October 29, 2001	Monday	Shaba'an 11, 1422

BERLIN, Oct 28: Western nations have slammed shut their borders and tightened immigration controls since the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Stunned that suicide hijackers managed to lay low in their societies, countries built on immigration — such as Canada, the United States and Australia — have turned inwards, increasing border patrols and mulling tougher immigration procedures.

In Europe, plans to encourage economic immigration for the first time in decades have been shelved as fears of extremists and recession overtake worries about a shortage of skilled workers.

Human rights groups warn the climate of fear could mean genuine asylum-seekers lose out, just as thousands of Afghans try to flee US retaliation against their Taliban rulers.

Migration experts predict the crackdown will be only temporary and the crisis could speed reforms on immigration and asylum. Economists say Western nations will return ultimately to foreign workers as their populations age and birth rates slide.

But for now migrants are suffering.

TRAFFIC JAMS AND HARASSMENT: Foreigners in the West, particularly Muslims, complain of a rise in racial harassment and discrimination. Huge traffic jams that have plagued the US-Mexico border since the attacks have led to cases of heat exhaustion and asthma attacks.

On Friday, US President George W. Bush signed an anti-terror bill tripling border patrol agents and immigration experts along the Canadian border and granting authorities access to the criminal history of people applying for visas.

Two US senators have said they are drafting a bill that would bar students from seven countries the United States lists as sponsoring terrorism, set up a centralized immigration database and introduce “smart cards” for all foreign nationals.

Canada, criticized for porous borders and lax immigration laws, announced plans this month to tighten security, promising to hire extra immigration officers, detain more asylum-seekers and issue special identity cards to new residents.

And in Australia, where elections are due on November 10, conservative Prime Minister John Howard has seen his popularity soar as the government clamps down on illegal immigration and heightens border security.

Facing a swelling wave of Middle Eastern and Afghan asylum-seekers trying to reach Australia by sea, the country has taken a tough, but popular, line in refusing entry to boat people and shipping them to neighbouring Pacific islands.

FORTRESS EUROPE?: In Europe, conservative politicians like Austrian far-right leader Joerg Haider have said the fact several of those behind the assaults lived on the continent adds weight to their demands for tighter controls on immigrants and asylum-seekers.

After a Libyan man apparently receiving welfare payments was arrested on suspicion of links with Osama bin Laden in Munich, the Christian Social Union put up posters reading: “Terror cells in Munich and the city pays their rent”.

Against this conservative backlash, plans by the German government to overhaul immigration laws to encourage official economic migration for the first time since the 1970s look unlikely to advance ahead of a general election next year.

Amnesty International has warned that the post-attack security crackdown could lead to a “Fortress Europe” closed to genuine asylum-seekers.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, has urged governments not to allow the fight against terrorism to weaken protection of asylum-seekers.

WORKERS NEEDED: Although fewer politicians are lining up to visit Bangalore to offer Indian software experts the chance to work in the West, economists say greying industrialized economies ultimately will need skilled foreigners.

And experts believe the crisis could prompt rich countries to take a more realistic look at immigration and asylum rules, recognizing that they will always be magnets for the poor.

Michael Rogowski, head of Germany’s BDI industry association, has urged conservatives to drop their opposition to new immigration legislation, saying German business must be able to take part in the global competition for the best workers.

“The skills shortage has become a brake on growth,” he said.

In Britain, Home Secretary David Blunkett has announced tighter asylum procedures, but he still intends to push ahead with plans to entice workers from abroad. Unemployment is at a 26-year low and there are huge skills gaps in key sectors like computing and software development.

Hungary, one of the frontrunners to join the European Union in coming years, has said it will need to import more workers from its neighbours to maintain strong economic growth also.

Just as Canadian Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan urged tighter refugee control, she also said this month that the country still needed foreigners as the birth rate declined.

“We will not try to turn Canada into a fortress,” she said. “There is an emerging vigorous global competition to attract the world’s best and brightest.”

Gervais Appave, director of the International Organization for Migration’s policy and research programme, said government concerns over migration could accelerate reform eventually.

“I see procedures being tightened, greater scrutiny, but I sense that there is a global realization that migration is a reality that we must manage,” he said. —Reuters