BACKGROUND PAPERS FOR
THREE
EASY STEPS
TOWARD GREATER
AMERICAN
PROSPERITY
Background
Paper - 1
LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE TO GIVE
OVERSEAS AMERICANS THEIR OWN DELEGATE IN THE U.S. CONGRESS -
HR 4560 OF OCTOBER 1992
Background
Paper - 2
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS AND
LEADERSHIP POSITIONS OF CURRENT
DELEGATES AND THE RESIDENT COMMISSIONER
IN
THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Background
Paper - 3
POLITICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL LINKS
BETWEEN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
AND
THEIR OVERSEAS DISPORAS
A Proposal by
The Overseas American Academy
Geneva, Switzerland
OAA
BACKGROUND PAPER N°1
LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE IN A PREVIOUS
PROPOSAL TO GIVE OVERSEAS AMERICANS
A
DELEGATE IN THE 102nd
U.S. CONGRESS
H.R.
4560
IN
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
102nd Congress, 2nd Session
March
25, 1992
Mr. ALEXANDER (for himself and Mr. Gilman) introduced the following bill;
which
was referred to the Committee on House Administration
A BILL
To Create the Office of
Delegate
for United States Citizens Abroad
Be
it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short Title.
This
Act may be cited as the "Overseas United States Citizens' Representation
in the Congress Act of 1992".
Section 2. Creation
of Office of Delegate for United States Citizens Abroad.
United
States citizens residing outside the United States shall be represented
in Congress by a nonvoting Delegate to the House of Representatives
(hereinafter in this Act referred to as the "Delegate"), who
shall be elected in accordance with this Act.
Section 3. Qualifications
of Electors; Commencement of Term of Office.
(a)
Qualification of Electors. - The Delegate shall be elected by citizens
described in section 107(5) (B) of (C) of the Uniformed and Overseas
Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ff-6(5) (B) or (C)) who
have the right to register absentee for, and to vote by, an absentee
ballot in Federal elections under such Act. Qualified electors
who exercise the right to vote for the Delegate from Overseas shall
not be required to relinquish the right to vote for the offices in the
House of Representatives specified in section 107(3) of such Act (42
U.S.C. 1973ff-6(3)).
(b)
Commencement of Term of Office. - The term of the Delegate shall commence
on the third day of January following the date of the election.
Section 4. Qualifications
of Delegate.
To
be eligible for the office of Delegate, a candidate shall -
Section 5.
Presidential Commission.
A
three-member commission, appointed by the President, shall determine
the procedures and regulations for the election to the office of Delegate,
the method by which a special election to fill a vacancy in such office
shall be conducted, the method by which ties between candidates for
such office shall be resolved, the order of names on the ballot for
such office, and all other matters pertaining to the office of Delegate
not otherwise provided for in this Act.
Section 6. Compensation
of Delegate.
Until
the Rules of the House of Representatives are amended to provide otherwise,
the Delegate shall receive the same compensation, allowances, and benefits
as a Member of the House of Representatives, and shall be entitled to
whatever privileges and immunities that are, or hereafter may be, granted
to the Delegate from Guam.
Section 7. Definition.
As
used in this Act, the term "United States", when used in the
geographical sense, has the meaning given such term in section 107 of
the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (2 U.S.C. 1973ff-6).
Section 8. Effective
Date.
This
Act shall apply with respect to elections beginning with the first general
election held after the year in which this Act is enacted.
OAA
BACKGROUND PAPER N°2
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS AND
LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
OF DELEGATES AND THE RESIDENT COMMISSIONER
IN
THE 110th U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
The four Delegates and
the Resident Commissioner serving in the U.S. House of Representatives
in the 110th Congress not only provide a full range of very
valuable services to their home constituents but also enrich the deliberations
with their Congressional colleagues during hearings and legislative
debates.
All four of the current
Delegates in the House of Representatives are now either Sub-Committee
Chairpersons or the Ranking Minority Member of at least one Congressional
Sub-Committee.
THE
DELEGATES
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON,
DELEGATE
FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.
According to the Constitution
of the United States,
the District of Columbia is under the jurisdiction of the United States Congress
in "all cases whatsoever" (Article I, Section 8, Clause 17).
