Social inclusion of migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons through sport
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 21 June 2023 (17th sitting) (see Doc. 15786, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Displaced Persons, rapporteur: Ms Nigar Arpadarai). Text adopted by the Assembly on
21 June 2023 (17th sitting).
1. The Parliamentary Assembly welcomes
the universality of sport. It notes that sport can be a fantastic catalyst
for empowerment and physical and psychological well-being. Sport
can heal and bring the best out of people, it contributes to reinforcing
self-esteem. Sport can help in developing a positive and fresh outlook
on life, bringing communities together, as well as helping to build
them. Practising sport can build mutual respect and encourage team
spirit.
2. The Assembly notes that sport, which generates important positive
values, has many advantages and can play an instrumental role in
the integration of migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons
in their host country or society. Sport can also provide a sense
of safety to persons on the move who faced numerous challenges during
their migration journey.
3. The Assembly notes that sport is often considered as an effective
social policy tool which reduces antisocial behaviour and increases
community cohesion. In this context, the Assembly underlines the importance
of the active involvement of migrants, refugees and internally displaced
persons, as well as of host authorities at central, regional, local
and community levels, in building policies and mechanisms fostering
the inclusion of these vulnerable groups through sport.
4. The Assembly is well aware of the existing efforts at national
and international levels in this respect, notably in the context
of the Global Compact on Refugees and the invitation to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), States and sports
entities to sign partnerships to foster access to sports facilities,
including in refugee-hosting areas. It hails the efforts of the
International Olympic Committee (IOC) to promote sports activities
for refugees and to support the participation of refugee athletes
at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games thanks to the Refugee Olympic Team.
It also welcomes the launch of the Olympic Refuge Foundation by
the UNHCR and the IOC.
5. Last but not least, the Assembly underlines the Council of
Europe’s active role in promoting sport as a means of inclusion
and peace through the adoption of legal instruments such as the
European
Sports Charter and relevant recommendations of the Committee
of Ministers to member States,
inter
alia, Recommendation
Rec(2001)6 on
the prevention of racism, xenophobia and racial intolerance in sport, Recommendation
Rec(2003)6 on
improving physical education and sport for children and young people
in all European countries, Recommendation
CM/Rec(2015)2 on
gender mainstreaming in sport, and Recommendation
CM/Rec(2012)10 on
the protection of child and young athletes from dangers associated
with migration.
6. While the establishment of the Enlarged Partial Agreement
on Sport (EPAS) by the Committee of Ministers in 2007 has been another
paramount milestone in promoting sport within Council of Europe
member States and beyond, the Assembly welcomes the outcome of the
Council of Europe’s Conference of Ministers responsible for Sport
held in Antalya, Türkiye, on 26 October 2022, during which the ministers
called upon EPAS, inter alia,
to “use sport as a tool for social integration of disadvantaged
groups, such as migrants, refugees, people with disabilities and
senior citizens; develop a toolbox based on best practices for inclusion of
disadvantaged groups in all aspects of sport and devise a communication
plan to promote it widely” (Resolution No. 1). The Assembly also
hails the decision of the governing board to organise the EPAS 2023 Diversity
Conference on the topic of the inclusion of migrant and refugee
children through sport.
7. Conscious of the existing barriers challenging the success
of inclusive programmes for migrants through sport, the Assembly
calls on Council of Europe member States to:
7.1 have due regard to the values and principles laid down
in the European Sports Charter;
7.2 accede to the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport, for
those which have not yet done so, so as to ensure a better implementation
of the European Sports Charter and benefit from more effective international
co-operation;
7.3 adopt and ensure the application of legislation prohibiting
any discrimination in sports due to nationality, gender, sexual
orientation, ethnicity, language or disability, or any other form
of discrimination;
7.4 facilitate travel to international sports events for refugee
athletes, on the same basis as for non-refugee athletes through
legal and practical measures;
7.5 ensure that everyone is given the opportunity to practise
sports and undertake specific action to guarantee that the most
vulnerable people, including migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons,
have proper access to sports facilities and activities, actively
considering the financial costs required, but also the age, gender,
ability and other diversity needs;
7.6 ensure that coaches are trained to be able to detect migrants’,
refugees’ and displaced persons’ vulnerabilities and overcome them,
and put in place assistance services to allow them to feel safe
and protected in sports centres;
7.7 contribute, through the organisation of language courses,
to ensuring that language differences are no longer a barrier to
inclusion.
