15/12/2023 Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“Migration routes have become increasingly dangerous, not only because of smuggling networks abusing migrants with often no safe and legal alternative to migrate accessible to them, but also because of pushbacks which have unfortunately become tolerated policies in a number of Council of Europe’s member States”, today said Theodoros Rousopoulos (Greece, EPP/CD), Chair of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, on the eve of the 2023 International Migrants’ Day (18 December).
“The responsibility for states to uphold universally recognised rights lays at the core of the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights’ case law. This does not come as an easy task, and the Council of Europe should be praised and preserved as a privileged pan-European cooperation space to reflect on concrete tools to support national authorities in upholding these obligations”, he added.
Over the years, Mr Rousopoulos stated, and since the adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, “the vulnerability of people on the move has worsened. There is at the same time an increasing dependence of an abundant migrant workforce in many sectors of our European economies, sharing the same workload as other workers, looking after our elderly, treating us in hospitals, picking up fruits, repairing our belongings etc. Very often, these are people who have found shelter in Europe after fleeing war, violence, repression, poverty or the consequences of climate change. We need migrants as much as they need us.”
The outgoing Chair emphasised “the significant contribution of the Committee to the overall work of the Council of Europe in the area of migration by raising awareness and underscoring the positive impact migration” has on host societies. While the world “has become more fragile in the recent past, with a war raging at the heart of Europe, where Ukrainians fight for democracy and human rights for us all, with the tragic conflict in the Middle East, which already has had consequences within our member States, with countries like Belarus and the Russian Federation which are instrumentalising migration to generate fear in European countries, we must show our determination that we will not succumb to blackmail and fear”, Mr Rousopoulos added.
“I trust that the 2023 International Migrants’ Day will be an occasion for Council of Europe member States to renew their commitment to honouring the values and norms they adopted for all people under their jurisdiction, and that they will fully embrace the idea of the positive contribution of migrants in our societies in the spirit of the Reykjavik Declaration adopted at the 4th Summit of Heads of States and Governments”, Mr Rousoupoulos concluded.