The House and Senate each have standing committees
charged with the oversight of the District, known as the District committees.
The original District was formed from parts of both Maryland and Virginia,
and from 1790 until 1801 citizens
living in D.C. continued to vote for, and even run as, candidates for
the U.S. Congress in Maryland or Virginia. In 1846 the
land from Virginia was given back to Virginia. All the land in present-day
D.C. was once part of Maryland. Washington D.C. was allowed to elect
a Delegate to the U.S. Congress in 1871. This right was taken away four
years later and then reinstated in 1971.
Eleanor Holmes Norton,
a Democrat, is serving her 9th term in
the U.S. Congress.
She ranks 5th
among the 41 Democrats on the Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee and is the Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on
Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management. She
also serves on the Sub-Committees on Aviation; and on Water Resources
and Environment.
She ranks 8th
among the 19 Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee
and serves on the Sub-Committees on: Emergency Communications, Preparedness
and Response, and on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection.
She ranks 16th
among the 23 Democrats on the Oversight and Government Reform
Committee and is the 2nd Ranking Democrat on the Sub-Committee
on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia.
DELEGATE
FROM AMERICAN SAMOA
American Samoa
is an unorganized, unincorporated territory
of the United States
located in the South Pacific Ocean
southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa.
International rivalries in the latter half of the 19th century
were settled by an 1899 Treaty of Berlin
in which Germany
and the U.S. divided the Samoan archipelago.
The U.S. formally occupied its portion—a smaller group of eastern
islands with the noted harbor of Pago Pago—the
following year. The western islands are now the independent state of Samoa.
American Samoa has had a Delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives
since 1981.
Eni F.H Faleomavaega,
a Democrat, is serving his 10th Term in
the U.S. Congress.
He ranks 4th
among the 27 Democrats on the
Foreign Affairs Committee and is Chairman of the Asia, the Pacific
and the Global Environment Sub-Committee. He also serves on the
Western Hemisphere Sub-Committee.
He ranks 3rd
among the 27 Democrats on the
Natural Resources Committee and is the 2nd Ranking Democrat
on the Energy and Mineral Resources Sub-Committee, the 2nd
Ranking Democrat on the Insular Affairs Subcommittee, and the 3rd
Ranking Democrat on the Fisheries, Wildlife, and Oceans Sub-Committee.
DELEGATE
FROM THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
The islands were named
for Saint Ursula
and her virgin followers by Christopher Columbus
on his second voyage in 1493.
Over the next three hundred years, the islands were held by many European
powers, including Spain, Britain,
the Netherlands, France,
the Knights of Malta,
and Denmark.
During the First World War,
the United States,
fearing that the islands might be seized by Germany
as a submarine base, asked Denmark
to sell the islands and a few months later a sum of $25 million was
agreed. A subsequent referendum was held in late 1916 and
this confirmed the decision to sell by a wide margin. The deal was ratified
and finalized on January 17, 1917.
The U.S. took possession
of the islands on March 31,
1917, and the territory was renamed the U.S. Virgin Islands. U.S. citizenship
was granted to the inhabitants of the islands in 1927.
The Virgin Islands have had a Delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives
since 1973.
Donna Christian-Christensen, a Democrat, is serving her 6th
term in the U.S. Congress.
She ranks 7th
among the 27 Democrats on the
Natural Resources Committee and is the Chairperson of the
Insular Affairs Sub-Committee.
She also serves on the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and
Public Lands.
She ranks 11th
among the 19 Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee
and serves on the Sub-Committees on: Emergency Communications, Preparedness,
and Response and on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and
Technology.
MADELEINE BORDALLO,
DELEGATE
FROM GUAM
The United States
took control of Guam during the Spanish-American War.
It was the southernmost island in the Marianas Group. This political
change started Guam and the Northern Marianas (including Saipan
and Tinian)
down separate paths. Guam came to serve as a way station for American
ships traveling to and from the Philippines. The Guam Organic Act of 1950
established Guam as an unincorporated organized territory
of the United States, provided for the structure of the island's government,
and granted the people United States citizenship. Guam has had a Delegate
in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1973.
Madeleine Bordallo,
a Democrat, is serving her 3rd term in the U.S. Congress.
