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.
16/03/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“Following my visit to South Ossetia, I am greatly concerned by the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia, and the humanitarian scars left by the conflict,” said Corien Jonker, Chair of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, at the end of her two-day visit to the region on 13 and 14 March 2009. “These scars run deep and are visible on the population remaining in South Ossetia, on those who sought refuge in North Ossetia, and on ethnic Georgians who have been expelled and whose properties have been razed to the ground.”
11/03/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
As part of the follow-up to Resolution 1648 (2009) on the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia, Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, will travel to Tskhinvali on 13-14 March and meet the de facto authorities of South Ossetia, together with the de facto Ombudsman David Sanakoev. She will extend her visit to the Tskhinvali region and she also plans to visit Akhalgori. Talks are scheduled with representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Ms Jonker will also hold meetings with NGOs in Moscow, Vladikavkaz and Tskhinvali.
20/02/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
"The fast deterioration of the situation of ‘boat people’ in Lampedusa must be halted immediately", said Mrs Corien Jonker, Chair of PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population."We are deeply concerned by the overcrowding and worsening conditions in the identification and expulsion centre dealing with irregular migrants and asylum seekers in Lampedusa".
19/02/2009 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“It is of great importance that discussions concerning the highly sensitive issue of forced returns continue at national and international levels, between the political and humanitarian actors,” Corien Jonker(Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, said today at the opening of a two-day seminar on migration in Strasbourg organised by the French Red Cross and the Council of Europe. “The clash between reception and return is deepening in our member states, especially in the context of the current economic crisis. We need to work towards a sound and realistic return policy overall in Europe,” she continued.
12/12/2008 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Adopting a draft resolution on the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and the Russian Federation, PACE´s Committee on Migration called on both states and the de facto authorities in South Ossetia and Abkhazia to investigate and where appropriate prosecute all human rights violations and violations of humanitarian law. Following the proposals of the rapporteur (Corien Jonker, Netherlands, EPP/CD), the parliamentarians also said that reparations for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law should be provided, including restitution of property and payment of compensation.
11/12/2008 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“Illegal immigration in the Canary Islands is a matter of concern to us all, and it is not a short-lived phenomenon. It is there to stay”, declared Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar (Spain, SOC), head of the Spanish delegation to PACE, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria today at the opening of the meeting held by the Assembly’s Migration Committee in the capital of the archipelago. Inés Rojas, member of the Canary Islands government responsible for social affairs, said that “the Canary Islands can be the voice of Africa in Europe. We must stop talking about Africa and start talking with Africa”.
09/12/2008 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
The members of the Migration Committee will meet the authorities of the Canary Islands, during a series of seminars on 11-12 December, to gain a better understanding of the challenges faced by ‘boat people’ and the phenomenon of irregular migration to the Canaries and the rest of Spain. Meeting later, the committee is also due to adopt the report by Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD) on the humanitarian consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia and the report by Tina Acketoft (Sweden, ALDE) on the need for international recognition and protection of environmentally induced migrants.
28/11/2008 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“National parliaments and international parliamentary assemblies have a primary responsibility to promote the full implementation of international humanitarian law, which provides that refugees and displaced persons are safely returned to their homes, once hostilities have ceased,” said John Greenway (United Kingdom, EDG) last Monday in St. Petersburg, representing PACE President Lluís Maria de Puig at a conference on international humanitarian law.
26/11/2008 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“The international community bears the responsibility to find political solutions to protracted conflicts, as protracted internal displacement is most often a result of the still unresolved conflicts on our continent”, said Corien Jonker, (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of the PACE Migration Committee, at a seminar on this subject organised by the committee in Geneva.
25/11/2008 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
“The need for immigration on a continent that experiences a greying of its population, and in many countries a decline in population, should be clearly raised,” said Corien Jonker (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of the PACE Migration Committee, at a seminar organised by the committee in Geneva on the “Interaction between population decline in Europe, global population growth and migration”.