[adnkronos.com] Italy’s foreign minister, Franco Frattini, has floated the possibility
of an immigration accord during an official visit to the west African
country of Senegal. Frattini met the president of Senegal, Abdoullaye
Wade, and the country’s foreign minister ,Tidiane Gadio, on the final
stop of a five-day visit to Africa.
Frattini suggested a plan to discuss legal and illegal immigration in proposed talks.
"We want to promote immigration for the highly-qualified, on the
basis of the two year, renewable European ‚green card‘," he said.
"We want to collaborate on a concerted effort to manage legal
immigration, also taking account of seasonal immigration, in a way that
would also fight the phenomenon of the underground labour market."
Regarding illegal immigration, he said there should also be talks about repatriation based on the Spanish model.
Under the Spanish system, workers who agree to return home, are
entitled to receive accumulated unemployment benefits in two lump sums,
provided they take their families with them and promise not to return
to Spain for at least three years.
Frattini’s proposal foreshadows a form of "support for immigrants
who return to Senegal from Italy" and "an important line of credit
destined to help Senegalese migrants who want to reinvest in the place".
Frattini was to unveil a private sector support programme worth 30 million euros in Dakar on Friday.
The foreign minister also discussed an accord for the protection
for Italian investments in the African country. The undertaking has
been ratified in Italy and president Wade assured Frattini that he will
endorse the accord.
The agreement will give a boost to Italian investments in Senegal particularly in the energy and biofuels sector.
In October 2007 the European Commission unveiled a proposed Blue Card for skilled immigrants, based on the US Green Card.
The plan would allow suitably qualified people and their families to live and work within the European Union.
Source: http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Politics/?id=3.0.3015213413