She ranks 11th
among the 27 Democrats on the
Natural Resources Committee and is the Chairperson of the Fisheries,
Wildlife and Oceans Sub-Committee. She also serves on the Subcommittee
on Insular Affairs.
She ranks 19th
among the 34 Democrats on the
Armed Services Committee and serves on the Subcommittees on Seapower
and Expeditionary Forces; and on Readiness.
LUIS FORTUÑO,
RESIDENT
COMMISSIONER FOR PUERTO RICO
Puerto Rico became an
American colony following the war with Spain in 1898. American troops
occupied the island virtually without opposition, and the Treaty of
Paris gave the United States control of the island. In 1900, Congress
passed the Foraker Act which established a civilian government and set
up a locally elected lower house in the legislature but gave the president
the power to appoint the governor and the upper house. Puerto Rico has
had a Resident Commissioner in the U.S. House of Representatives since
1901.
Luis Fortuño, a Republican,
is serving his 1st term in the U.S. Congress.
He ranks 16th
among the 22 Republicans on the
Education and Labor Committee and serves on the Subcommittees on
Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education; and on Healthy
Families and Communities.
He ranks 13th
among the 22 Republicans on the
Natural Resources Committee and is the Ranking Republican on
the Sub-Committee on Insular Affairs.
He ranks 23rd
among the 23 Republicans on the
Committee on Foreign Affairs and serves on the Sub-Committees on:
Europe; and on the Western Hemisphere.
OAA
BACKGROUND PAPER N°3
POLITICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL LINKS
BETWEEN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
AND THEIR OVERSEAS DIASPORAS
Introduction
Member countries of the
Council of Europe have taken a number of interesting initiatives in
recent decades to enable and empower their overseas citizens to play
a more significant role in the political processes of their home countries.
This brief summary outlines three different ways this is being done:
the right of European expats to elect their own representatives to their
home country legislatures; their right to vote in their home country
elections; and the official recognition and integration of overseas
citizen organizations into their home country deliberative processes.
What is most important
in all of these initiatives is the recognition of the importance of
the institutionalization of a dialogue between civil society, the communities
or their expatriate representatives and their home country governments,
with a view to improving mutual understanding, resolving expatriates'
problems more effectively and, above all, strengthening links between
nationals or national communities living abroad and their countries
of origin.
Direct Representation of Overseas Europeans
in
Their Home Country Parliaments
A number of European
countries have now given their expatriates their own direct representation
in thief home country parliaments. Here are some examples.
Portugal allows
expatriates to vote by post for Members of Parliament (MPs) in two "emigration
constituencies" ("Europe" and "outside Europe"),
electing a total of four of the 230 members of parliament. A government
proposal in 1980 sought to increase the number of emigration constituencies
to three (Portuguese-speaking countries, Europe, rest of the world),
each with three MPs, but was not debated in parliament. It was revived
recently and has substantial backing within the Council of Portuguese
Communities. Securing political rights and recognition of "dual
nationality" were among the first recommendations made by the Council
at its inaugural meeting in April 1981.
In Croatia twelve
parliamentary seats have been reserved since 1995 for expatriates' representatives,
who are elected proportionally from specific lists for a four-year term.
The number of representatives may increase in the near future.
While
French nationals abroad are not represented in the Assemblée Nationale,
Article 24 of the Constitution of 4 October 1958 provides for representation
in the Senate, and twelve senators are elected for a nine-year term
by the 150 members of the Senior Council of the French Abroad.
The Italian Constitution
contains a provision establishing Committees of Italians Abroad to represent
their interest back home. Recently the Italian parliament went much
father, granting them the right to their own representatives in the
Parliament. In the 2006 national elections, overseas Italians directly
elected 12 deputies and 6 senators in constituencies that span many
time zones, thousands of kilometers, and dozens of languages.
Some other countries
are not quite there yet, but initiatives have been launched. For
example:
In Ireland
too a constitutional amendment has been proposed, providing for the
election of three members to the Senate (Seanad Eireann) by Irish emigrants.
These would replace three of the eleven members currently nominated
by the Prime Minister, leaving the present total of 60 members unchanged.
However, this amendment has not yet been approved, a necessary first
step before it goes to referendum.
