16/10/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Ten years after the adoption of the UN's Guiding Principles on internal displacement, the problem of internally-displaced people is far from being eradicated on European soil, according to the head of PACE's Migration Committee. Addressing an Oslo conference, Corien W. A. Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD) said: "Contrary to all expectations, the number of IDPs in Europe has not drastically decreased. Somewhere, our efforts and policies have failed, despite international human rights and humanitarian norms becoming increasingly more elaborate."
11/09/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Speaking today at the Joint Parliamentary Meeting on “Europe: Migration and Integration”, organised by the European Parliament and the French Presidency of the European Union together with the French Senate and National Assembly, Corien Jonker, Chair of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, welcomed the proposed European Pact on Immigration and Asylum and thanked the French Presidency for putting forward this important initiative.
01/09/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
PACE Sub-Committee on Migration will be holding a parliamentary forum on economic migration, social cohesion and development in Kyiv on 5 September in co-operation with the European Parliament and the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada). The event will run from 3 to 6 pm in the International Exhibition Centre (Conference Room 1), Brovarskiy Avenue 15, Kyiv.
25/06/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Schoolchildren from Alsace had the opportunity to hold a dialogue with PACE parliamentarians this week as part of a series of events organised by UNHCR to mark World Refugee Day. Opening the event, as well as an exhibition of paintings by refugee children, the Chair of PACE’s Migration Committee Corien Jonker invited the children to imagine a week without a home. Of the paintings, she said: “Each has its own story to tell: a story of witnessed violence, forced departure and loss, but also of dreams and hope.”
19/06/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Women fleeing the horror of systematic rape and sexual violence perpetrated during conflicts should be provided refuge in Europe, according to the Chair of PACE Migration Committee. Speaking on the eve of World Refugee Day, 20 June, Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD) said: “It is a sad fact that systematic rape and sexual violence have become a weapon of war in today’s world, and a sickening feature of ‘ethnic cleansing’ campaigns."
20/05/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population today called on European governments to put forward minimum standards of reception to be guaranteed by all countries of destination of “boat people” and to share the responsibility of receiving them. In a report prepared by Morten Østergaard (Denmark, ALDE) published today, the committee recalls that in 2007 alone, over 51 000 persons arrived on the coasts of Italy, Spain, Greece and Malta. The parliamentarians express concern that “search and rescue obligations are not always being complied with, leading to increased risk to life and loss of life”.
20/05/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
At the opening today in Paris of a hearing on the problem of environmental refugees, PACE Committee on Migration expressed compassion and solidarity with the families of the tens of thousands victims of the natural disasters that have recently devastated regions of Myanmar and China and called on the authorities of the two countries to allow a massive aid effort to the areas affected. “The restrictions on foreign aid workers and equipment are increasing the risk of starvation and disease of thousands of people,” said the Chair of the Committee, Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), on behalf of the committee.
19/05/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The PACE's Committee on Migration today asked European governments to give migrants an equal role in the democratic process and help them to play a more active part in society. Levels of democratic participation are low in Europe, said the author of the report, John Greenway (United Kingdom, EDG), and are even lower among migrants.
16/05/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population will be holding two hearings in Paris next week, one dealing with asylum policies in Europe, the other with the situation of environmental refugees. “Improving the quality and consistency of asylum decisions in the Council of Europe member states” is the theme of the first hearing, which will take place on Monday 19 May from 10 am to 12.30 pm.The second hearing, to be held on Tuesday 20 May from 9 to 11.30 am, will address “The problem of environmental refugees”.
28/04/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
The Chair of the PACE Migration Committee, Corien Jonker (Netherlands EPP/CD) today called on the Turkish authorities to launch an immediate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of four irregular migrants who were reported to have been drowned when they were allegedly forced to swim across the river border between Turkey and Iraq in Sirnak province.
04/04/2008 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
In St. Petersburg today, the International Parliamentary Conference on the globalisation of migration processes and problems of legal regulation, as jointly organised by the PACE and the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS (IPA CIS), adopted a declaration inviting CIS and Council of Europe member States to develop common strategies for framing laws and policies on migration.
17/12/2007 | Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
An EU proposal to fix at 18 months the maximum period of detention for irregular migrants in Europe “flies in the face of humanity”, according to the Chair of PACE's Migration Committee. Speaking on International Migrants Day, 18 December, Mevlüt Çavusoglu said the EU’s Returns Directive was equivalent to “locking up irregular migrants and throwing away the key”.