12/04/2021 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“I am deeply concerned about the fate of the alleged captives and missing persons from the recent conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Pierre Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC), Chair of the PACE Migration Committee said after an exchange of views on this issue in the Committee. “This is all...
15/03/2021 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The Migration Committee today expressed its deep concern about the extremely serious humanitarian situation of refugees and migrants in many countries in North Africa and the Middle East, a transit region towards Europe for these people, many of whom risk their lives on the Mediterranean Sea. In...
15/03/2021 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
A PACE committee has called for the elaboration of a European policy on diasporas, and has suggested the Council of Europe should take the lead in this work. In a resolution and recommendation based on a report by Paulo Pisco (Portugal, SOC), PACE’s Migration Committee spelled out a series of...
21/01/2021 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The Migration Committee called on national parliaments to mobilize for the adoption and implementation of the United Nations Global Compacts for Migrants and Refugees by all Council of Europe member states. The Commission is convinced "that by joining forces, parliaments can change the course of...
18/12/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
On International Migrants Day, Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC), Chair of the Migration Committee, made a pressing appeal for increased protection of migrant workers against exploitation and the violation of their human rights. “Thirty years ago, on 18 December 1990, the United Nations...
02/12/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The Migration Committee, meeting by videoconference, today expressed its deep concern over victims of arbitrary displacement. The report by Fabien Gouttefarde (France, ALDE), unanimously adopted by the committee, indicates that, according to the UNHCR, nearly 80 million persons have been...
29/10/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“Missile strikes on civilian areas have to stop,” said Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC), Chairperson of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons. “The strike on the Azeri town of Barda, reportedly killing 21, is a tragedy. So is the strike which reportedly hit a maternity...
02/10/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
A virtual parliamentary webinar on the importance of migrants’ remittances in times of crisis heard evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on amounts being sent home by migrants, and discussed ways of keeping these transfers flowing and making them easier. The webinar, which was organised by PACE’s...
11/09/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“The fires that have now burnt out the Moria camp for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in Lesbos is a chronicle of a disaster foretold,” said Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC), Chairperson of the PACE Migration Committee. “We know what happens when thousands of persons are confined in...
07/09/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
PACE’s Migration Committee has strongly condemned attacks on NGOs and their donors who are assisting refugees and migrants and said that governments or political organisations should not use such NGOs as “vehicles for extending their sphere of influence through political agitation”. It pointed...
07/09/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
According to the Migration Committee, which today adopted the report by Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC) on the humanitarian consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for migrants and refugees, these vulnerable groups are “doubly impacted” in this crisis situation. Indeed, the adopted text...
29/07/2020 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“Human trafficking is like a global pandemic,” said Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC), Chairperson of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, on the eve of the World Day against Trafficking in Human Beings held on 30 July. “None of us – neither governments, parliaments...