By Tito Drago
MADRID, Feb 7 2005 (IPS)

The process of legalising the status of undocumented immigrants, which began Monday in Spain, will open doors to foreign workers who are already living in the country in order to close them more tightly against those who try to enter in the future.

The opening of the process to grant work and residency permits to hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers came shortly after a boat carrying 227 people, mainly young men, from sub-Saharan Africa was intercepted off the coast of Spain’s Canary Islands.

The decrepit boat had set out on Jan. 6 from the West African nation of Ivory Coast. The would-be immigrants had recently been surviving on just water, sugar and candy, according to police reports, which said two traffickers abandoned the craft in a speedboat before it reached the islands. The passengers identified the two fleeing men as the crew.

Although the arrival of immigrants by sea or the sinking of their boats captures the most media attention, undocumented foreigners also enter Spain by air or land from other European countries, while Spain is seen as a major gateway for immigration to the EU.

Because of that, the socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero "backs, first and foremost, a common (EU) immigration policy," said Spanish Immigration Secretary Consuelo Rumí.

The government also noted that once the process for granting amnesty comes to a close, only immigrants who have signed work contracts with Spanish companies before they arrive in this country will be eligible for work and residency permits.

Under the new plan unveiled by Clarke, only professionals and skilled workers, like doctors, nurses and teachers, will be eligible for permanent residency status, but after five years instead of four, and only if they pass an English language exam.

The reform of British immigration law would also cover asylum-seekers and refugees, who would be granted asylum for five years, subject to renewal, rather than for life.

In addition, the British government, following the U.S. lead, plans to install in 2008 a system to record the fingerprints of all foreigners entering Britain.

In France, Interior Minister Dominique de Villepín and Nicolas Sarkozy, the president of the conservative ruling UMP party, are in favour of stiffer obstacles to immigration, although President Jacques Chirac is still opposed.

And in Germany, a new law that went into force on Jan. 1 bans workers from outside of the EU from working legally in the country, except under bilateral temporary work agreements between Germany and other nations. People from the 10 countries that joined the EU this year will also have to wait seven years before they are allowed to take jobs legally in Germany.

Yet another large EU country, Italy, has adopted a strict immigration law that only allows entry to foreigners who come equipped with a work contract, and they are only allowed to stay for the duration of the contract.

The debates of EU governments are caught between the need to import both skilled and unskilled labour to bolster economies and ageing populations with low birth rates, complaints from those opposed to immigration, and fears of being unable to control growing immigration flows.

As many as 800,000 immigrants may qualify for the amnesty that began to be offered Monday in Spain.

To be eligible, applicants must have an identity document, demonstrate that they were living in Spain before August, have a job contract for the next six months or more, and have no criminal record.

Those who fail to meet these criteria should not remain in the country, because they face the risk of deportation, warned Rumí.

Immigrants will be able to hand in their applications at 160 social security offices around the country that will open in the evening over the next three months.

After the May 7 deadline, businesses employing undocumented immigrants will be subject to fines.

A total of 120,000 foreigners were deported by Spain in 2004, 30,000 more than in 2003. So far this year, 10,000 have been sent back to their countries of origin.

According to the government, each deportation to Romania costs the equivalent of 2,300 dollars, to Senegal 2,500, to Ecuador 4,900 and to China 8,600.

Immigrant advocacy groups say the only thing that could curb the inflow of undocumented immigrants is sustainable development in their home countries, which is not a short-term possibility.

Instead of costly measures to curb immigration, these groups are calling for industrialised countries like Spain to increase development aid to poor nations and to open their markets to products from the developing South.

A study reported on Sunday by the Madrid daily El País demonstrates that without the hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the Spanish capital, the city would virtually come to a halt, since these workers play essential roles, especially in the service industry.

Rafael Lara, president of the Human Rights Association of the southern Spanish region of Andalusia, says tighter border controls are not effective in keeping out immigrants, since so many are willing to risk their lives to reach Europe.

Lara said that in 2004, around 500 people died or went missing in their attempt to reach Spanish shores. Of that total, 289 bodies were found. The rest were lost at sea.

Andalusia receives a heavy inflow of immigrants, who cross the Mediterranean from North Africa.

And the flow will continue, added Lara, because there are camps in North Africa, mainly Morocco and Algeria, "where thousands of people are waiting for a chance to cross the sea to Europe."

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