The speakers focused on migration issues in Israel and Morocco as well as analyzing the role of migration policy as part of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation.

Xenophobic attitudes on the rise in Israel

Gershon Baskin, Co-CEO of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, told the audience that migrants' status in Israel is undermined by strict laws, low wages and weak social security. Migrants are also facing growing xenophobic attitudes, which is reflected, inter alia, in the growing popularity of racist-populist political groupings.

Rapid economic growth after the 1967 war in Israel created a strong demand of labor, and in the post-war period especially Palestinian migrant workers accounted for a large proportion of the total workforce (about 10%). Intensification of the political situation and decline in economic growth have led to the closing of borders and the tightening of visa conditions. The result has been growth in the number of illegal immigrants, and at the same time the status of legal immigrants has also become increasingly precarious.

Buying and selling visas has become a thriving business in Israel. Private firms are acquiring entry permits from the state and selling them at a high price to the migrants, who are in turn “sold” by the firms to employers. Israeli citizenship is very difficult to obtain, and migrants are often living in a continuous state of uncertainty over the threat of deportation and without the protection of society's support networks.

Closing Europe’s borders has led to the growth of illegal immigration

Najia Benserhir, a Researcher at the Groupement d'Études et de Recherches sur la Méditerranée (G.E.R.M.) in Morocco, outlined the development of migration flows between North Africa and Europe, focusing especially on the case of Morocco. From the 1960's until the oil crisis in the 70's, large numbers of Moroccan immigrants moved to Western Europe as a result of labor shortages created by strong economic growth. The economic downturn following the oil crisis led, however, to the decrease in migratory flows. Reduction in the volume of legal migration was also strongly influenced by the Schengen Agreement, which was signed in 1985. The closing of EU’s borders led to a significant growth of illegal migration.

Legal migration in the EU has become highly controlled. Immigrants have to adapt to the changing needs of European labor markets and meet the criteria set for migrants that are eligible to enter the EU zone. Migration policy has become increasingly a part of the Union's security policy, which is reflected, inter alia, in the increasing "outsourcing" of the management of migratory flows outside of the EU's borders. This development has often occurred at the expense of the perspective emphasizing the rights of the immigrants.

Risto Veltheim, Roving Ambassador for Algeria at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, dealt in his speech with the development of migration policy in the framework of Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. He stressed that migration issues are a relatively recent theme on the EuroMed-agenda. In this context migration issues have been divided into three themes: legal migration, illegal migration and the links between migration and development. Union for the Mediterranean, which was founded in 2008 as a successor of the Barcelona Process, has stressed in particular the fight against illegal immigration. According to Mr. Veltheim, however, more emphasis should be given to the issues related to legal migration. He also noted that it is particularly important to take into account the huge gap in living standards, which sets the basis for treatment of migration issues in the Euro-Mediterranean region.