18/06/2010 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“World Refugee Day is an important opportunity to remind governments of their human rights obligations to asylum seekers and refugees. Our Committee continues to be concerned about the treatment of child migrants and refugees. The committee has recently reconfirmed its total opposition to the detention of child migrants and its concerns over forced returns", declared John Greenway (United Kingdom, EDG), Chair of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population on the eve of World Refugee Day on 20 June.
17/06/2010 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
John Greenway, Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, has expressed his concern about the possible forthcoming closure of the office of the UNHCR in Libya. “I am deeply worried to learn that UNHCR has received instructions from the Libyan Government to cease its activities and to close down its office in Libya. UNHCR has a great deal of work to do in Libya to protect, assist and find durable solutions for the refugees there", he said.
01/06/2010 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
The Chair of PACE’s Migration Committee has challenged European states never to detain children in the context of migration. Issuing the call during a major conference on Human Rights and Migration which ended today in Lisbon, John Greenway (United Kingdom, EDG) said: “Let’s be clear: when it comes to migration, children should never be put in detention. Full stop.”
26/05/2010 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
A conference on human rights and migration is to take place in Lisbon from 31 May to 1 June 2010, focusing on the interception of migrants at sea, how they are detained and treated in receiving countries, the dangers they can face such as trafficking and racism, as well as what happens when they are expelled or forced to return.
18/05/2010 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
A report adopted today by the PACE Migration Committee in Paris makes a plea for assisted voluntary return programmes for irregular migrants as a more humane, cheaper and mutually beneficial alternative to forced return or compulsory removal. "These programmes can succeed where forced returns fail, they can contribute to a sustainable return and help development in the country of origin," the rapporteur Özlem Türköne (Turkey, EPP/CD) stressed.
28/01/2010 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
The detention of asylum seekers and irregular migrants in Council of Europe member states has increased substantially in recent years. PACE today set down guiding principles on the legality of detention and put forward a number of European rules governing minimum standards for conditions in detention centres which should be guaranteed by member states and adopted by the Committee of Ministers as European rules. Following the proposals by the rapporteur (Ana Catarina Mendonça, Portugal, SOC), the parliamentarians encouraged member States to use alternatives to detention, such as placement in special establishments, release on bail/surety or electronic monitoring.
11/01/2010 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Italy and Europe must learn lessons from the “cauldron of racist violence, xenophobia and exploitation” that boiled over in the Italian town of Rosarno over the weekend, according to Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of PACE Migration Committee. “The fire under the cauldron was lit by the drive-by shootings of migrants with air-guns,” said Mrs Jonker. “The causes were cumulative, however, with exploitation of both regular and irregular migrants, involvement of criminal gangs and xenophobia, leading ultimately to the riots, injuries, death and the transfer of a large number of the migrants to reception centres away from Rosarno.”
18/12/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
On the occasion of International Migrants Day, Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of PACE Migration Committee made the following statement today: “Migrants are a vital source of economic growth for all our countries. However, far too many of the 200 million migrants all over the world continue to experience assaults on their rights, abominable labour conditions, discrimination, exploitation and even violence. This should not be tolerated.”
09/12/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“Not solving property issues of some 2,5 million refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Europe means perpetuating their displacement and complicating peace-building efforts,” Jorgen Poulsen (Denmark, ALDE) explained when presenting his report on this issue on 9 December to the PACE Migration Committee in Paris. The restoration of legal rights and physical possession of properties through restitution, or the provision of equivalent properties or value through compensation, are essential forms of redress.
09/12/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
The use of detention as a response to the arrival of asylum seekers and irregular immigrants has significantly increased in Council of Europe member states and resulted in mass and needless detention. According to a report adopted by the PACE Migration Committee in Paris on 9 December, capacity had risen 10-fold since the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, France had increased it from 739 in 2003 to 1724 in 2007, Italy’s Lampedusa centre counted 1800 detainees instead of the 800 it has capacity for.
03/12/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“The developments over the last 24 hours in solving the plight of the four teenagers detained in Tskhinvali, and the five ethnic Ossetians held by the Georgian authorities, are to be welcomed,” said Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), PACE rapporteur on the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia. “The release has not come too soon, and although two of the four teenagers are still in detention, the indications are that they too will be released in the near future.”
17/11/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Plans for migration and asylum in the European Union’s draft five-year plan for cross-border co-operation are too focused on the processes of migration and not enough on the people, the head of a delegation from PACE told a gathering of parliamentarians in Brussels today.