- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- SeeDoc. 7078, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, Rapporteur: Mr Böhm. Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 18 May 1994.
- Thesaurus
1. A large number of persons of European origin, comprising second and third generation migrants, are living outside their countries of origin. Most of them have integrated politically, socioeconomically and culturally into the host countries.
2. However, many European migrants seem to be interested in maintaining links with their country of origin in order to preserve their cultural identity.
3. Relations with these people, who for the most part have been granted the citizenship of their new country, although some hold dual citizenship, are approached very differently by the member states, which attach varying degrees of priority - in political, cultural, economic and social terms - to such relations.
4. However, Europeans living abroad - as is the case with most immigrant communities - are still confronted with numerous problems such as the absence of a census, limited political and social rights, lack of information concerning the country of origin, and difficulties in returning and resettling as well as in recovering former citizenship.
5. By cultivating relations with these people both within Europe and overseas, the countries of origin have the opportunity not only to build bridges between different nations and cultures and to foster understanding, but also to ensure that such relations are not abused for nationalist ends or to spread political, religious or ethnic conflict from the home countries to the receiving countries.
6. The Assembly therefore invites the governments of member states:
6.1 to update the census of their citizens living abroad;
6.2 to draw up a programme of legislative proposals, political action and administrative measures to improve relations with their communities living abroad;
6.3 to facilitate the re-integration into their country of origin of those migrants wishing to return;
6.4 to take the necessary steps to improve their consular networks, in case they no longer meet the requirements of their citizens abroad, and improve the accessibility of information for their citizens abroad on developments in the economic, social and cultural fields in their countries of origin as well as legislative and other measures of direct importance to these citizens;
6.5 to support the activities of associations and non-governmental organisations involved with European migrants living outside their countries of origin;
6.6 to sign and ratify, in so far as they have not yet done so, the Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level.
