Europe, family, migration and family reunification

In Europe, the family is shaped by its cultural and religious roots, according to international, national or regional texts or codes, related to human rights: the family is a fundamental value for European society and for European civilization...

Overall, with the exception of some "isolationist rebels", most European citizens would agree that the family is of great importance, essential for human development and well-being.

Granted, this essential value of the human condition varies according to one's geography, culture and traditions. In fact, the notion, or even the definition, of the family unit can be nuanced, differentiated according to spatial-temporal contexts.

If, in the West, only the biological family (parents – under-age children) is taken into consideration in legal terms, in the East or on the African continent, the concept of the family can be very different and broader. One's direct biological link is not the only phenomenon which binds the members of a family. In fact, a child can "become" the child of another, if the biological parents pass away or are no longer there. The "family fraternity" extends easily to others, cousins or close relations, without a direct biological link; and this moreover within a polygamous context. Clearly, beyond the borders of Europe, one's kinship goes beyond blood ties or a direct genealogical link. The family is composed and is sometimes recomposed according to the necessities of life, without legal reference to the Western sense of the term.

In an environment of growing migration between countries, from one to another, one must consider the various perceptions and approaches regarding the family unit in order to establish and build a peaceful living-together. In fact, since it is by nature difficult to be separated or live away permanently from one's family, in the case of a forced exile, the refugee, as well as the migrant person, inevitably and radically needs, at some point in his solitary journey, to be reunited with his family, with his loved ones: related by blood, connected by the heart.

Thus, in a Western context, a family reunification, as a result of a free or forced migration, is limited to the spouse (husband / wife) and the under-aged children and this, in a legally defined and binding framework. Europe and its Member States have all legislated on this issue, imposing complex socio-economic criteria on the definition of the family before granting a possible family reunification.

In 2003, the European Union adopted a legal instrument called "Directive" in order to determine the conditions under which the right for family reunification is exercised for third country nationals living legally in a Member State. It is true that special and considerably more favourable provisions apply to the family reunification of people recognised as refugees, in particular with respect to the concept of family member, which can, depending on national legislations, be widened. However, the same cannot be said for other categories of migrant people.

Moreover, for all migrants, the administrative procedures often become an uphill battle. Even ascendants or descendants often do not meet the appropriate criteria, and the family reunification does not end on a positive note, leading to a breakage and an unstructured, damaged, even destroyed, family – conditions that are all the more destabilizing despite the desire for a harmonious social integration.

If, conversely, the "Western populations" migrated, willingly or by force, towards the South or the East, they would certainly benefit (or at least would like to benefit) from a more accessible family reunification, for it would be easier to do in legislative and administrative terms.

What, therefore, are the factors which prevent national and European legislators and European societies from welcoming to a greater degree the exile, the refugee, the migrant person, so as to include all aspects (whether personal or family-related) of this individual and his quest for self-fulfillment, even when this quest depends on the reunification with his family members? To refuse someone the right to reunite with his loved ones is to deny him the ability to reconnect with his roots, to live a humane life that is correctly and legitimately balanced. Since the road to integration is demanding (all studies on the subject of integration prove it), the presence and the support of loved ones can only be a positive influence on integration.

When promoting a benevolent European policy in terms of multiculturalism and interculturalism, it is thus imperative to consider the uniqueness of each Eastern, African, or American guest, that is, according to their distinct family patterns, because as a member of a family (more extensive than a single human being) one radically needs to be in close proximity in order to develop one's personal dignity.

Thus, the granting of family reunification in a more generous and fair manner to foreigners, to refugees, who have already left everything behind, lost every original resource they possessed, becomes, in Europe as well as elsewhere, a vital necessity for a better living-together, rewarding to each, to all, and, thus, to the human family in general.