26/09/2011 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“I was impressed by the progress made by the Russian Federal and local authorities in the North Caucasus in terms of construction and security in favour of the general population and IDPs,” said Nikolaos Dendias (Greece, EPP/CD), rapporteur of PACE's Migration Committee, ending a five-day visit to Moscow and the Republics of North Ossetia-Alania, Chechnya and Ingushetia as part of a fact-finding visit for his report on the “Situation of IDPs and retrurnees in the North Caucasus region”.
22/09/2011 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“Keep the focus on the people and do not be side-tracked by politics when dealing with the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia.” This was the plea of Tina Acketoft (Sweden, ALDE), rapporteur of the Migration Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), ending a three-day visit to Georgia.
15/09/2011 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Internal displacement and its consequences, including housing issues, should be systematically included in the monitoring activities of the relevant bodies of the Council of Europe, experts participating in an exchange of views on the situation of IDPs and returnees in the North Caucasus, organised by the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population in Paris on 13 September, agreed.
13/09/2011 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“Undocumented migrant children are triply vulnerable, as migrants, as persons in an undocumented situation, and as children. A child should not be discriminated against because of his or her status. A child is first, foremost and only, a child. The issue of migratory status can only ever be a secondary consideration,” Pedro Agramunt (Spain, EPP/CD) said today when presenting his report on undocumented migrant children in an irregular situation at a meeting of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population in Paris.
07/09/2011 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“The PACE inquiry into who is responsible for the more than 1,000 ‘boat people’ thought to have perished in the Mediterranean since January 2011 while trying to reach European soil from North Africa is meant to prevent impunity, PACE rapporteur Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC) has said at the end of a two-day visit to Rome (6 and 7 September 2011).
02/09/2011 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC), the rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) carrying out an inquiry into responsibility for loss of life in the Mediterranean Sea, in particular the death of "boat people" fleeing Libya, will make a fact-finding visit to Rome on 6 and 7 September 2011.
02/09/2011 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“Many people in Europe today are overwhelmed by the speed of globalisation, economic crisis and fear of losing grips with the identity of their communities in the face of perceived inflows of migrants and changing societies,” today stated Daphné Dumery (Belgium, NR), PACE rapporteur on the portrayal of migrants and refugees during election campaigns, at the close of a three-day visit to Copenhagen and Stockholm. “As politicians, we cannot change the world, but we can change our approaches and set the tone of debates, which must be positive and forward-looking,” she added.
27/07/2011 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
At the end of a one-day visit to the Hatay region in Turkey on 26 July, a four-member delegation from the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, headed by Christopher Chope (United Kingdom, EDG), stated that “the Turkish authorities must be congratulated for their quick response to the situation". The delegation, which visited two refugee camps in the Hatay region and met those involved in managing the situation said the conditions in the camps were of high standards.
22/07/2011 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
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.
23/06/2011 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
PACE has launched an inquiry into who is responsible for the more than 1,000 “boat people” thought to have perished in the Mediterranean since January 2011 while trying to reach European soil from North Africa. Following a request for an inquiry signed by 34 members of the Assembly, PACE’s Migration Committee today appointed Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC) to prepare a report on “Lives lost in the Mediterranean sea: who is responsible?”.
01/06/2011 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Christos Papoutsis, Greece’s Minister for Citizen Protection, has acknowledged his country’s “serious problems” with flows of irregular migrants, with huge implications for Greek society and economy – but pledged to handle them “with sensitivity and responsibility”.
01/06/2011 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
All Council of Europe member states have a “moral duty” to share responsibility with frontline Mediterranean states – such as Malta, Italy or Greece – for handling asylum-seekers and refugees arriving on Europe’s southern shores, PACE’s Migration Committee has said.