Update Regularisation campaign in Spain 2004-2005
(08 April 2005)
by
Yolanda Bakker
y_bakker@yahoo.de
Number
of registered illegal migrants
Regularisation
after the bomb attacks of 11th of March 2004
Number
of registered illegal migrants
At
the end of 2003 the foreigners Law (14/2003) has been reformed. This law allowed
the Spanish Minister of Interior access to the population register, which was
untill then only registered at a local level. The following analysis and
comparison of the numbers showed a surplus of more than 800.000 unauthorised
migrants. Migrants that were registered at the local population registers, but
did not show up in the data on foreigners with a residence title of the
Ministery of Interior. Although the number of 800.000 is not per se accurate,
because the municipalities have an interest in a high number of registered
residents in order to receive more money from the Government. Also many migrants
did not bother to have their name removed from their former municipal register
when they had moved to another municipality in Spain. Not fully accurate but
indicatory, the number of 800.000 unregistered migrants started a large public
debate about the number of illegal migrants in Spain at the beginning of 2004
(EL PAÍS, 14th of April 2004).
Regularisation
after the bomb attacks of 11th of March 2004
March
2004, the Spanish government announced a special regularisation procedure for
illegal migrants that had fallen victim to the bomb attacks at the train
stations in and around Madrid at the 11th of March 2004. The trains
were bombed in the morning rush hour and were carrying many immigrants workers
on their way to their jobs. Close family members (parents, children, husbands
and wives) of the dead and injured migrant victims were given the possibility to
regularize their residency or to obtain Spanish citizenship. The victims had a
period of 6 months after the attacks to hand over their application.
The
authorities had received 2.240 applications for regularisation at the beginning
of August (El Mundo, 4. August 2004) and 1.209 applications for naturalisation
(score at the beginning of June 2004 (El Mundo, 12 June 2004). Most applications
come from Ecuadorians, Rumanians and Colombians. At the beginning of August 2004
a total of 1286 applications for regularisation have been proceeded, of which
689 (53,5%) applications have been approved and 597 (46,4%) have been rejected.
A
more recent press release of the Ministry of Interior from the 2nd of
March 2005 (MIR 2005) states a total number of 2.590 applications, of which 900
have been admitted a residence card (449 for victims and 451 for family members)
and 908 applicants have been granted an authorisation of residence for
exceptional reasons (441 victims and 457 family members). 1.587 applications
have been rejected, because there was no proof of being directly affected by the
attacks of 11th March or for other reasons (criminal record,
expulsion order). Regretfully the press release does not provide any information
on the background of the applicants.
In
autumn 2004 the new socialist government of prime minister Zapatero (PSOE)
announced a new regularisation campaign for illegal migrants in Spain. The
Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Jésus Caldera, refused to call the
operation a regularisation campaign and explicitly claimed, that it is not a
regularisation but a 'normalisation' process, for those people that are already
working now and will continue to do so, at least one more year (El País, 14.
September 2004).
This
'normalisation' process started in February 2005 and aims at migrant workers.
Applications can be handed over during a three month's period, until the 7th
May 2005. There are two categories with a different procedure of application.
For the first category, the general authorisation of residence and work , not
the worker, but the employer, who intends to employ a foreign worker should
present the application at the authorities. The second category concerns
so-called 'discontinuous' workers in the domestic service sector, that only work
for several hours at different employers. Because discontinuous workers do not
have a fixed employer, they can hand over the application themselves. They
should be able to proof, that in total they work at least 30 hours per week.
The
employers must fulfill the following requirements:
1)
The applying company must be registered in the corresponding social
security scheme and be up-to-date with all tax obligations and social security
payments and the conditions of the work contract must comply with the
corresponding regulations for the activity.
2)
The employer should have signed a work contract with the migrant worker
for a minimum period of 6 months. For the agriculture sector this minimum period
is reduced to 3 months, for the building and hostelry sector, the commitment for
the employer may be carried out within a maximum period of 12 months. If dealing
with part time work contracts, the length of the work contract must be increased
proportionally to the reduction of the working day, so that the total equals at
least the total of a full time contract for a minimum period of 6 months.