Recently, some Swiss
parliamentarians have been looking at ways to give Switzerland’s large
expatriate population more political power. One proposal is the creation
of a “virtual” canton. Remo Galli, a parliamentarian from
the centre-right Christian Democrats, is proposing the creation of a
27th Swiss canton, which would give expatriates 2
parliamentary representatives. “This would mean that expatriates could
have a direct influence in policymaking and could take part in parliamentary
commissions,” he argues.
Voting Rights of Overseas Europeans
In
Their Home Country Elections
Many countries now allow
their overseas citizens to vote in their home country elections, and
have devised have a number of different ways of doing so.
Some of them have to
do so in person at their embassies or a consulate (Austria, Bulgaria,
Finland, Spain, France, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden).
Others may vote by post (Germany, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom).
Postal voting sometimes
gives rise to reservations, because of concerns about the possibility
of fraud. There are other drawbacks with this type of voting, including
the risk of mail being lost by inefficient postal services, particularly
outside Europe. This is why many countries which permit this form of
voting hedge it round with precautions:
Austrians voting
by post must either go to the consulate or embassy in person and fill
in the postal ballot paper on the premises, or alternatively complete
it before two Austrian witnesses - or witnesses of another nationality
if they are officially empowered to do this (ie have the same status
as solicitors).
Some countries subsidize
travel home to vote by arranging substantial fare reductions. But the
cost of such political participation is sometimes questioned. San
Marino, for example, used to refund 75% of its expatriates' travel
expenses, but received protests from tax-payers. A referendum put an
end to the practice, but postal voting was still not introduced for
the 1998 elections as had been hoped.
More and more countries
are allowing their expatriates to vote in national presidential or legislative
elections but not in local elections, the only exceptions being Switzerland
for certain cantons, Spain and France (provided that they
vote, as in legislative elections, by proxy). Swiss expatriates
may also vote in national or cantonal referendums. The Council of the
Swiss Abroad championed claims to that right for nearly ten years.
It should be noted, however,
that winning this concession has often been a very lengthy process.
Although the possibility of allowing Swiss nationals to vote
abroad had frequently been discussed since the adoption of the Federal
Constitution of 1848, it was not until 1966 that a new Article 45bis
was inserted, empowering the Confederation to pass an Implementing Act
on the political rights of Swiss abroad, and not until 1 July 1992 that
postal voting was introduced at federal level.
In 1992 Austrian
nationals living abroad were allowed to vote in presidential elections
for the first time.
British expatriates
were allowed to vote for the first time in the 1987 general election,
provided that they had been out of the country for less than five years
(raised to twenty years for the next parliamentary elections in 1992).
The 1997 version of the
Portuguese Constitution made provision for expatriates to vote in
presidential elections for the first time, but only for citizens registered
up to 1996; the others have to wait for the enactment of still ill-defined
regulations on the subject. The Constitution also provides for participation
in referendums, although this is limited to matters "specifically"
concerning expatriates.
The Italian parliament
has acknowledged the need to revise Article 48 of the Constitution to
allow expatriates to exercise their voting rights without having, as
at present, to go to Italy to do it. The Elections Act is at present
being reviewed.
Poland has so
far restricted expatriate voting to the first round of elections (the
reason given being the administrative problems involved in organizing
two ballots abroad within a fortnight), but is now planning not only
to extend the foreign vote to the second round of elections, but also
to make certain MPs specifically responsible for representing Poles
living abroad.
Turkey, whose
parliament had already discussed the question in 1965, is at present
working on a bill providing for political representation of its expatriates
and giving Turkish citizens the vote in national elections.
In countries which allow
their expatriates to vote, the actual participation rate has so far
been quite low and has had little effect on the outcome. More often
than not expatriates' voting patterns seem to conform, to a large extent,
with the general trend, possibly with a slight inclination to right
or left, but certainly with no tendency to support parties of the far
right or left. The countries which make a genuine effort to inform their
expatriates, particularly through regular announcements in the local
press, enjoy the biggest turn-out.
Official
Recognition of Councils of Overseas European Citizens as Their Institutional
Voices Back Home
Many member countries
of the Council of Europe have now created extended association-based
movements for their diasporas and some of them organize meetings or
congresses back home on a regular basis. For purposes of this discussion
we will call these organizations "Councils".
