open Immigration Policy – Intercultural Integration – Active Protection of Minorities – Antidiscrimination – For the Protection of Politically Pursued Persons in the European Union

I. Immigration Policies in the European Union

1. Increasingly, the states of the European Union coordinate their asylum and immigration policies and have made common arrangements to control the present migration movements. Beyond effective parliamentary control in the single member states the unwanted migration movements – differently established in the view of the respective governments because of different political and historical views – are being criminalized. In this way, the closing of Europe is reinforced and the illusions of defending the prosperity and democratic order will be nourished, even by giving up the principles of the various constitutions in Europe (Schengen I and II).
2. As long as the prosperous part of Europe is refusing to find a common solution for the struggle against underdevelopment, war, poverty, environmental pollution, and violation of human rights in the underdeveloped countries and also refuses to global concepts for a new world economical order, especially the acceptance of the human right of development, in that respect flight (emigration) and therefore immigration will still grow – irrespective of the purposes of the states of the EU.
   All immigration concepts that only aim at restriction and regulation of the immigration so far are not able to solve basically any of those problems.
3. Not taken into account all this, immigration is and was in the EU countries an important factor to improve the national economies and the demographic development.
4. Immigration is to comprehend as a social, cultural and economic process of exchange, which demands equal participation of immigrants and an complete concept for immigration and integration. Especially on the background of structural crises and great unemployment in the EU countries it is necessary to fight tendencies of „ethnizing“ (Ethnisierung) of social conflicts.
   Therefore, integration concepts have to struggle against xenophobia and racism. Before all, this means to create a political, legal and institutional frame which defines clear rules and conditions for immigration based on subjective rights of the people concerned. This means to create a political climate, too, in which aliens are socially accepted. Essentially this includes a labour market and social policy that takes care, that immigration and the admission up of asylum-seekers does not happen to the debit of those people being not prosperous yet..

II Principles for a Different Immigration Policy: Intercultural Integration -Active Protection of Minorities – Antidiscrimination

1. Immigration in its classical sense is defined especially by the perspectives of the immigration countries and their concrete conditions.
   The processes of immigration are to be created in a way, that people who are willing to immigrate have clearly fixed titles, and that the immigrated persons are in a position to take care of their own living.
   In principle, numerical immigration restrictions are not the why to control migration movements. This includes also quoting by counties of origin. If quoting by numbers is executed nevertheless, any other selection is inadmissible and to be declined. Family members of already immigrated persons however, also persons who live in a longtime partnership with an already immigrated person, including partnership of same gender, are to be considered first. These following persons are to be given their own right of staying.
   In general asylum-seekers and refugees from crisis areas are not to be restricted by numbers. There cannot be made a quota on political persecution and flight out of crisis areas.
2. Immigration is a longtime preceding, in which integration is only possible, if the residents and the immigrants are taking steps toward each other.

1. As long as international law distinguishes the status of citizenship of persons guided by their nationality, foreigners are to be given the right – after staying fife years in EU countries – to acquire the nationality of their country of residence and moreover the citizenship of the EU, and – if they wish – can also keep the citizenship of their country of origin or their citizenship as before.
2. Children of immigrants automatically get the citizenship of their country of residence by birth.

1. As long as the European Parliament still does not have any competence in legislation, there is to be created – beyond the circle of states of the EU – on the level of the Council of Europe a convention against racism and social discrimination, that standardizes the ban of discrimination for racial reasons, combined with sanctions (omission, redress, fine) for the sections:

   – working (jobs, working conditions)
   – living
   – access to private (banking, insurances) and public services
   – education and
   – membership of organizations (associations, parties).

   The discriminated person has the right to appeal to ombudsperson as a petition authority – with own control competence and to institute proceedings – and has as well the right to appeal the European Court of Human Rights after appealing the national courts.

2. Ethnic and social minorities, also of foreign nationalities, have the right of protection and promotion of their culture (language, education, religion).

III. Flight and Asylum

1. Beside their constitutional traditions the European countries as one of the most prosperous regions of the world have special responsibility concerning the solution of the worldwide problem of refugees. The acceptance of asylum-seekers and the protection of politically persecuted persons is therefore one component of the indisponible and elementary human rights.
2. By harmonizing the right of asylum on the highest standard of human rights there are to be given specified and fixed minimum guarantees on the basis of the Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
3. Therefore those persons are to be given asylum, who as individuals or as members of a certain group have to apprehend that they might be persecuted because of their race, religion, sex, nationality, membership to a certain social group, sexual orientation, or political conviction by a national, quasinational or national tolerated power.
4. Within the meaning of this persecuted persons are to be given a subjective right to an effective access to asylum proceedings in a state of the EU that includes the right to stay depending on the procedure and the right to independent verification by judicial instance and that the appeal has suspense effect..
5. The flight from a so-called safe country of origin or via a third country does not allow an exclusion from the procedure.
6. For temporally limited crises , especially civil and other wars, there is to create a limited status of staying independent of the right of asylum for the refugees from the crisis areas, which includes also a quota of distribution of the refugees all over the countries of the EU.