13/11/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Migration could well present a solution for Europe’s recovery from the economic crisis, according to Mevlüt Çavusoglu (Turkey EDG), Chair of PACE’s Sub-Committee on Migration, speaking at the end of a two-day forum, “Remain, migrate or return: what to do in a global recession?” held on 12-13 November in Antalya, Turkey. "Migrants often adapt more easily to changes than mainstream populations," Mr Cavusoglu pointed out. "Their contribution can help countries to recover and adapt to new circumstances."
10/11/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
The members of PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population will be taking part on 12 November in a forum on “Remain, migrate or return: what to do in a global recession?”, organised by the Sub-Committee on Migration and the Turkish parliament. The parliamentarians will be looking at the effects of the economic crisis on migration flows, the burdens and benefits for receiving countries, the development challenges faced by countries of origin and the repercussions of the crisis on migrants and their families.
24/09/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“What next?” asked Corien W.A. Jonker, Chair of PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, commenting after the bulldozers went in to destroy the tent and shack village established by irregular migrants and asylum seekers and refugees waiting for the opportunity to cross from France into the United Kingdom. “We saw the closure of Sangatte in 2002, we have now seen the evictions from the ‘Calais Jungle’ in 2009, but we are no nearer to solving the problem of people living in desperate conditions, taking desperate steps to establish new lives,” said Mrs Jonker.
09/09/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“If the Council of Europe is to wear proudly its human rights badge, it must be more ambitious in tackling the human rights and humanitarian consequences of the war between Russia and Georgia.,“ said Corien Jonker (The Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of the Migration and Refugee Committee in her address to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, today in Strasbourg. In speaking to the representatives of the 47 Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the member states, Mrs Jonker called on them to get the Council of Europe involved in the so called “Geneva Process”, the political mechanism for dealing with the aftermath of the conflict.
19/06/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
On the eve of World Refugee Day, Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Migration and Refugee Committee reminded governments and civil society that “World Refugee Day is a day to bring the plight of 10 million refugees world wide into our homes and hearts. Visiting refugee camps and IDP centres in different parts of the world, I have seen for myself the plight of these vulnerable persons who have been forced to flee their homes,” said Mrs Jonker.
11/06/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“Restitution is the optimal response to housing, land and property loss, because it allows a free choice between all three durable solutions for a refugee or internally displaced person (IDP), namely return to the original home in safety and dignity, integration at the place of displacement or resettlement,” said Jørgen Poulsen (Denmark, ALDE), who is preparing a PACE report on “Solving property issues of refugees and internally displaced persons”. He was speaking at the end of a fact-finding mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (8-10 June 2009).
27/05/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
PACE’s Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population today held in Paris a hearing on so-called readmission agreements. The hearing was part of the preparations of a report by Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC) entitled “Readmission agreements: a neutral mechanism for the return of irregular migrants?”. According to the rapporteur, the intentions with readmission agreements might be innocent, but that they can nevertheless cause problems in terms of human rights. She said that the type of bilateral agreement that sees migrants being returned without having had the opportunity to put forward an application for asylum might be contrary to international refugee law, in particular if returned to a country where no functioning asylum system is in place.
27/05/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
PACE’s Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population held a hearing in Paris today on so-called readmission agreements. The hearing was part of the preparations of a report by Tineke Strik (Netherlands, SOC) on “readmission agreements: a neutral mechanism for the return of irregular migrants?”
11/05/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“It is a shame for Europe that 15 to 20 years after the conflicts which ravaged the South Caucasus region in the early 1990s, hundreds of thousands of people displaced by these conflicts continue to live in shabby and marginalised conditions with little prospect of return or restitution of their property,” said John Greenway (United Kingdom, EDG), rapporteur on protecting the human rights of long-term displaced persons, at the close of his four-day fact-finding mission to Yerevan and Baku. “The international community must reinvigorate its efforts to find new political impetus to create durable solutions for these people. We should avoid them becoming Europe’s forgotten people.”
14/04/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“The situation of Iranians in Camp Ashraf in Iraq has become more than alarming. These persons must, as a matter of urgency, receive full guarantees of international protection,” said Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population. “The situation in Camp Ashraf is going from bad to worse,” said Mrs Jonker. “The Iraqi government has made it clear that it wants to close the camp and expects the people living there to return to Iran or leave to a third country."
27/03/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
On 26 and 27 March, PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population organised a hearing in the Hague on forced return of, and assisted voluntary return programmes, for irregular migrants, with a particular focus on the situation in the Netherlands. The Chair of the Committee, Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), concluded that assisted voluntary return programmes offer a mutually beneficial alternative to forced return of migrants.
24/03/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population is holding two hearings in The Hague (Dutch Senate, Eerste Kamer Binnenhof 22) this week. The first, which will take place on 26 March from 9.00 am to 12.15 pm, in the presence of the Dutch State Secretary of Justice and the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, will focus on Dutch policy on the forced return of migrants and the integration of migrants and refugees in the Netherlands. The second hearing, on 27 March from 10.15 am to 1.30 pm, will look at assisted voluntary returns for irregular migrants.