16/12/2015 Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“We need fresh solutions in order to deal with the current migration and refugee crisis and develop a roadmap for future action by our parliaments and institutions, whilst bearing in mind the need to avoid equating migrants with terrorists”. With these words, the Chair of the PACE Committee on Migration, Thierry Mariani, opened the conference “A comprehensive humanitarian and political response to the migration and refugee crisis in Europe” in Paris this morning.
“The challenge is not only to address the immediate problems. Long-term solutions need to be found as well. The main question is how to ensure and establish security and respect for human rights in the countries of origin so as to avoid further massive influxes in the future,” said Mr Mariani.
The conference is focusing firstly on short- and medium-term concerns and potential solutions for dealing with the largest movement of refugees and migrants Europe has seen in decades, and secondly on long-term solutions and co-operation with countries of origin and first asylum.
Jacques Attali (France) and Guy Goodwin-Gill (United Kingdom) are acting as moderators for the debates, which are being attended by the chairs and members of the relevant committees of national parliaments, both members and non-members of the Parliamentary Assembly, including those of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Poland, Serbia, Sweden and Turkey.
The conclusions of the conference will be published and used by the Assembly in its future work in this area.