Brussels, 30/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - The issue of money earned by immigrants in their host countries then sent back to family at home will be one of the points on the agenda for the meeting between high-ranking officials from Europe and Latin America, scheduled to take place in September as part of the EU-Latin America dialogue on migration, Argentina's Ambassador to the EU Jorge Remes Lenicov said on Tuesday 30 June. Leading the delegation of Latin American and Caribbean countries at the meeting launching the dialogue, he said he thought that charges on this money sent home were “very high” and should be lowered. Deputy Director General for Latin America at the European Commission Stefano Sannino said that one of the things the Commission would do would be to “publish the transfer costs” of the money sent home so that those involved could make an informed choice of which money transfer company to choose (for example, Money Transfer or Western Union). In mid-June, following the European Council, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said that halving charges applied to money sent back home was one of the Italian proposals for aid for development for countries of the South on the agenda at the G8 meeting to be held in l'Aquila on 8-10 July). Such a move would, he said, release over €8 billion every year to help those in the South.
The EU-Latin America dialogue on migration will provide an opportunity to exchange points of view in three areas: the link between migration and development, legal immigration and illegal immigration. Four meetings have already been arranged, three under Swedish Presidency of the EU in September, November and December, with the fourth in the first half of 2010, under Spanish Presidency. Speaking of the “specificity” of relations between the two geographical areas, Mexican Ambassadress to the EU Sandra Fuentes-Beráin highlighted the importance of dealing with the issue of migration in a comprehensive way, whether from the point of view of human rights, tackling discrimination or its economic impact. “Behind every immigrant there is a human story,” she pointed out. The Czech Presidency representative hailed the “excellent work over the last six months”, which has led to the opening of this Euro-Latin American dialogue on migration “on the last day of the Czech Presidency”. The EU-Latin America Summit in Lima in May 2008 called for the launch of this dialogue, which was felt to be essential after the EU's adoption of its returns directive, repatriating illegal immigrants, brought such strong reaction from Latin American countries (see EUROPE 9685 and 9696). (M.B./transl.rt)