REFUGEES, CITIZENSHIP AND SOCIAL POLICY IN EUROPE

REFUGEES, CITIZENSHIP AND SOCIAL POLICY IN EUROPE

Also by Alice Bloch BEATING THE BARRTERS: The Employment and Training Needs of Refugees in Newham REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS TN NEWHAM: Access to Services Also by Carl Levy THE FUTURE OF EUROPE: Problems and Issues!'or the Twenty-First Centmy ITALIAN REGIONALISM: History, Identity and Politics SOCIALISM AND THE TNTELLTGENTSTA, 1870-1914

Refugees, Citizenship and Social Policy in Europe Edited by Alice Bloch Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology University of East London and Carl Levy Leccurer in European Politics Goldsmiths College University of London

First published in Great Britain 1999 hy MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-40421-6 DOI 10.1057/9780230371248 ISBN 978-0-230-37124-8 (ebook) First published in the United States of America 1999 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Refugees, citizenship. and social policy in Europe I edited by Alice Bloch and Carl Levy. p. em. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-21724-2 (cloth) I. Refugees-Government policy-europe. 2. Asylum, Right of- -Europe. I. Bloch, Alice. 1964- II. Levy. Carl, 1951- JV7590.R44 1998 325'.21 '094-dc21 98-35605 CIP Selection and editorial matter Alice Bloch and Carl Levy 1999 Introduction and Chapter I 0 Alice Bloch 1999 Chapters 2 and I I Carl Levy 1999 Other chapters Macmillan Press Ltd 1999 Soticover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1999 978-0-333-71910-7 All rights reserved. No reproduction. copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced. copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright. Designs and Patents Act 1988. or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be iiahle to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright. Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 08 07 06 05 ISBN 978-0-312-21724-2 6 5 04 03 4 02 3 01 2 I 00 99

Contents Notes on contributors List of tables List of figures VII Vlll IX 1. Introduction 1 Alice Bloch 2. European asylum and refugee policy after the Treaty of Amsterdam: the birth of a new regime? 12 Carl Levy 3. The politics of refugee and asylum policies in Britain: historical patterns and contemporary realities 51 Liza Schuster and John Solomos 4. 'Persons persecuted on political grounds shall enjoy the right of asylum- but not in our country': asylum policy and debates about refugees in the Federal Republic of Germany 76 Karen Schonwiilder 5. The precarious safety of the refugee 91 Patricia Tuitt 6. Refugee resettlement in Europe 105 Karen Duke, Rosemary Sales and Jeanne Gregory 7. Asylum seekers and access to social security: recent developments in The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium 132 Paul E. Minderhoud 8. Unaccompanied refugee children: legal framework and local application in Britain 149 Louise Williamson 9. Age in Exile: Europe's older refugees and exiles 168 Helena Scott and Claudio Bolzman v

VI Contents 10. Refugees in the job market: a case of unused skills in the British economy Alice Bloch 11. Asylum seekers, refugees and the future of citizenship in the European Union Carl Levy Index 187 211 232

Notes on contributors Alice Bloch is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of East London Claudio Bolzman is a Professor in the Centre for Social Research at the Institute of Social Studies, Geneva Karen Duke is a Research Fellow in the School of Social Science at the University of Middlesex Jeanne Gregory is a visiting Professor and Head of Gender Research Centre at the University of Middlesex Carl Levy is a Lecturer in European Politics in the Department of Social Policy and Politics at Goldsmiths College, University of London Paul E. Minderhoud is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Sociology of Law at the University of Nijmegen Rosemary Sales is a Principal Lecturer in the School of Social Science at the University of Middlesex Karen Schonwalder is a political scientist at the Justus Liebig UniversiUit in Gicsscn, Germany. Liza Schuster is a research assistant at South Bank University. Helena Scott is a European Development Officer at Age Concern Scotland John Solomos is a Professor of Sociology at South Bank University Patricia Tuitt is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Law at the University of East London Louise Williamson is a research student at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London and was formally Director of the Children's Division at the Refugee Council VII

List of tables 2.1 Asylum applications, 1985-95 (selected years) 16 2.2 Asylum applications in the EU (1995-96) 17 2.3 European asylum and refugee policy: TREVI to the Treaty of Amsterdam (1976-97) 21 3.1 Legislation relating to refugees and asylum seekers 60 3.2 Total applications for asylum 62 3.3 Number of asylum application (in thousands) 63 6.1 Number of applications for asylum and grants of Convention status in Europe, 1991-95 107 6.2 Income of asylum seekers 113 6.3 Humanitarian status available to asylum seekers in European states (excluding provisions for asylum seekers from former Yugoslavia) 115 6.4 Issues dealt with by Vietnamese community groups (percentage of groups involved in each activity) 121 6.5 Issues dealt with by non-vietnamese community groups (percentage of groups involved in each activity) 122 6.6 Non-Vietnamese refugee community groups by nationality 123 10.1 Highest level of education by country of origin and sex 192 10.2 Highest level of qualification on arrival to the UK 193 10.3 Total percentage unemployed in Newham by ethnic group 195 10.4 Current employment in the UK 195 10.5 Current job and job before leaving country of origin 196 10.6 Number of hours worked by take-home pay 197 10.7 Average hourly earnings of the workforce, in pence 197 10.8 All reasons why those in employment are looking for a different job 198 10.9 Number of those working, stating different barriers as preventing them from getting a more suitable job 199 10.10 Number looking for different types of employment 201 10.11 Type of work wanted by qualification on arrival to Britain 201 10.12 Way of finding last job by country of origin 205 10.13 Way of finding job in Britain by country of origin 206 Vlll

List of figures 2.1 The organization of migration policy making in the Third Pillar of the Treaty of European Union (November 1993-97) 28 10.1 Main activity before coming to Britain and main activity in Britain 191 10.2 Highest academic qualifications 193 10.3 Reasons for not looking for paid employment 200 I 0.4 Barriers to employment 203 10.5 Ways of finding current job or last job in Britain 205 I 0.6 Different methods of job seeking by those currently looking for employment 207 IX