MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Spain compensates jobless immigrants to return home

Spain will try to persuade jobless legal immigrants to leave by offering to pay them a lump sum and then provide unemployment benefits in their home countries plus the promise of not returning to Spain for three years, the government said on Friday.

The move continues a radical policy shift by Spain's Socialist government, which granted an amnesty to 700,000 illegal immigrants in 2004, but this year said it would slash the number of new work permits and limit family reunion visas. With unemployment jumping by a quarter in a year to 2.5 million, the government is worried that immigrant workers will not find jobs and will overstretch public services. In the last twelve months the immigrants on unemployment dole has risen 76% according to official Spanish statistics. Friday's law will give almost 300,000 unemployed immigrants the option to be paid two years of benefit if they leave the country. An initial 40% would be paid as a lump sum before they leave and the rest gradually once they return home. The sums involved vary greatly depending on individual factors such as how long an immigrant had contributed to the Spanish social security system. The bill in enforceable on residents from 19 different countries that have social security accords with Spain, among which Ecuador that represents the largest Latinamerican community. Immigrant groups have complained that the measure does not provide enough money for it really to be worth their while to go back and also that it brands foreigners as a problem. "The immigrant stops being someone who brings wealth and becomes someone we want to get off our backs," said Juan Carlos Rois of AESCO, which represents Latin Americans in Spain. Spanish Labor minister Celestino Corbacho has said that the measure "is voluntary and will benefit those who comply with all the items of the bill". He added that the bill is not a reaction to the current situation but becomes permanent. The government's offer will not be open to Spain's largest immigrant community, Romanians, or residents in Spain from other European Union member states. Over 10% of Spain's population is made up of immigrants who have arrived in the country over the last decade to fill low-paid job vacancies in the once-booming construction industry and the restaurant and commerce sectors. A punctured property bubble has left these two pillars of growth crumbling and many analysts expect Spain to enter recession in the second half, a sharp fall from the robust 3.7% GDP rise in 2007.