Migrations Programme - [06/13/2008]

Immigration: the challenge of managing a phenomenon on an everyday basis

Narcís Serra chaired the presentation of the book Immigration, State and Law, published by Bosch, in an event that brought together a significant group of experts and others interested in the subject. The book's coordinator, Manuel Balado, highlighted the plurality and specialisation of the different chapters of the book, which is a work produced through the participation of more than 70 writers, including academics, experts and politicians. In Balado's opinion, the European Union should move towards introducing a European immigration policy that would limit actions such as those recently taken by the Italian government, the only objective of which is to criminalise immigration.

Meanwhile, Eduard Sagarra, author of the chapter on immigrants' rights to political participation, pointed out that immigration should not be considered as a problem, but rather as a phenomenon to be dealt with and managed on an everyday basis. According to the author, the work takes the form of a polyphonic composition in which each chapter possesses a specific tone and viewpoint, and in which the sum of all the participants’ contributions provides an encyclopaedic view of the state of immigration and migration policies in Spain in 2008.

Narcís Serra brought the event to a close by reflecting on the need to join forces to ensure that society tackles the challenge of immigration, as well as the need to build a social consensus on the phenomenon that will guarantee cohesion in our societies, especially when the stages of economic growth are interrupted by periods of crisis.