CAMPAIGN

The fight against racism and against discrimination of minority groups on grounds of their ethnicity, nationality, religious affiliation, sexuality, social status and disability is supported by various forces in society. It will lead hopefully to binding European anti-discrimination laws, which will protect potential victims effectively. Anti-discrimination legislation alone however is not sufficient.

We have to ask: Why a youngster of Turkish background even in the third generation does not automatically get the German citizenship? How long will stateless Roma people be expelled from one EU country to the other? Why can a residence permit in France be withdrawn after 20 years, because of accommodating an 'illegal' immigrant?

Putting a stop to the restrictive naturalisation policies, would mean to show solidarity with the different minority groups. We call on all NGOs, parliamentarians, political parties, journalists and human rights activists to make the governments understand that minority groups can not simply be viewed as workers, who do not require political and social rights. While respecting the different cultures, all possibilities for voluntary integration have to be offered and the access to equal rights must be secured.

A necessary legal condition would be to develop a wide concept of extended EU citizenship for all people who live in the EU. For nationals of EU member states this will mean complementary rights to the rights they already have. For all other people living in the EU, it will mean full access to citizen's rights. The EU citizenship should be granted to everybody, who has been born in an EU member state or who has lived in the EU for at least 3 years.

This wide concept of EU citizenship would therefore be applicable to:
- EU citizens residing in another member state (5.5 million)
- EU citizens living unregistered in another member state
- third country nationals, e.g. migrant workers and their families (12 million)
- stateless persons, e.g. Roma
- asylum seekers and refugees
- undocumented people, the so-called 'sans-papiers' or 'illegals'

To fight for equal rights with this concept has the significant advantage, that all specific demands of minorities can be deduced from the EU citizenship:
- the right of free traveling in the EU
- the right of settlement in all EU countries without temporary restrictions
- full access to the labour market and housing
- the right to vote and to be elected on local, national and EU-level
- full access to social security: health care, unemployment benefits, pensions
- access to education and vocational training
- the right for family unification
- protection against violation of personal liberties: data abuse, fingerprinting

As anti-racist and human rights organisations we cannot exclude any group from our solidarity. That is why we include specifically the so called 'illegal' immigrants into our concept. They are the most exploited, living under inhuman conditions and having to fight day by day for their survival. In total there are several millions in the EU, including an estimated 0.3 million in France and half a million in Germany. They desperately need a regularisation of their status, such as has taken place in Portugal, Spain and Italy in 1996.

To lobby for extended EU citizenship is of course difficult, but we should not orientate too much to the 'realistic', which is often very cautious, but to what is desperately needed by the discriminated groups. If many of the problems, that minorities face in the EU, are created by an unjust global economy, we should not hesitate to force the persons responsible to carry the consequences. Citizenship and equal rights should not stay an utopia, but become a normality. Knowing of the different political discussion in the EU countries, we invite everybody to help mobilising for as many of the above demands as possible.

Please address your comments to UNITED.

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UNITED for Intercultural Action
European network against nationalism, racism, fascism
and in support of migrants and refugees
Postbus 413, NL-1000 AK Amsterdam, Netherlands
phone +31-20-6834778, fax +31-20-6834582
info@unitedagainstracism.org, www.unitedagainstracism.org