ITALY: European ministers in Rome yesterday proposed creating a joint border police unit to crack down on illegal immigration at airports, a large and growing problem in the 15-member union.
The pilot project, which needs region-wide approval, is part of a broader plan drawn up by five European countries to look at ways of creating a common EU border guard.
"We don't want Europe to turn into a fortress, but we want to promote an integrated model that will guarantee the security of our citizens within our common space," Italy's Interior Minister, Mr Claudio Scajola, told delegates in Rome before presenting the feasibility study and pilot project.
The study comes just weeks before a European Union summit in Seville, where immigration is expected to top the agenda.
The EU border police unit would operate at the region's sensitive airports."The route most exploited by illegal immigrants, or those who enter normally but become illegal immigrants, is through airports," the Spanish Interior Minister, Mr Mariano Rajoy, said.
Internal security has become an EU priority since the September 11th attacks on the United States and since far-right parties across Europe jumped in popularity due to their anti-immigration and anti-crime platforms.
"Immigration is the single most important phenomenon that we are going to deal with in the coming years," Mr Rajoy said.
Earlier this month, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, proposed that the 15-nation body should have a common border guard by 2007, paid for by all member-states.
Yesterday's feasibility study carried out by Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany and France stressed the need for co-operation over the creation of a European corps of border guards.
Common legislation, shared information and a mobile police rapid reaction unit that would deal with immigration and trafficking emergencies, were among other proposals included in the plan.
In preparation for the project, 20 European countries carried out a joint crackdown on 25 airports between April 25th and May 21st. Some 4,589 illegal immigrants were identified and almost 1,000 false documents seized during the operation. The immigrants came mostly from China, as well as from Ecuador, Angola, Brazil, Nigeria and Senegal.
The study highlighted the tendency of airlines to allow passengers who do not have proper documents aboard, the ministers said, adding that 500 sanctions were taken against airlines as a result of a police clampdown.
Italy's centre-right government, led by the Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, has made law and order a priority and is pushing legislation through parliament that will make it much more difficult for immigrants to enter the country. On Wednesday, the lower house approved amendments to an immigration bill which includes a new clause that would require non-EU foreigners living in Italy to be fingerprinted when they applied for a residence permit.
Britain announced a tightening of its immigration laws yesterday, forbidding rejected asylum seekers from launching an appeal within the country. The news came as new figures showed Britain received 19,520 asylum applications in the first quarter, up 1,520 from the previous three months - and that 75 per cent were rejected.
Nearly 3,000 failed asylum seekers were removed from Britain over the period as the government processed claims more quickly and chartered flights to ship people out en masse.
Greek officials yesterday criticised the idea of turning the EU into a "fortress" in the fight against illegal immigration, declaring such a move would pander to Europe's far-right political parties.