Gray Panthers

Statement on The European Union's "Return Directive"

the follow NGO Committee on Migration statement is supported by Gray Panthers

We, members of the NGO Committee on Migration - an umbrella organization of NGOs dedicated to the protection and promotion of the human rights of all migrants and their families - express our profound disappointment at the European Parliament's passage, on 18th June 2008, of the Return Directive on common standards and procedures for dealing with irregular migrants.

We share the deep-seated concerns of Amnesty International and other global human rights advocacy organizations regarding the content of the Return Directive; that

it does not guarantee the return of irregular migrants in safety and dignity;
the period of detention ( up to 18 months) is excessive;
the EU-wide re-entry ban for those forcibly returned risks lowering existing standards of EU Member States, and sets bad examples to other world regions;
it lacks sufficient guarantees for unaccompanied minors;
it has weak provisions re judicial oversight of administrative detention;
it allows "specific derogations" on detention conditions in Member States with so-called emergency situations.

We strongly agree with the views of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, that the new rules pose a "difficulty in advancing the fundamental principles of the protection of individuals' rights who are in a very vulnerable situation." We share her strong preference that the EU ratify the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of

Finally, we support the impassioned voices of Bolivian President Evo Morales and other heads of State of developing countries, calling on the industrialized countries not to make migrants, whether regular or not, the scapegoats of global difficulties, but rather to recognize their contributions to addressing the demographic and economic needs of host and sending countries alike.

24 July, 2008

This Statement is supported by the following organizations:

El Comite de Apoyo a los Trabajdores Agricolas (CATA)
Company of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul
Comitato Antirazzista Durban Italia (CADI)
Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
Congregation of the Mission
December 18
Gray Panthers
International Association of Schools of Social Work
International Council of Psychologists
International Federation of Business and Professional Women
International Federation for Home Economics
International Federation of Social Workers
International Immigrants Foundation
International Presentation Association of the Sisters of the Presentation
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
People's Movement for Human Rights Learning (PDHRE)
Salesian Missions
Simply Help
Sisters of Notre Dame
UNANIMA International
United States Committee for UNIFEM
VIVAT International
Welfare Association for the Rights of Bangladeshi Emigrants Development Foundation (WARBE)
World Association of Former UN Internes and Fellows (WAFUNIF)
World Christian Life Community
World Federation of Ukrainian Womens' Organizations