These Councils may constitute
the sole form of electoral participation for expatriates or, they may
be in addition to the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
In terms of their representative
legitimacy, these Councils may be divided into three groups founded
as follows:
The association-based
model has the following advantages:
The most common objection
to the system of representation through associations is that the associations,
even in the broad sense of the term, usually represent at the most only
10 to 20% of the diasporas (a situation which is also due, as we have
already seen, to an exaggerated statistical definition of the diasporas).
The Council of the
Swiss Abroad, also known as "the parliament of the fifth Switzerland",
is a private foundation, largely funded by the state. It represents
the interests of Swiss people living abroad in dealings with the Swiss
authorities and parliament, and provides various services (information,
support, legal advice, etc.). It comprises 150 members, elected for
a four-year term: 120 of them by Swiss associations abroad and 30 from
among leading public figures living in Switzerland. It meets twice a
year, and its secretariat deals with routine matters between meetings.
The president of the Organization for the Swiss Abroad, generally a
leading public figure living in Switzerland, is elected for four years;
the president elected in 1998 and his predecessor were both MPs at federal
level. The Council's meetings are open to the media and the public.
After the second plenary meeting of the year, a "Congress of Swiss
Abroad" takes place, which is open to all expatriates or former
emigrants and debates a general theme (in 1998 the 76th Congress was
devoted to "Swiss emigration yesterday, today and tomorrow"
and the program included addresses by specialists, round-table discussions,
and debates open to the 600 participants).
During the last nine
decades the Council and just a few years less for the Congress - has
enabled the Organization for Swiss
Abroad to become a well-rooted institution, enjoying considerable influence
with the public authorities and broad scope for action, extending well
beyond the merely consultative role of other more recently established
bodies. The state-subsidized publication, "Switzerland", which
is sent to all citizens registered with the consulates – is a real
joint venture, half official bulletin providing legal information and
half news content decided on solely by the Council. It is a most impressive
example of this action, as are the holiday camps for young Swiss expatriates
and the "Solidarity Fund" for Swiss nationals living abroad.
The oldest of the
state-instituted bodies is the Senior Council of the French
Abroad (the Conseil Supérieur des Français de l'Etranger, or CSFE),
which was established in 1948, mainly at the instigation of a world-wide
association of expatriates. The CSFE at present comprises 150 members
elected by universal suffrage of French nationals entered on the electoral
registers kept for that purpose in the consulates, 20 leading public
figures nominated by the government and 12 senators elected by the 150
members. As an advisory body attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
the CSFE is chaired by the Minister. The Council meets twice a year
in Paris, and its members are divided into five committees dealing with
sectoral issues and two ad hoc committees (one on women and the other
on questions concerning military service). The committees meet at least
once a year in Paris, separately from the plenary sessions.
The Council of the
Portuguese Communities (CPC), which was set up in 1980, was also
a body representing the community organizations, elected by the representatives
of each host-country-based association wishing to participate. Today,
the CPC has 100 elected members - the only members entitled to vote
and to be elected to the chair in plenary sessions and sessions of the
regional councils, the Standing Committee and the country councils.
The Secretary of State for the Portuguese Communities, the "emigration
MPs" and other MPs from the different political parties are fully
fledged members of the CPC but with no entitlement to vote. Other members
of the government, parliament or public authorities, leading public
figures or experts may be invited to participate in the working meetings.
The CPC is elected for four years and, during that period, meets in
Lisbon only once. This means that the regular functioning of the institution
relies on active input from the five regional Councils, which meet once
a year, and the Standing Committee which holds two meetings a year in
the parliament building in Lisbon.
The Committees of
Italians Abroad were set up in 1985 under the aegis of the individual
consulates. Where they represent a minimum of 3,000 Italian nationals,
their members are elected by universal suffrage every five years (or
appointed in countries where the law does not permit the holding of
elections to foreign bodies or where there are less than 3,000 Italian
expatriates) - a maximum of twelve members for communities with a population
of between 3,000 and 100,000, and 24 over that. By law these elected
representatives can also co-opt "foreign nationals of Italian origin",
whose candidature must also be supported by the associations. The committees'
activities bear on all aspects of expatriates' relations with Italy,
particularly the preservation of cultural, social and economic ties.
