We are first going to focus on getting back all that we had, for the site has a rich history. Once we’ve covered the past, in the present, we will be forward to the future, thinking about improvements. If you have any suggestions, please let us know.

The post The Site Returns first appeared on Immigrant Solidarity.

The post 2006 Activity Report first appeared on Immigrant Solidarity.

The post 2007 Activity Report first appeared on Immigrant Solidarity.

The post 2008 Activity Report first appeared on Immigrant Solidarity.

Signed of Immigrants in the Azores (AIPA); Signed Kizomba; Signed Slope Improvements and Recreation; Signed Migrant Woman; Signed Living Eye; Signed of Togolese origins in Portugal; Brazil House; Big House of Brazil; Moldovan Cultural Center; Young Space of Sta Filomena; Khapaz; Immigrant Solidarity; SOS-Racism.

The draft directive on the detention and expulsion of immigrants (which the EU calls the “return directive”) will be voted on in the European Parliament on the 18th of June. In the midst of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, when integration and interculturality should be discussed, this directive means the continuity and strengthening of European immigration policies based on repression, security schizophrenia and the denial of the most elementary rights.

This Directive establishes common rules for the expulsion of immigrants who have not had the opportunity to settle on European soil. With the approval of this directive, Europe proposes:
The detention, for up to 18 months, of immigrants who are not regularized, simply because they seek better living conditions;
The detention of minors, even for a period “as short as possible”, in defiance of all child protection rights;
The ban on expelled immigrants from returning to Europe within a period of five years, which reinforces the growing criminalization that they have been subjected to.

In a country of emigration like Portugal, we cannot condone xenophobic measures. Against the Fortress Europe, for a Europe of rights, we are mobilizing and demanding that MEPs and MEPs assume their responsibilities, rejecting this diploma, which has been criticized throughout Europe, by immigrant associations, rights and other civic actors.

Meeting next Saturday, June 14, 2008, 3 pm, Largo de São Domingos, Rossio, next to the Monument for Tolerance (next to Ginjinha do Rossio).

The post Mobilization Against the Shame Directive (Return) first appeared on Immigrant Solidarity.

President Chávez yesterday promised to retaliate against the European Union following the approval by member states of the controversial “Return Directive”. Against facilitating the repatriation of illegal immigrants, Venezuela’s leader is willing to stop supplying oil to countries that apply the new legislation.

“We cannot stand by,” declared the Venezuelan head of state this Thursday, during a press conference in which he addressed the issue of the law voted this week in the European Parliament and which is already being strongly contested. by human rights groups.

The law that provides for the expulsion of illegal immigrants was voted on Wednesday in the European Parliament – having collected 369 votes in favour, 197 against and 106 abstentions – aiming to harmonize rules for the repatriation of undocumented immigrants in the European community, also allowing periods of detention of up to 18 months.

The new legislation will allow, as of 2010, EU member states to expel undocumented immigrants to countries they have passed through before entering European territory. After expulsion, immigrants are banned from returning to Europe for five years.

Against these provisions, the Venezuelan President leaves the warning: “Our oil will not go to the countries that apply this shameful directive”, threatened Hugo Chávez, who also promised a response in terms of economic relations, with the possibility of the countries of America Latin America to decide “the return of European investments”.

“We are prepared to do so. He will not be missed”, added Chávez, after stating that Caracas will make a list of companies “from those countries” that put the new legislation into practice and “carry out arrests of Colombians, Paraguayans, Bolivians and Ecuadorians”.

Chávez awaits a reversal of European governments.

The Venezuelan President, however, hopes that the different Member States will still come to speak in the opposite direction to the security current that marks the European agenda on immigration.

If this does not happen and the directive is carried out, Hugo Chávez questions the usefulness of future meetings between Latin American leaders and European heads of state. “Why more summits with the European Union?” he asked during a press conference.

At his side, Hugo Chávez has the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, and the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa. These two countries have thousands of their citizens living in European countries, particularly in Spain.

Referring to the new law that will regulate emigration to Europe, Rafael Correa considered it to be the “directive of shame”.

For his part, Evo Morales defended a bloc made up of Latin America and Africa – the main targets of the new European legislation – that faces a directive that he considers to be an attempt “against Humanity and the lives” of people.

During a press conference in the capital La Paz, the Bolivian leader said that the two continents should join forces in an international campaign aimed at annulling the “Return Directive”.

“We are thinking of conducting an international campaign in order to reverse the situation”, said Evo Morales, adding that the first actions will have to be decided at the Mercosur summit, scheduled for July 1st in Argentina.

Javier Solana reacts to threats from Chávez

The European Union’s high representative, Javier Solana, has already reacted to the Venezuelan President’s threats, considering Hugo Chávez’s idea of ​​expelling companies from countries that apply the return directive to be “totally disproportionate”.

“In my opinion, it is (a measure) totally disproportionate”, answered Javier Solana to the question posed this morning by journalists during the European summit marking the end of the Slovenian presidency.

Paulo Alexandre Amaral, RTP

The post Chavez Threatens to Withdraw Oil From Countries That Apply the Return Directive first appeared on Immigrant Solidarity.

The FSMM, which will be held for the third time, is a meeting place for civil society, associations and social movements at a global level, with a view to sharing, debating and making proposals on migration, development and human rights in the context of globalization processes.

