Europe Immigration News

An EU rapid reaction team of border guards set up to deal with illegal immigration has begun work in Italy.

Three officials from the EU's Frontex border agency arrived on the remote Mediterranean island of Lampedusa after appeals for assistance from Rome.

The team will be organising joint European Union naval patrols in the area to stem the influx of migrants, mostly from Africa.

The European Commission has issued a warning to Italy that it could face EU sanctions if its move to legalise up to 350,000 immigrants breaches union law.

Several European Union nations have laws allowing or have legislation pending to allow employers to use a series of short-term, fixed contracts to avoid issuing long-term, permanent contracts. Long-term contracts are used to obtain residency and "premium" visas that generally have more benefits.

Italy has lifted the barriers to workers from eastern European member states bringing the total number of EU states with free movement of labour to 18.

Rome announced the decision to lift the restrictions, in place since the bloc's big bang enlargement to the east in May 2004, on July 21.

France will grant residency permits to roughly 6,000 illegal immigrants but expel more than twice as many under controversial new immigration rules, its interior minister said in an interview published on Monday.

The European Union Labour Force Survey has released its fourth quarter report for 2005 on employment statistics for the EU-25 and region. After a stagnant period during 2001 and 2002, the EU has seen a steady increase in total employment through the end of 2005, at 64.0% of the working age population. This is a slight increase compared with 63.6% in the fourth q