The Regional Office for the Western Balkans of the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation, in cooperation with the initiative European Alternative in Berlin, presented the results of the study “Workers Without Borders: the rights of workers from the Western Balkans in the EU”.

The representative premises of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Berlin, in the diplomatic quarter of the German capital, are only a couple of kilometers away from the chancellor's office building. There, at the same time as the conference titled Workers Without Borders, a meeting of the German chancellor with representatives of the governments of the Western Balkan countries was taking place within the framework of the so-called Berlin Process. For the head of the regional office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, close to the German Social Democrats, based in Sarajevo, Dr. Ralf Melzer, this was not a coincidentally chosen date. This gathering of experts, civil society organizations, and trade union representatives was organized to point out the problems of workers from the countries of the so-called Western Balkans, who came to Germany and other European Union countries in search of a better life perspective.

The occasion was the study titled “Workers Without Borders,” which had been worked on for two years, Melzer points out and explains: “It is very difficult to find a balance in this area. On the one hand, to make it easier for people who want to leave their homelands in search of a better life, and on the other, to improve conditions in the countries of the European Union that need this labor force. Every year, over 200,000 people from the Western Balkan states leave the region. That is one percent of the total population. These are mostly young educated people who are very important for their countries. This brain drain is a major problem.”

Ralf Melzer believes that the Berlin Process should take on the role of bringing these countries closer to the European Union as quickly as possible. “For too long, the EU did not particularly care about the situation in the Western Balkans, which caused justified frustration among the governments of those countries, especially those that have made significant progress on that path, such as Albania and North Macedonia. The selfish policy of some EU member states has contributed to the loss of its credibility,” Ralf Melzer tells DW. Chancellor Scholz should, he believes, provide new impetus in stopping these national egoisms, and the EU should abolish the current mechanism under which a single member state can block the decisions of the majority.

Study: discrimination against workers of foreign origin

One of the authors of the study, migration expert Aleksandra Lekić from Belgrade, says that the research showed that most workers of migrant origin have similar experiences in Germany and other European countries. Above all, this is precarious work in poor conditions, she believes. “One of the main culprits for this is the legislation in those countries. Through a series of measures, workers from other countries were given easier access to the labor market of Western European states, but they were not guaranteed secure conditions for that work. Some work illegally, have no protection against dismissal, and the like. They do not have the same rights as citizens of those countries, nor are they sufficiently informed about their rights,” Lekić explains.

One of the important results of the study is that the main reasons for leaving one's homeland in search of a better life are mostly economic in nature. She criticizes the policy of the so-called rich EU member states, which want to fill gaps in their labor market in an attempt to preserve their prosperity, without ensuring adequate working conditions for the labor force from poorer countries.

Controversial regulation for the Western Balkans

The overall picture indicated by the study results is that workers from poorer countries are immigrating in ways that are not always regulated, says Saša Vasić, project manager of Workers Without Borders at the regional office of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Sarajevo. They accept worse employment conditions because they still have a better salary than at home.

Participants at the Berlin meeting also had the opportunity to hear the experiences of migrant workers in Germany, as well as reports from experts on the current situation with labor migration in this country and the necessary reforms. “The plan was for the presentation of the results of this research to also be held at the headquarters of the European Union in Brussels, but that was postponed until next year,” Saša Vasić points out. She remains in BiH because she has a good job, and thus a future. But she also understands those who want to leave the country. “When I hear that Germany needs 400,000 workers to ensure the functioning of its system, I am gripped by fear. Who will work here, where will we import the ‘cheap’ labor force that we will be lacking from? How will we pay them, when we cannot adequately pay even our own people,” asks the young woman from Sarajevo. And she concludes: this problem will occupy us for a long time yet. For workers of migrant origin, there will still be many borders.

Source: dw.com