By Tito Drago
MADRID, Oct 12 1999 (IPS)

Spain’s two largest unions are demanding that the nation’s political parties, and particularly the governing centre-right Partido Popular (People’s Party), move quickly to pass a law banning discrimination against immigrants.

The proposed legislation is intended to improve the situation of immigrants from less developed countries, but if the bill continues at its current pace, the parliamentary session will end before it becomes law.

If the bill is not approved this year, it would have to start from scratch next year under a new parliament, say union leaders. This would prolong the already precarious situation of many immigrants, who lack access to social services, face deportation and suffer discrimination in the workplace.

The pro-socialist General Union of Workers (UGT) and the pro- communist General Confederation of Labour Commissions (CCOO) demand a solution for illegal immigrants, whether the new law is passed or not.

The two unions are putting extra pressure on the Partido Popular so its representatives do not stand in the way of bill’s trajectory through parliament.

“The police-heavy dimension of migration policy – a result of the 1985 law on foreigners – must give way to a new vision of immigration that is based on solidarity and the demands of our labour market,” stated José Luis García Sánchez, secretary of the CCOO’s division of Migration, Youth and Social Movements.

The items included in the proposed law, the text of which has been approved by all political parties, are a testimony to the limitations of current legislation, passed in 1985 when the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) was in the government and held 202 of the 350 seats in the parliament’s lower house.

If the new law is passed, immigrants will be able to keep their country-of-origin documents as well as the documents for their legal status in Spain. They will have the right to travel freely, choose a place to live and vote in municipal elections.

The proposed law also recognises immigrants’ rights such as freedom of association and protest, and access to free basic educucation and health services – the same as any Spanish citizen.

Immigrant children will not be subject to immediate deportation by the police. The proposed law establishes that if a foreign- born, undocumented child is found, the police must report the incident to child custody courts.

These courts will determine whether or not the child should be returned to his or her country of origin or granted residency.

Antonio Ramos, a delegate from Melilla – a Spanish enclave on the coast of north Africa that is also claimed by Morocco – criticises this aspect of the bill and demands the immediate repatriation of undocumented children.

According to Ramos, Spain cannot continue building internment centres “that continuously fill up with children who, when they turn 18, must be deported and then wait to move to the (Spanish) Peninsula.”

The government maintains there are 800,000 immigrants in Spain, of which 75,000 are illegal, meaning they do not hold residency documents.

The union centrals reject those numbers arguing that, of the 800,000 foreigners, approximately half are from European Union countries and have the same social and labour rights as Spaniards.

The unions and other non-governmental organisations refute the government data with their own estimates, which indicate there are 200,000 illegal immigrants in Spain.

The new immigration law says that all foreigners who prove they have resided in Spain since before June 1 of this year will automatically be granted legal status.

Each year, the Spanish government authorises 35,000 temporary work permits for immigrant workers. But business organisations – especially from the agricultural and construction sectors – estimate there are 300,000 jobs every year that the Spanish workforce cannot cover.

These jobs involve working on farms during harvest and non- specialised jobs in constructing buildings, roads and other public works.

A preview of what the new law would look like was seen earlier this month when Spain and Morocco signed an agreement to regulate Moroccan temporary workers’ entry into Spain.

According to the agreement, the Moroccan workers will receive a Spanish work permit for nine months. Similar agreements are being negotiated with Ecuador, Colombia, Mali, Rumania and Poland.

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