Europe Immigration News

France, which says it has between 200,000 and 400,000 illegal immigrants, on May 11 announced tough new measures to end the flow of illegal immigrants. These measures include rules to stop arranged marriages and the use of biometric visas.

France is just the latest European country to increase efforts to stop illegal immigration, adopting policies that favor the regularization of skilled foreign workers.

Spain has granted amnesty to 700,000 illegal immigrants, the Guardian reports. The Spanish Government hopes this will help to end exploitation of those working secretly in the black economy.

Illegal workers and their employers were given a three-month period to apply for Spanish residence and work permits. The Socialist Government claimed that 80 to 90 percent of the country's illegal workers had taken advantage of the opportunity.

A recent study finds that immigrants in Germany are not harming the economy, but often become self employed and currently employ more than one million people, Deutsche Welle reports.

A new study called "The Importance of the Ethnic Economy in Germany," commissioned by the German Economics Ministry, has found that since 1990, the number of immigrants who have been taking the plunge into self-employment has risen by 60 percent.

The Georgian government announced on 13 April 2005 that Georgia will unilaterally cancel visa requirements for citizens of the United States, Japan, Israel, Canada and EU member countries as an expression of Georgia's good will and willingness to to ease entry for these citizens in Georgia.

Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Kakha Sikharulidze told reporters at a news conference on April 13 that the government will submit relevant amendments to the law to Parliament in the near future.

The Dutch Government will look at introducing new restrictions on social security benefits to immigrants, the website expatica.com reports.

The Netherlands' Social Affairs State Secretary Henk van Hoof said on March 9 that there would be particular emphasis on restricting access to unemployment benefits and old age pensions. Under the scheme, immigrants to the Netherlands will be asked to pay a lump sum prior to entering the country, with those not doing so being refused access to the Netherlands pension scheme.

Norway is to consider requiring large bank deposits from tourists coming from certain Countries in a bid to discourage asylum seekers from entering the Country, the newspaper Aftenposten reports.