Invitation : INVITATION Joint Webinar on Regularisation of Undocumented Migrants - 29 March 14.00-16.00 CET

Brussels, 16 March 2021

Dear Member of the European Parliament, 

I am pleased to invite you to a joint webinar on Regularisation of Undocumented Migrants as a Policy Tool Towards Recovery which takes place on 29 March 2021 from 14.00 to 16.00 CET. 

Undocumented migrants, including many families and children, live in Europe and face many challenges and exploitation due to their irregular residence status. Key economic sectors (agriculture, domestic care, construction, hospitality, among others) would not function without the hard work of undocumented workers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased attention across Europe to the issue of regularisation. Calls for regularisation schemes have been voiced by an increasing range of actors due to economic, humanitarian, social justice and public health reasons. 

While regularisation is considered a taboo for some, regularisation has been – and continues to be - used regularly as a policy option to bring people fully within public administration, increase fiscal contributions and redress failures in immigration and asylum law and procedures. Between 1996 and 2008, 3.5 million people were regularised in Europe. Only in the past year, new regularisation measures were implemented in Italy, Portugal and Luxembourg, and a new scheme is expected to be announced soon in Ireland. Major campaigns for action are also underway in the United Kingdom, Belgium, France and Spain, to name a few.

With speakers from civil society, government, the European Commission, trade unions and academics, this webinar will bring together different perspectives, in order to foster a more balanced debate and to think through how undocumented migrants’ rights and secure residence statuses can be promoted.

To receive the connection details, please register here by 25 March EOD. 

Should you have any questions, you can get in contact with Leïla Bodeux at [email protected].

Yours sincerely, 

Ludovic Voet
ETUC Confederal Secretary