France: Interior Minister wants to ’reduce legal immigration’

21.04.2011 In an interview to be published in Le Figaro on Friday 8 April, Interior Minister Claude Guéant explains that he has 'asked for the number of people given permits to work in France (20,000 per year) to be reduced. (...) We will continue to reduce the number of foreigners coming to France under family reunion rules (15,000 per year)', he continues, stating that he has requested that a 'study into the practice of European countries with regard to the application of international law' be carried out.
http://ec.europa.eu/ewsi/en/news/newsdetail.cfm?ID_ITEMS=19737

Austria: Turkish could be recognized as a second language in school

21.04.2011 The University of Graz plans to introduce Turkish as foreign language for the language teacher training program. "Turkish would be the 14th foreign language which would be recognized and treated like many other foreign languages“, said a spokesman for Education Minister Claudia Schmied. As a second living foreign language, for example, are French, Russian, Polish or Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian. German is not replaced as language of instruction.
http://kurier.at/nachrichten/2087285.php (German)

UK: Oxford University and David Cameron clash over black student numbers

21.04.2011 David Cameron has raised hackles at Oxford University with a comment about its numbers of black students. He said: "I saw figures the other day that showed that only one black person went to Oxford last year. I think that is disgraceful. We have got to do better than that." But Oxford accused Cameron of quoting an "inaccurate and highly misleading" figure. The university's admissions figures for 2009 show that just one "black Caribbean" candidate was accepted for undergraduate study, out of 27 black students in that year's intake. Last autumn, seven black Caribbean candidates were accepted and there were a total of 20 black students in this year's intake.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/apr/11/oxford-cameron-black- students

EU fails to ensure respect for Roma human rights

21.04.2011 On the eve of International Roma Day, Amnesty International has questioned the effectiveness of the European Union’s efforts to halt discrimination against Roma people and make serious progress on integrating them into society. “Despite the EU’s public commitment to improving the climate for Roma people and halting discrimination, we’ve yet to see effective measures for change” said Nicolas Beger, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office. “The EU is failing to hold member states to account.”
http://www.amnesty.eu/en/press-releases/all-0492/

Council of Europe official urges Turkish mayors to join intercultural cities network

21.04.2011 The intercultural cities program, a joint action by the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Commission, is among such hopeful steps. For three years it’s been implemented in a growing number of European towns and cities and has made remarkable achievements in terms of managing and exploring cultural diversity, stimulating creativity and innovation and generating economic prosperity and a better quality of life. However, although Turkey has increased its influence in the CoE in recent years, Turkish cities have failed to participate in the intercultural cities program, complains Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, director general of education, culture and heritage, youth and sport and coordinator for intercultural dialogue of the CoE, in an exclusive interview with Today’s Zaman. http://www.todayszaman.com/news-240040-council-of-europe--official-urges-turkish-mayors-to-join-intercultural-cities-network.html