Regularisation of foreign nationals in an irregular administrative situation

Question for written answer  E-000028/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Sira Rego (The Left)

During the Covid-19 pandemic, migrants have been carrying out essential work for society, yet their vulnerability has been highlighted by their employment insecurity and lack of access to rights, resulting from the administrative situation in which many of them find themselves. Consequently, many human rights organisations have called for these people to be regularised so as to guarantee their security and access to public services and to ensure that their rights are respected.

• 1.What is the Commission’s position on the possibility for Member States to promote regularisation procedures? Are the Member States subject to any obligation in this regard?
• 2.This pandemic has also shown that detention centres for migrants, which in many Member States have been closed, are unnecessary. The reopening of these opaque centres, where the right to health is often not respected, makes no sense and puts the people interned there at risk. Does the Commission intend to draw up guidelines for Member States on existing alternatives to the detention of migrants?