Валерий Энгель - Xenophobia, radicalism and hate crime in Europe 2015

In July and August, Hungary amended its border regulations and introduced criminal responsibility for illegally entering the country. [17] https://www.hrw.org/ru/world-report/2016/country-chapters/286136#383e61 It also recognised Servia as a “safe third party”, which allowed for a quick return of transit refugees to that country. The law introduced army presence at the border and allowed the use of non-lethal measures against migrants and refugees, including rubber bullets and tear gas.

Russia is taking measures to streamline the immigration process. As of May 2015, Russian authorities rejected entry for 1.35 million foreign nationals who violated the regulations of stay. Registration of foreign nationals has been somewhat improved. Previously, many migrant workers were registering in so-called “rubber flats” – addresses that have no relation to their actual place of residence. Such flats often officially housed hundreds of migrants, who actually lived in other places, or did not have housing at all. Since the adoption of a corresponding law, the number of rubber flats was reduced from 10,090 to 1,160. [18] http://kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/49417

On September 17, 2015, British Parliament introduced a new Immigration Bill, which was the result of a Conservative policy aimed at attracting Eurosceptics and those concerned with the increased flows of refugees. [19] http://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2015/october/immigration-bill-commons-second-reading/ This policy culminated in summer 2016, when following a national referendum Britain voted to leave the European Union. The Immigration Act was criticised by the British public, as it was aimed at reducing the number of immigrants and people seeking asylum by reducing social welfare and tightening the control over the housing and labour market. [20] http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/blog/2015/09/immigration-bill-2015-what-you-need-know

In 2015, the British government announced a plan to increase youth employment. It was proposed that jobseekers aged 18 to 21 will be sent to work boot camps – doing community service for 30 hours per week, four weeks per year, or face losing their Jobseekers Allowance. [21] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/17/unemployed-young-people-work-boot-camp-tory-minister

This sparked criticism from the public, including the fact that the bill would have been primarily aimed at national minorities and immigrants, as these groups have the highest levels of youth unemployment. For example, youth unemployment in black communities in the country is more than 50 %. [22] http://www.irr.org.uk/news/workfare-and-the-legacy-of-structural-racism/

France had also transformed its immigration legislation in 2015. Applications for asylum have been sped up from the maximum of 24 months to 9 months. At the end of this term, asylum seekers are to be granted asylum or deported from the country. Asylum seekers are now placed in special camps across the whole country (easing the burden on the Paris region), and under threat of losing social assistance and other privileges. In addition, the French parliament started considering a new bill on the rights of foreign nationals. [23] Loi 7 mars 2016 relative au droit des étrangers en France, http://www.immigration.interieur.gouv.fr/Immigration/Loi-du-7-mars-2016-relative-au-droit-des-etrangers-en-France. For English language report about the initial proposals, see: „New French law aims to boost foreigners’ rights”, The Local, 20 July 2015, http://www.thelocal.fr/20150720/france-foreigners-rights-visas-immigration-new-law and France: National Assembly Adopts Immigration Bill, 9 September 2015 , http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/france-national-assembly-adopts-immigration-bill/.

The third group of legislative changes adopted in 2015 was aimed at streamlined integration of legal immigrants.

In June 2015, Greece adopted a law that automatically granted Greek citizenship to children of foreign nationals born in the country. This bill affects almost 200,000 second-generation immigrants. [24] http://grreporter.info/en/greece_grants_citizenship_100000_children_immigrants/12824

A similar bill was adopted in Italy. At the time of writing, it is awaiting the Senate’s approval. The so called ius soli act also provides citizenship to children of foreign nationals, provided they are permanent residents in the country. The law specifically mentions that it is targeted at non-EU citizens. [25] https://www.repubblica.it/politica/2015/10/13/news/legge_cittadinanza_senato-124967907 Experts believe that this law means that the new generation of Italians who are almost fully integrated into society (with knowledge of language, traditions, and having received education in Italy) will finally be able to identify themselves as part of the nation.

European governments have been taking measures to encourage immigrants to adapt to new realities. However, these measures often result in outright forced denouncement of their identities. This was most apparent in the Netherlands, which adopted amendments to its integration legislation that affected non-EU citizens seeking residency. The new bill requires people who have been residing in the Netherlands for several years to pass a language exam and demonstrate knowledge of the local labour market. Some human rights observers believe that these exams are of no practical help to immigrants; rather, they demonstrate negative attitudes towards immigrants and facilitate isolationist tendencies. For example, migrants from Maghreb and Africa are asked what they would do “if they saw two men kissing on the street.” Expressing negative views in this case often results in failing the exam. [26] http://www.ncbopleidingen.nl/cursusnederlands/nieuwe-regels-voor-inburgeringsexamen-of-staatsexamen-nt2 As a result, many refuse to take the exam altogether.

This is a typical example of how European governments try to speed up the integration of legal immigrants, where integration comes in the form of assimilation and loss of traditional identities.

Russia has been seeking to improve the conditions for the employment of migrant workers. Since January 2015, people from countries with a visa-free agreement with Russia can seek employment outside quotas by acquiring a work patent (permit), provided they have indicated “work” as the reason for entry in the country. Thus migrant workers have been divided into two categories, which was supposed to improve the position of migrants from visa-free countries. However, the project turned out to be fraught with bureaucratic problems (see Section 2).

Finally, the fourth legislative trend in 2015 was related to combating radicalisation, racism, xenophobia, and facilitating peaceful religious relations.

On September 25, 2015, Poland introduced amendments to the Law on National, Ethnic Minorities, and Regional Languages (January 6, 2005). The proposed Article 9 of the Law on Supported Languages states that a minority language may be used in communication with municipal authorities to the same extent as the official language. This condition applies to municipalities where a “supported” linguistic minority group constitutes for 20 % of the population or above. [27] http://administracja.mac.gov.pl/adm/baza-jst/843,Samorzad-terytorialny-w-Polsce.html President Duda, however, had vetoed the bill citing the “high cost of implementation.” It is to be reviewed in parliament in 2016. [28] See: President’s veto, Druk nr 3999, October 26, 2015, http://orka.sejm.gov.pl/Druki7ka.nsf/0/0489813F186FFD08C1257EEE00319 °C2/%24File/3999.pdf

In 2015, the German Criminal Code was amended with Art. 46.2, which instructed the courts to consider racist, xenophobic, or other discriminatory motives as aggravating circumstances in the commission of a crime. [29] https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2015/kw12_de_nsu/364372;http://www.antidiskriminierungsstelle.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/aktuelles/20150407_Rechtsgutachten_Hasskriminalitaet.pdf;jsessionid=388532642DBE44BD106E5531442542A8.2_cid340?__blob=publicationFile&v=1 http://rvrn.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Report_2015eng.pdf This is an important development, since previous German legislation did not cover these factors when dealing with violent crime, stating instead that the courts may take them into consideration during sentencing.