The
workers must fulfill the following requirements:
1)
having an original and full copy of their passport or travel document
2)
having been registered at the population register in any Spanish town
before the 8th of August 2004 and having remained continuously in
Spain during this period
3)
show accreditation of officially approved degrees or certificates or
proof of their capacity to perform their profession
4)
not having a criminal record, either in Spain or in other countries in
which he or she has resided in the past five years, translated and legalised by
the diplomatic mission or consular office of the country of origin
5)
not having a prohibition of entry into Spain, unless this entry
prohibition stems from an expulsion decided in Spain due to irregular residence
or work
One
month after the start of the regularisation campaign the Minister of Labour and
Social Affairs (MTAS 2005a) presented the first detailed figures on the
regularisation campaign. During the first month a total of 117.962 applications
have been filed, of which 98,2% has been admitted. 64,3 % of all applications
were handed over in only three regional provinces (Comunidades Autónomas),
Madrid (33.727 applications), Catalonia (25.183) and Valencia (16.968). Most
applicants come from Ecuador (32,2%), Morocco (14,8%), Colombia (13,6%) and
Romania (12,7%), all countries where the largest number of migrants residing
legally in Spain come from.
On
the 7th of April the Minister of Labour (MTAS 2005b+c) presented the
figures of the regularisation campaign after two months. On the 6th of April
2005 the authorities had received a total of 313.501 applications for
regularisation. During the second month more than 195.000 applications have been
handed over, 65% more applications than during the first month. It is to be
expected that this number will continue to rise during the last month, because
many applicants are still collecting the necessary documents. Apart from this,
the structure of the applicants have hardly changed. The majority of all
applications (64,1 % or 201.059 files) have been presented at the same three
regional provinces as the first month: Madrid (87.068), Catalonia (68.254) and
Valencia (45.737). If we look at the kind of applications, we see that 104.339
(33%) migrants have applied as domestic workers, of which 65.481
migrants work for one family and 38.858 migrants work as discontinuous domestic
workers. After two months Ecuadorians are the most numerous group with 86.916
applicants (28,8%), followed by 42.629 (14,15%) Romanians, 38.968 (12,9%)
Moroccans and 34.000 (11,3%) Colombians, all countries Spain has signed
bilateral agreements with.
The
regularisation process has been criticized by workers unions and migrant NGOs.
In Barcelona several hundred migrants have started sit-ins and hunger strikes to
demanding to relax the procedure (El Mundo, 4th of April 2005). Many
migrants can not show a work contract for more than 6 months and many have
formerly not made a registration at the population register out of fear for
deportation. Currently the authorities are thinking on how to relax this demand
and accept other proofs of residence (EL PAÍS, 8th of April 2005).
Another point of criticism is the overstrained situation at the consulates and
embassies of the home countries, due to which many applicants will fail to
deliver the necessary criminal record in time. Also the important role that
employers play within the regularisation procedure has been criticized,
especially because the regularisation procedure had been announced as an
instrument against Spain's large clandestine labour market. Migrant workers are
protesting, because many employers are unwilling to legalize them. Instead many
employers are firing their illegal migrant workers in order to avoid having to
legalize and pay them regular wages (El Mundo, 4th of April 2005).
MIR
– Ministerio der Interior
2005
"Indemnizaciones y regularizaciones concedidas. Interior
ha resuelto 1.510 expedientes e indemnizado a las víctimas con más de 44
millones un año después del 11-M". Press release
from 2nd March 2005.
MTAS
- Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales
2005a,
"Proceso de Normalización de Trabajadores extranjeros". Informe de situación.
2005b
"Dos Meses del Proceso de Normalización de Trabajadores Extranjeros".
Informe de situación. Datos a 6 de abril de 2005.
2005c
"Solicitudes
presentadas por provincia y regímenes a la Seguridad Social". (06.04.2005)
URL:<http://www.tt.mtas.es/periodico/inmigracion/200504/BALANCE%202%BA%20MES%20NORMALIZACI%D3N.pdf>
For
more information:
The
Website of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs (in Spanish)
http://www.mtas.es/migraciones/proceso2005/
The
Website of the Social Security Office offers an online version a guide of the
normalisation process and a diagramm of the procedure in many languages
(English, French, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Bulgaric). See: <http://www.seg-social.es/inicio/?MIval=cw_usr_view_Folder&LANG=1&ID=44811&pagina=1&frames=false
- 44811>
