27/04/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC), Rapporteur on Pushbacks on land and sea: illegal measures of migration management, has made the following statement: “On 25 April 2023, the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania approved the amendments to the Law on the State Border and its Protection...
24/04/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Paul Gavan (Ireland, UEL), rapporteur on “Addressing the humanitarian consequences of the blockade of the Lachin corridor” made the following statement: "On 23 April 2023, I was informed that a border checkpoint was established by the Republic of Azerbaijan at the starting point of the Lachin...
24/04/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting on the margins of the Assembly’s plenary session in Strasbourg, has adopted the following declaration, proposed at the initiative of Lord Leslie Griffiths (United...
24/04/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meeting on the margin of the Assembly’s plenary session in Strasbourg, has adopted the following declaration: “On 6 February 2023, massive earthquakes hit Türkiye and Syria, killing...
17/04/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
PACE’s Rapporteur on the crisis facing Afghan refugees Birgir Thórarinsson (Iceland, EPP/CD), ending a three-day visit to Türkiye (12-14 April 2023), has praised the country’s “commendable efforts” to provide access to services to registered refugees, but noted that several challenges remain. He...
04/04/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
The challenges faced by Belarusians in exile was the focus of a fact-finding visit to Warsaw and Vilnius by Paul Galles (Luxembourg, EPP/CD), who is preparing a report on this topic for the Assembly. In Vilnius he made the first ever visit by a Council of Europe representative to Belarus...
15/03/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
PACE’s Migration Committee has set out sixteen approaches that Council of Europe member states can take to integrate migrants and refugees in a way which encourages “a sense of togetherness” and minimises fear and resentment towards people arriving from other countries. In a draft resolution...
15/03/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Ahead of the European Council (23-24 March), the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons recalled the importance of European solidarity to facilitate the reception of migrants and refugees. In a declaration adopted today, it urged European Union institutions to allocate means for...
26/01/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
"As a human rights defender for 20 years, I would have never imagined myself working on war crimes in my country. No one chooses where he or she was born but we all have a choice whether we want to be active against human rights violations or remain indifferent to it. I chose not to be...
26/01/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
The Migration Committee today expressed concern at the Russian Federation's military attack against Ukraine, leading to the highest numbers of refugees and displaced persons since World War II. In this context, the Committee urged member States to show European solidarity, particularly with...
25/01/2023 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Some 200 to 500 000 Belarusians were forced to flee their country as a result of the repression that fell after the rigged elections of 9 August 2020. While they have a common wish – return as rapidly as possible to a democratic Belarus – they do not necessarily describe themselves in the same...
16/12/2022 | Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
On International Migrants Day, Theodoros Rousopoulos (Greece, EPP/CD), the Chairperson of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, recalled the importance of upholding human rights for all. This should become a reality in the 21st century for migrants and refugees. The...