After the recent approval of the Return Directive by the European Parliament – which is already being transposed into Italian legislation -, and at a time when Nicolas Sarkozy places migration as a central theme of the French presidency of the European Union, proposing a Pact on Immigration that aims to facilitate the expulsions and prohibit the processes of massive regularization, this FSMM will be an important moment of mobilization of social movements, discussion of common strategies of resistance, and proposals of alternatives.

This edition of the FSMM will have as its motto “Our voices, our rights: for a world without walls” and will include five thematic blocks:

• 1. Globalization and migrations;
• 2. Origin societies and development alternatives;
• 3. Borders and human rights;
• 4. Arrival societies and the situation of migrants;
• 5. Asylum, Refuge and displacement.

The post III World Social Forum on Migrations first appeared on Immigrant Solidarity.

Apart from the content of this directive , which is the biggest step backwards from Europe’s fundamental values ​​in criminalizing and persecuting immigrants, and the date chosen, the method chosen for its adoption is insulting. Although this project is in the field of Justice and Internal Administration, the was approved during the Council of Transport Ministers . A proof of the will to carry out collective deportations through charter flights?

In Portugal, the Return Directive was clearly repudiated by large sectors of civil society, it was one of the reasons for public demonstrations that had the support of dozens of immigrant, human rights, civic, anti-racist and religious organizations. The Return Directive was voted against by most Portuguese deputies in the European Parliament, including deputies from the Socialist Party who voted against the official position of the Portuguese government.

The post Shame Directive Approved by the EU Council first appeared on Immigrant Solidarity.

1. The law creates a vicious cycle – work is necessary to have the right to residency, but residency is needed to work – which leaves migrants in an alley that is difficult to get out of, makes their situation precarious and fuels “false contracts”.
2. The mechanisms for the regularization of undocumented persons who live and work in this country (Articles 88 and 89) are of an unofficial nature and are defined in the Law as exceptional, which reinforces the discretionary powers of the SEF and the Government.
3. It is practically impossible for a foreigner@ to obtain a visa to work in Portugal, before coming here , as it is necessary to previously present an employment contract, or, at the very least, an “individualized expression of interest by the employer”, in addition to the extreme difficulty and delay in the entire process. Now, which employer will offer employment to an immigrant before @ meeting him? The current system does not actually promote the much-vaunted “legal immigration”.
4. Quota policies were once again a failure . To make matters worse, the Government is counting the regularization of the undocumented who already live and work here for the quotas, as if it were new entrances to the labor market.
5. With the definition of minimum income, the right to family reunification has been more and more limited and inadequate to the reality of the national average salary.

In their relationship with the Portuguese State, non-regularized immigrants see that there are two clearly different weights and measures, depending on whether it is a matter of fulfilling duties or having their rights recognised. For example, Social Security and Finance receive contributions from those who do not have a regularized document situation, but if @ immigrant is dismissed from work, his right to receive unemployment benefit is denied, alleging the lack of a Visa or Authorization of Residence. The same applies to maternity leave and any other type of social protection.

On 18 December – International Migrant Day – 2008, the European Year for Intercultural Dialogue, the year that also marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we claim what should be the true meaning of these ephemeris, we claim rights and dignified treatment for all people, regardless of where they were born.

The post The Divorce Between Official Discourses and Reality first appeared on Immigrant Solidarity.

Many men and women are prevented from living with their families, due to the fact that they are poor and victims of exploitation by their employers and continue to pay exorbitant amounts for the acquisition and renewal of their documents, violating the principle of equality.

With a few exceptions, migrants do not have the right to vote, which limits their citizenship rights.

All this contributes to greater social exclusion, poverty and marginality, which only fuel xenophobia and racism – using migrants as scapegoats for society’s general problems. For all this, dissatisfaction and revolt increases, especially among young descendants who continually suffer the effects of ghettoization and exclusion.

Because migrants cannot just work and earn money, a group of organizations called a demonstration for next Sunday, March 15th, at 3 pm, at Martim Moniz.

PROMOTING ORGANIZATIONS: AAMA – Signed. Friends of Angolan Women, AAMA- Ass. Moitense Amigos Angola; AHCD- Humanist Action Coop. and Development ; Libertarian Alternative; Signed Cape Verdean Lisbon; Signed Cubans Res. Portugal; AGUINENSO – Signed. Guinean Solid. Social; Signed Jose Afonso; Signed Luso-Senegalese; Signed Lusophony Culture and Citizenship; ANPRP – Signed Naturals of the Pelundo Res. in Portugal; Signed Origins of Togo; Signed Res. Guinea-Conakry Portugal; Signed Cape Verdean Solidarity Margem Sul; Signed Ukrainians in Portugal; Pungu Andongo Ballet; Lisbon House of Brazil; CGTP – Inter Union; Moldovan Cultural Center; Mumia Abu-Jamal Collective; Anti-Racist Front; GAFFE – A Formiga Fora da Estrada Group; KHAPAZ; Migrant Woman;Catholic Work Port. of Migration; Living Eye; GUETTO Platform; South Hospitality Union; SPGL – Sind. Profs Greater Lisbon; Synd. Works Municipality Lisbon; Synd. work serv. Ordinance Vig. House cleaning. Miscellaneous Acts; Immigrant Solidarity-Ass. Defense of Immigrant Rights; SOS Racism; UMAR – Alternative and Response Women’s Union; Union Unions Lisbon.

The post March 15TH Demonstration: Without Equal Rights We All Lose first appeared on Immigrant Solidarity.