Europe embracing Immigrants, but can’t decide how

The room is illuminated with the glow of laptop screens. People mill about, the sharp lines of their blazers contrasting the art deco carpeting of Salon H.

The topic is immigration. Six resolutions are on the floor, and the parliament members are struggling to reach a compromise. Disagreement arises from every corner whether to merge or not.

The President of the European Parliament, Victoria Asgard, is keen on passing a resolution.

“All papers are pretty effective … I’d worry less about merging, and more about condensing the papers.”

Immigration is not a new topic to anyone. For the European Parliament, this is a topic older than their existence.

The essence of immigration is agreed upon—that, yes, refugees deserve help. But the blocs can’t agree on a way of providing help, isolating parties amongst the room.

Pavel Telicka of the Czech Republic explained why his team’s resolution is unique.

“I mean, everyone is liberal, except for one team. We’re the only team that's not. I am on the HOPE resolution paper. It includes a system where immigrants travel to assorted countries and it gives them opportunities to succeed.”

One member took a stand. Whipping her shades on, parliament member Marina Guzman of Spain exclaimed “It’s a stand against conservative ideals of ignoring the struggle refugees go through.”

Many members of the European Parliament want immigrants to have a chance to get an education and find a job in Europe.

Parliament member Lars Adaktusson favors Resolution Paper 1.1 because “... the issue of integrating migrants is thoroughly addressed … [refugees] have access to the facilities they need … [Plan 1.1] creates a future for migrants in the E.U. permanently.”

Esteban Gonzalez Pons is taking a more methodological approach to refugees, saying that “Paper 1.3 will use a five-point system to appropriately distribute skilled migrant workers.”

When asked how the job-focused plans in the room differ from a work visa, Telicka replied “It’s different because it trains them specific to European jobs.”

Any nation worries that refugees will not be successfully integrated into a society. Marcel de Graaff asserted, “[The] assimilation of refugees is a key issue … [refugees] make this union strong.”

The parliament members are unsure what European citizens will think of the plans to welcome refugees. Some are worried that citizens of the European Union will believe migrants are pilfering their jobs.

“We owe [the refugees] safety and opportunity,” stressed Guzman “It’s only fair.”