Weekly News Roundup

This week's news roundup covers EU initiatives to create a Common European Asylum System as well as France's possible new focus on immigration policy as well as highlighting opinion tools for Americans on their attitudes towards immigration after the failure of the Immigration Bill to be passed through the US Senate. Also stories on Aid workers killed in Lebanon and links towards the refugee tragedy in the Mediterranean are highlighted:

• French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said last Friday in his tour of Africa that France will not tolerate waves of African migrants coming to France. Since the election of France's new President Nicolas Sarkozy, many migrants have been worried about the possible changes to France's immigration policy. While Kouchner did show a tough stance on France's new approach to immigration, he did clarify that France's immigrants should be treated fairly and that much of the concern came from the high risk illegal immigrants. He may have been influenced by events last week where 110 bodies where discovered in the Mediterranean Sea between Malta and Libya, thought to be illegal immigrants who became victim to their "uncertain vessels" and a fortuneless journey.
• On June 6th 2007 the European Comission published a Green Paper to create the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) as well as an evaluation of the Dublin System and a Directive on long-term residence for the beneficiaries of International Protection. It is hoped that the focus on irregular migrations, which has dominated European Immigration Policy in the past, will be refocused towards the rights and obligations of all EU Member states on the rights of Asylum seekers in the EU. After the tragedy mentioned above, a mechanism to ensure the rights of Asylum seekers needs to be established equally in all EU states.
• With the failed progression on the Immigration Reform Bill, MSNBC has created a website to gain American's opinions on the immigration issue and the reform bill from American citizens. While the Bill has been set aside indefinitely, the issue of immigration in the US still holds strong among many people. See the links here for opinions.
• In a June 11th article for the Guardian Newspaper, two Red Cross workers were killed and one seriously wounded today in Lebanon. The shell that hit their vehicle came from Fatah Islam militants held up inside the Northern edge of the Nahr al-Bared camp. For more information see the Lebanon post below.