Spain to Receive Funding for Migration Issues
The European Union has allocated €87 million to Spain to address migration issues in the country, Spanish media reported following a meeting of the European Commission in Brussels.
According to them, Spain became the main EU-funded state under the program "Managing Migration Flows," which includes four aspects: control of external borders, return of immigrants, integration of third-country nationals, and assistance to refugees.
Of the €87 million to be transferred to the state by the end of 2008, €60 million will go to border protection, €20 million to assistance for third-country nationals, and the remaining money will be spent on deporting illegal immigrants and helping refugees. The inability of Spanish authorities to cope with immigrant transit—protecting the EU's common borders and expelling illegal aliens—has long drawn sharp criticism from the European Union and conservative opposition forces within Spain itself.
Asylum in Czech Republic Granted to One in 28 Applicants
Since 1990, 85,000 people have applied for asylum in the Czech Republic. Requests from 3,500 people have been granted, meaning only one in every 28 applicants. Most applications for international protection do not meet the requirements of the current Czech law.
The largest number of asylum applications came from Ukrainian citizens—13,000 applications. Russians are in second place, followed by Romanians, Bulgarians, and citizens of Afghanistan.
Despite Ukrainians submitting the most applications, they are not the most successful in obtaining refugee status in the Czech Republic. According to statistics, Romanians (474 cases), Russians (347), Afghans (280), Belarusians (278), and Armenians (196) most often receive asylum in the Czech Republic. By law, a decision on asylum must be made within 90 days, but in reality, this process can take years. This mainly occurs due to appeals filed by applicants.
Germany to Open Labor Market Only for EU Countries
The German government plans to open its labor market to residents of Eastern European EU countries three years earlier.
State Secretary of the Ministry of Labor Gerd Andres, in an interview with the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, said that if the current shortage of labor resources in Germany continues, restrictions on hiring citizens of Eastern European EU countries will be lifted by 2009. The politician emphasized that it is first necessary to establish a minimum wage level in those areas where restrictions are planned to be lifted—in agriculture as well as in some other sectors where there is an acute shortage of specialists.