Accoridng to an AFP report, European Union (EU) leaders recently adopted sweeping new immigration guidelines which have angered rights groups for focusing on skilled workers rather than refugees. "This pact was adopted unanimously. Europe now has a real immigration policy," French President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters, after hosting an EU summit in Brussels. The European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, a document of political intent but not binding laws, sets out principles for managing migration, fighting illegal immigration and forming partnerships with countries people leave or travel through to get to Europe.
It also seeks to make border controls more effective while building better asylum policy, with refugees increasingly obliged to apply for asylum status from outside the EU. Some 2,20,000 people made applications last year. Immigration will be based on criteria like Europe's reception capacity in terms of its labour market, with the emphasis on controlling would be immigrants rather than encouraging people to come. |