On 18 June EPSU took part in a meeting organised by the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) on the Commission’s new “returns” regulation. The meeting was a moment to organise opposition to the proposal that will fuel further a climate of hostility against migrant communities.
The proposed Regulation replaces the 2008 Return Directive as part of a plan to accelerate the implementation of the Pact on Migration and Asylum. EPSU expressed its initial concerns on the proposal, see here.
If adopted in Parliament and Council, the regulation will legitimise and increase deportation of undocumented persons based on a new common returns order; increase the length of detention from 12 to 24 months including for unaccompanied minors; and undermine fundamental right to due process. Unlike a directive, a regulation leaves no room for flexible implementation at national level.
The proposal will also have a negative impact on public service workers, not least with its article 6. While the wording is vague, this article could end up forcing public service workers to report users’ migration status to the police and migration authorities.
These rules exist in Germany and are being considered in Sweden. The meeting discussed in great depth how migrant support groups and trade unions in both countries mobilised to oppose public service workers’ reporting obligations, based on human and legal rights arguments including anti-discrimination rules as well as workplace issues.
In Germany, the 2021 mobilisation succeeded in limiting the scope of the reporting law to social services, where workers are obliged to report undocumented individuals under Residence Act §87. Healthcare emergency services were excluded. This was a partial success. The law has pushed further undocumented people away from early and regular healthcare, leading them to seek help in emergency services only. Although the measure was described as a cost-saving measure, it has increased costs and overwhelmed emergency services.
In Sweden, the government has been considering a reporting law for more than a year. Thanks to a broad coalition of trade unions and NGOs as well as some employers, the reporting obligations would not apply to healthcare and social services or education. The bill, soon to be discussed in Parliament, would require state sector agencies such as employment and pension services to report to the police migrants’ personal data in case of doubt on their irregular status. The bill remains unacceptable to EPSU’s Swedish affiliates. All services should be exempted. It is not part the job of these agencies to take on a police or migration role. It goes against civil servants’ professional ethics.
EPSU will continue cooperating with PICUM to organise opposition to the return regulation. Early mobilisation of trade unions and civil society can shape the debate in their own terms before policies are put into place that hurt people, workers and violate human rights.
Later this year, the European Commission is expected to publish related legislation on digitalisation of asylum procedures, including for case-management of deportation procedures. This will again have a direct impact on how public administrations are organised and should be at the very least subject to consultation of social partners, in line with our agreement on digitalisation adopted in 2022, see here.
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