22/07/2011 Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Strasbourg, 22.07.2011 – On 26 July, a four-member delegation from PACE’s Migration Committee will visit reception camps near Antakya, on the Turkish-Syrian border, set up to give refuge to the flow of people fleeing conflict in Syria.
The cross-party delegation, headed by Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG), will meet residents of the camps and local and regional authorities, as well as representatives of the Turkish Red Crescent.
It will aim to evaluate the challenges faced by the Turkish authorities and those of the local community in receiving the thousands of Syrians who fled their country. The parliamentarians will analyse the reception conditions and treatment of the arrivals. They will also discuss recent reports that a number of these people have begun to return to Syria and look into about the conditions and the sustainability of these returns.
The delegation has already visited the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Members of the delegation:
Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG), Chairperson of the Committee on Migration
Giacomo Santini (Italy, EPP/CD), First Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on Migration
Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC), Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on Refugees
Tina Acketoft (Sweden, ALDE), member of the Sub-Committee on Migration
Contact: PACE Communication Division, tel. +33 3 88 41 31 93