Bosses set to foot the bill for illegal workers

The European Commission next week (19 July) will propose a number of measures to tackle illegal immigration including penalties for employers who hire illegal workers and an EU code for short-stay visas.

Under the plans, employers who hire illegal immigrants will be penalised and made to pay for professional and linguistic courses for them. A proposal for a common code in the EU for handling visas in embassies and a plan to set down the powers and financing of border guards, when working in another member state, are also part of the Commission's proposals on illegal immigration. The package will also address the "pull-factor" for illegal immigrants coming to Europe.

The proposals follow a major conference in Rabat earlier this week organised in response to the flow of migrants to Europe, most recently seen in the form of thousands of Africans landing in small boats on Spain's Canary Islands.

The conference agreed on an action plan which includes developing economic and business links between Africa and the EU, allowing young professionals to work for periods in Europe to develop linguistic and professional skills and providing training for legal migrants before they leave their country of origin.

A political declaration at the end of the conference said that both sides would try to "manage the migratory flows between countries of origin, transit and destination, in an optimum fashion and in a spirit of shared responsibility".

A follow-up conference later this year in Tripoli will look at migration and development on the entire African continent and not just west Africa as the Rabat meeting did, a Commission spokesman said.

The EU was criticised by some at the conference in Rabat for focusing too much on illegal immigration. "There was more of an emphasis on the development side of things and partnership but that is more or less on the facade. The only real movement we have is on the control side of things," said Dick Oosting, director of Amnesty International's EU office. But he welcomed the inclusion of references to the rights migrants have when they arrive in a country.

Others said the EU had to provide more money if illegal immigration was to be tackled seriously. "We cannot use what little money we have for our development to be Europe's cops," said Nigerian Foreign Minister Aichatou Mindaoudou.

Separately, a rapid reaction team involving 13 member states and headed by Frontex, the EU border agency, is expected to begin working within a week on the process of identifying people who arrive on the Canary Islands. An operation involving sea patrols and air surveillance around the islands and down the west African coast will begin once an agreement is reached between Spain and Senegal regarding entry into the latter's water and airspace.

The European Commission next week (19 July) will propose a number of measures to tackle illegal immigration including penalties for employers who hire illegal workers and an EU code for short-stay visas.