{"article":{"id":218434,"heading":"Latin America rejects new EU law on illegal immigrants","author":"Eduardo Enrique Reina","created":"2008-06-21 10:09:28","modified":"2008-06-21 10:09:28","last_modified":"Sat, 21 Jun 2008 17:09:28","article":"<br>  <br>     MEXICO CITY, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Latin American countries have voiced their criticism of a new EU immigration law, which stipulates indiscriminative deportation of illegal immigrants in European Union (EU) countries.  <br><br>     The European Parliament approved on Wednesday the so-called \"Return Directive\", which will come into force in 2010.  <br><br>     Under the new law, all illegal immigrants living in the EU member states will have to leave the bloc within a period of seven to 30 days.  <br><br>     Otherwise, they will be subject to up to six-months of detention, which can be prolonged for another 12 months in exceptional cases. The deportees will be barred from entering the EU for a period of up to five years.  <br><br>     On Thursday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez reacted with indignation to the new EU law and threatened that his country would cut oil supply to European countries if the new law is applied.  <br><br>     He urged Latin American countries to unite against the EU law, which he described as an \"embarrassment\" and \"unacceptable.\"  <br><br>     Meanwhile, the Argentine Foreign Ministry voiced its disapproval of the new EU law, saying the Argentine government \"regrets the terms of the Return Directive approved by the EU Parliament.\"  <br><br>     \"The immigration issue can only be solved if it is tackled with respect for human rights,\" the ministry said in a statement.  <br><br>     The Brazilian Foreign Ministry also released a statement, saying the EU decision to put a tougher hand on illegal immigrants \"goes in the wrong way.\"  <br><br>     Foreign ministers of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia also expressed their concern about the EU law on Thursday.  <br><br>     A Peruvian parliament leader said the EU law was a contradiction to the agreement between the EU and Latin America on the protection of immigrants, which was signed in May during the 5th Latin American, Caribbean and EU Summit (ALCUE).  <br><br>     Guatemalan Deputy Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Ibarra said the EU law affects many countries in the region, which should work together to urge the EU to reconsider its decision.  <br><br>     Honduran Deputy Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina said the EU decision is \"worrisome\" because the current policy of the bloc is more generous to the Latin American immigrants.  <br><br>  <br>  <br>   <br>  <br> \n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Under the new law, all illegal immigrants living in the EU member states will have to leave the bloc within a period of seven to 30 days. \r\n","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2008\/06\/218434.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}