TIME EUROPE
July 03, 2000 VOL. 155 NO. 25
The Wages of Hypocrisy
Europe's ambiguous approach to immigrants
By JAMES GRAFF Brussels
The news from dover came as no surprise to immigration experts. It was just a particularly horrible instance of a regular event: more than 2,000 deaths of illegal immigrants trying to break into the European Union have been documented since 1993. The danger is that the public outrage will be channeled in the wrong direction. Says Stephan Beichel, an immigration lawyer in the town of Nagold, southwest of Stuttgart: "To try to solve this problem by introducing more police controls is like Don Quixote tilting at windmills." The problem is not just Europe's geography, open to the East and riddled with points for clandestine entry. It is also the magnetic force of Europe's economic opportunities, which, demographers have shown, pulls strongest in the poorest countries. Migrants from these places will get here one way or another. Yet the only concerted response from Europe's leaders, in Portugal last week for a European Council meeting, was to "intensify cooperation to beat such cross-border crime."
It is time to acknowledge Europe's need for these immigrants. Most of them find work that Europeans no longer want to do: harvesting asparagus, cutting meat, minding children.
Granted, there are parties in every country ready to pounce on any increase in foreigners, but there are also indications that the public is ready to resist such demagoguery. Germany's Christian Democrats' campaign in spring elections in North Rhine-Westphalia against a government plan to allow in 20,000 computer experts failed to persuade voters, and was attacked by traditionally conservative entrepreneurs who need those workers. Time-limited work permits like those proposed in Germany mandate close controls to make sure foreign workers leave again—or doom them to illegality if they don't. But they offer one moderate course to square the needs of immigrants to earn—and to send home billions in remittances—with those of Europe's employers. Another course is to expand the possibilities for non-E.U. members to set themselves up as self-employed, as long as they can show an ability to make more than welfare payments would offer them. There are already agreements along those lines for citizens of the candidate countries for E.U. membership.
Such approaches would help Europe build a rational immigration policy based on economic reality rather than some vague cultural threat.
It would do better to welcome more immigrants legally than to continue to act shocked when they're smuggled in.
—By JAMES GRAFF/Brussels This edition's table of contents
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July 03, 2000
C O V E R
Beyond 2000
In its fifth and final Visions issue, time examines how technology will change our lives in Tomorrowland
E U R O P E
Strangers at the Door
An influx of immigrants is recasting the Continent's identity. European economies need more of them
The Wages of Hypocrisy
Europe's ambiguous approach to immigrants
Snaking Toward Death
Desperate illegal migrants are risking their lives to enter Europe. Many are perishing in the attempt
Dying for a glass of water
Further anecdotes on illegal immigration
B U S I N E S S
Military Intelligence
A Swedish Internet entrepreneur models his strategy along Napoleon's lines
A Guerrilla's Best Friend
Human rights groups are focusing global attention on the role diamonds can play in fueling conflicts
Shall We Dance?
Vivendi's takeover of Seagram is just the latest in a string of foreign acquisitions by French companies
M I D D L E E A S T
Israel's New Military
The notion of universal service has never been more mythical that it is today. Israel wants quality, not quantity
War on Harassment
Israel cracks down on sexual harassment within its army
A F R I C A
Letter From Niamey
The global effort to eradicate polio is a tough war to fight. In remote areas of Niger, tiny drops of vaccine signify hope
E U R O 2 0 0 0
Back on side!
After the violence of the opening rounds, the true contest for Euro 2000 can begin
The Real English Patient
The problem of English hooliganism
T H E A R T S
Revel Without a Pause
Three decades after it began, Britain's Glastonbury Festival still kicks off Europe's musical summer
D E P A R T M E N T S
World Watch
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