EU Interior Ministers met on Tuesday evening to thrash out a response to the Afghan crisis, and Finland was represented there by Green leader Maria Ohisalo.
Instinctively pro-immigration, Ohisalo might not have had a comfortable evening as the ministers argued about the use of the term ‘illegal immigration’.
Euronews reports that the term “is disputed due to its criminal connotations. The Commission prefers to use “irregular migration” in its official communications”.
Indeed there were reports during the meeting that Finland had supported an effort by some states to replace “illegal immigration” with “irregular migration” in the statement ministers were working on.
That effort failed, however.
The text overall emphasised managing migration and helping Afghans in the region, rather than assisting them in reaching Europe, but after the meeting Ohisalo emphasised the parts focused on helping people in the country.
“The central message is that Afghanistan’s people are not left alone in the crisis,” the Green told Helsingin Sanomat. “Especially women, children, people who’ve worked for human rights in the country, journalists, employees of the court system, researchers, artists and many others need support in the future too, including those who cannot leave the country.”
In Ohisalo’s opinion, humanitarian assistance is the best way to prevent large-scale migration, and she noted several funding channels set up to provide that assistance.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.