Timeline of mass migration to post-war Europe
This article attempts to list every significant event in the history of the mass migration to post-war Europe. See a document by UN Population Division [1] for a detail description of the phenomenon. The article proposes a chronological view of it as a chain of events.
Year 1951
July 28, 1951
United Nations approves Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
Year 1967
United Nations approves Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (aka 1967 Protocol). It removes the temporal and geographical restrictions on the definition of refugees.
Year 1968
October 10, 1968
Finland ratifies the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol.
Year 2005
September 26, 2005
In Sweden, the government approves the Aliens Act (2005:716).
December 19, 2005
In Germany, Jürgen Gallmann, in his article in Euro am Sonntag, CEO of Microsoft Deutschland, warns of a "serious shortage of IT specialists".
Year 2006
May 22, 2006
In UK, Liam Byrne (Labour) becomes The Minister of State for Borders and Immigration.
July 31, 2006
European Court of Justice closes permanent contract loophole. Several EU nations allow employers to use a series of short-term contracts to avoid issuing permanent ones. Permanent contracts are used to obtain residency.
September 07, 2006
In Netherlands, in a survey by well-known pollster Maurice de Hond, 68% agree that "the Netherlands are tired of the integration issue".
November 30, 2006
In Netherlands, more than 30,000 asylum seekers are granted general amnesty by the recently elected Dutch parliament. The motion is backed by leftist parties, among them the Labor Party and the Socialist Party.
December 19, 2006
In Sweden, the statistics office reports that immigration to Sweden is expected to reach a record high this year, in part due to a temporary easing of asylum rules.
Year 2008
October 03, 2008
In UK, Phil Woolas MP becomes The Minister of State for Borders and Immigration.
Year 2009
October 09, 2009
In UK, according to The Daily Telegraph, a leaked secret memo reveals Home Office officials have changed guidelines in order to grant indefinite leave to remain to 40,000 illegal immigrants because it is going to be too difficult to remove them.