European Muslim communities confronted with extremism
Reply
| Doc. 11778
| 15 December 2008
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- adopted
at the 1044th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (10 December 2008)
- Reply to
- Recommendation 1831
(2008)
- Thesaurus
1 The Committee of
Ministers examined with interest
Recommendation 1831 (2008) of the Parliamentary Assembly on “European Muslim communities
confronted with extremism”, including in the light of
Resolution 1605 (2008), and has drawn it to the attention of member states’
governments. The Committee of Ministers also forwarded the recommendation
to the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI),
the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the European
Committee on Migration (CDMG), who took note of it.
2 The Committee of Ministers is firmly committed to a policy
which encourages intercultural dialogue, as could recently be seen
from the launching of the White Paper on Intercultural Dialogue.
It has, on numerous occasions, acknowledged the importance of dialogue
between the representatives of various religions and cultures and
contributed to the dialogue in April 2008 by holding the first Council
of Europe Exchange on the religious dimension of intercultural dialogue.
This event, which was generally considered positive, will be repeated
in 2009 with a continued focus on the Council of Europe’s fundamental
missions, including the protection and the promotion of human rights.
The Committee of Ministers is currently considering the practical action
that should be taken in response to the 2008 Exchange in the context
of the follow-up to the White Paper. The aim is to ensure that these
exchanges, and all future exchanges of this type, have a real impact
on achieving the Council of Europe’s core objectives, for the benefit
of multicultural Europe. In this field, attention should also be
drawn to the Council of Europe Anti-Discrimination Campaign “Speak
out against discrimination” which addresses the mounting problems
of everyday discrimination against certain population groups, observed
in many European countries. The key focus of the campaign will be
on various aspects of discrimination arising out of racist attitudes
and prejudices, in particular those with an Islamophobic, anti-Semitic
and anti-Gypsy background. The recent establishment of the European
Wergeland Centre in Oslo, in co-operation between Norway and the
Council of Europe, should also be mentioned in this context. The
Centre will carry out and support research as well as provide training
for teachers and teacher training professionals in the areas of
intercultural understanding, human rights and democratic citizenship.
3 The Council of Europe is engaged in active co-operation with
its international partners in the field of intercultural dialogue,
including its religious dimension. In this respect, the Committee
of Ministers wishes to draw special attention to:
- the practical and regular co-operation
between the various organisations actively involved in this field, in
particular in the context of the Faro Platform set up jointly with
UNESCO, and through the Memorandum of Co-operation with the Anna
Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for dialogue between cultures
as well as the co-ordinated programme of activities between the
Council of Europe and ALECSO;
- the EU European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, which
opened up possibilities of co-operation, and the implementation
of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Council of Europe
and the European Union; the joint programme between Council of Europe
and the European Commission “Intercultural cities” addresses the
issue of intercultural and inter-religious relations at the local
level and the way local policies can enhance dialogue and the celebration
of diversity;
- co-operation between the Council of Europe and the OSCE,
particularly through the Co-ordination Group set up for that purpose,
which has four main aims including the promotion of tolerance and non‑discrimination;
- finally, the establishment of a memorandum of understanding
with the Alliance of Civilisations on co-operation in the field
of intercultural dialogue.
4 The Assembly rightly underlines the action taken by the European
Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), which monitors
racism and all related forms of intolerance and discrimination in
member states, and by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human
Rights, who also plays an important role in promoting human rights
education and awareness of the importance of respecting such rights.
The Committee of Ministers has drawn the attention of these two
bodies to the proposals made by the Assembly in paragraph 4.5 of
its recommendation.
5 With regard to the integration of migrants and persons of
immigrant background, the Committee of Ministers draws attention
to the work of the European Committee on Migration (CDMG), in particular
with regard to access to employment. This work resulted in Recommendation
CM/Rec(2008)10 on improving access of migrants and persons of immigrant
background to employment, which the Committee of Ministers adopted
in July 2008. This recommendation invites member states to “view
the effectiveness of all relevant policy and practice in their country”
and proposes a series of measures based on general principles for
the respect of cultural diversity, understanding and mutual respect
and on guidelines concerning non-discrimination, partnership, information
and training. The implementation of these measures should help to achieve
the Assembly’s objectives.
6 In addition, the Committee of Ministers draws the Parliamentary
Assembly’s attention to the conclusions of the 8th Council of Europe
Conference of Ministers responsible for Migration Affairs held on
4 and 5 September 2008 in Kyiv (Ukraine) on the theme “Economic
migration, social cohesion and development: towards an integrated
approach”.
Note The conference adopted
a final declaration and an action plan setting out general principles
and specific measures aimed at working together in the management
of migration. These texts put the focus particularly on protection
of the human rights of migrants and those of persons of immigrant background
and of their rights to equal treatment and opportunities; on strengthening
dialogue and co-operation between receiving, transit and origin
countries, with a view to,
inter alia, facilitating
integration and re-integration; and on promotion of coherence between
migration, development and integration policies at all levels (international,
national, regional and local).
;
