ANDEAN COMMUNITY COMMUNIQUÉ

 Regarding the
“Directive establishing sanctions against employers of illegally staying third-country nationals” 

We, the Member Countries of the Andean Community, express our deep concern over the approval by the European Parliament of the proposed “Directive establishing sanctions against employers of illegally staying third-country nationals.” 

We consider that approval of this Directive and its subsequent implementation will have a negative impact on the promotion and protection of the human and labor rights of irregular migrants, for instead of establishing tougher penalties for their employers, it would be better to prioritize the insertion of these migrants into the society and the labor and productive activities of their destination countries. 

In the current scenario of international economic and financial crisis, affecting the countries of both origin and destination of migrants, the application of restrictive measures like those proposed in this Directive does not offer an integral solution to the migration phenomenon, creating as it does greater vulnerability among irregular migrants and increasing the possibilities of their labor exploitation.   

We, the Andean Community Member Countries, urge the Governments of the European Union to re-examine, using an integral and comprehensive approach and following up on the commitments acquired at the Fifth LAC-EU Summit, the various Community legislative initiatives and international migration and labor commitments.  The purpose of this exercise should be to identify common challenges and possible areas for cooperation in the integral management of migration and development, in a context of full respect for the Human and Labor Rights of migrants and recognizing their contributions to the countries where they have been received. 

February 19, 2009