They also defend expatriates' rights in the host countries. The General
Council of Italians Abroad was established in 1989. This comprises 94
people, 65 of them elected by the members of the committees, and 29
appointed by the government. It is chaired by the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, advises the government on all issues affecting Italian expatriates,
and also proposes new legislative initiatives. At present, Parliament
is examining two bills which would increase the General Council's powers
and do away with the government's right of supervision.
Structures for the institutional
representation of Spanish expatriates were established in 1987:
first, the Councils of Spanish Residents, which are attached to the
consulates in all districts where at least 700 expatriates are registered;
second, a General Emigration Council, comprising 60 members and the
chairman, 43 of them elected by the councils of residents, the others
nominated either by regional, professional and trade union bodies or
the government, with a president nominated by the Minister for Labor.
The General Council advises the Spanish Government and meets at least
once a year. The members of both councils serve for a four-year term.
The Minister for Labor recently realized plans to restructure the General
Council, increasing, for one thing, the number of elected representatives
from 36 to 43.
Greek expatriates,
representing a diaspora of over five million people, have set up more
than 3,500 grass-roots organizations in the host countries. The aim
of these organizations is to preserve the Greek language and culture
and also ties with the home country, and their activities are coordinated
by federations, which are themselves grouped in confederations. In 1995,
the Greek government established the World Council of Hellenes Abroad
as a general coordinating body. Its members, who are elected by local
organizations the world over, look after the interests of Greek expatriates
and are wholly independent of the Greek government in their activities.
The Council meets every two years in Thessaloniki, where it has its
head office. It is administered by a nine-member elected executive.
Its activities are financed by the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad
and by fund-raising. The General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad is a
public body, founded in 1983 and answerable to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. It looks after Greek expatriates and, in particular, has the
job of providing them with information on the home country, supporting
their cultural activities, strengthening their ties with Greece and
assisting them on the social welfare front. It also co-ordinates government
policies affecting expatriates in such fields as education, military
service, investment, insurance, taxation, etc. Its recent activities
include launching a world-wide Internet site for Greeks abroad and organizing
Greek Cultural Months throughout the world.
In 1998 Turkey
set up a High Council for Nationals living Abroad, with the main objective
of coming to the assistance of Turkish expatriates. Any request or proposal
originating from the expatriate community is forwarded to the Committee
of Ministers for action. Expatriates must first refer issues to another
body, the Co-ordination Council for Nationals living Abroad. With a
membership of 46 representatives of Turkish communities abroad and representatives
of other agencies, this council is responsible for initial identification
of the problems encountered by Turkish nationals living abroad and for
recommending specific solutions to the High Council.
The Irish Ministry
of Foreign Affairs provides financial support for Irish communities
abroad (a budget of one million Irish pounds has been earmarked for
1999, which will be distributed to voluntary organizations in the United
Kingdom, the United States and Australia). It also works with the embassies
and consulates to supply Irish expatriates, in particular those wishing
to return to Ireland, with information on educational and social matters.
An Interdepartmental Committee for Emigration, representing various
government agencies and departments, has also been set up with the aim
of pooling information and coordinating activities. Official policy
to sustain contacts between Ireland and Irish nationals living abroad
has the backing of charitable or religious organizations, which serve
as additional sources of information. Young people receive special assistance,
as do the homeless, the unemployed, the elderly and people excluded
from the mainstream of society. However, it can not be considered as
a real council of emigrants, but rather as an initiative of non-institutionalized
governmental support.
* *
* * *
Data in this annex
is based in great part on information
from a Report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography
of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, (Doc. 8339, of
5 March 1999), prepared by Mrs. Manuela Aguiar of Portugal and Mrs.
Ana Guirado of Spain. The original text has been
edited, reformatted and updated to include recent
changes and innovations.
The Overseas American Academy – OAA
Geneva,
Switzerland
Prepared by Andy Sundberg
Secretary and Director
The Overseas American Academy (OAA)
157 Route du Grand Lancy
1213 Onex, Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: 41-22-792 1659
Mob: 41-79-203 8621
Email: andy@sundberg.com