8. In line with the Global Compact on Refugees, the Assembly
encourages States, sports entities, the UNHCR and the IOC to sign
further partnerships to foster access to sports facilities, including
in refugee-hosting areas, to promote sports activities for refugees,
to support the participation of refugee athletes at the Paris 2024
Olympic Games and to make the most of the Olympic Refuge Foundation
launched by the UNHCR and the IOC.
9. Aware that structural and cultural barriers are more difficult
to overcome for the most vulnerable groups of migrants, refugees
and displaced persons, such as women, children, members of the lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) community
or people with disabilities, the Assembly urges Council of Europe
member States to develop specific targeted measures to promote the
social inclusion of these groups in the receiving societies with
their involvement in the decision-making processes.
10. As women can be prevented from practising sports because of
prejudices and also for logistical reasons, the Assembly recommends:
10.1 the organisation of wide media
campaigns and coverage of women’s sports, with the aim of reaching
a larger number of young girls who are reluctant to enrol in sports
due to cultural or psychological barriers and deconstructing stereotypes
and discriminatory narratives;
10.2 the setting-up of child-minding services within sports
organisations in order to enable female athletes to have time to
practise sports.
11. In order to fight against discrimination, notably against
members of the LGBTQI+ community and people with disabilities, the
Assembly calls on Council of Europe member States and sports organisations
to develop awareness-raising campaigns spreading messages of tolerance
and inclusion while deconstructing stereotypes and in particular
to join the Council of Europe and European Union project Combating
Hate Speech in Sport.
12. The Assembly believes that the wider migration movements in
European countries require a strategic vision for the social inclusion
of migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons. For this
purpose, it considers that Council of Europe member States should
privilege long-term and sustainable projects, investing in cross-sectoral
initiatives leading to the further inclusion of migrants, refugees
and internally displaced persons into the receiving societies, such
as undertaking sports activities in parallel with educational programmes.
To achieve this, the Assembly calls on Council of Europe member
States to earmark greater funds to develop effective policies of
social inclusion so that costs are not borne by sports organisations,
as their excessive amount could push them to limit sports activities.
As a result:
12.1 migrants, refugees
and internally displaced persons should be granted free access to
sports facilities and sports activities, including the supply of
sportswear when required;
12.2 given the healing effects of sports activities, sports
organisations should be properly equipped with psychological and
social assistance available to all enrolled individuals, in particular
for migrants;
12.3 equal access to sports facilities, including for people
with disabilities, should be ensured.
13. Further funds should be ring-fenced for the promotion of collaboration
among sports and non-sports organisations with the aim of setting
up co-operative mechanisms and cross-sectoral societal actions.
14. The Assembly is convinced that public awareness of the benefits
of sport as a means of promoting the social inclusion of migrants
should be pursued. For this purpose, it calls on member States,
together with sports organisations, to:
14.1 develop effective awareness-raising campaigns to highlight
the importance of including migrants in societies, which reduces
cases of racism, discrimination and hate speech;
14.2 organise communication campaigns targeting migrants, refugees
and internally displaced persons so that they are aware of specific
projects aimed at their social inclusion.
15. Given the importance of exchanging knowledge and experience,
the Assembly calls on Council of Europe member States to allocate
adequate financial resources to maintaining the sustainability of
the Council of Europe sport migrant integration platform. Furthermore,
it encourages member States to upload their projects on the platform
so that the projects can benefit from wider visibility at the international
level but also to encourage local, regional, national and international
sports organisations to emulate them for the development of a larger
number of sport-based programmes to include migrants, refugees and
internally displaced persons.
16. In accordance with the UNHCR’s overall participatory and community-based
approaches to refugee protection and assistance, the Assembly encourages
all stakeholders to work together with refugee athletes and refugee-led
organisations in the field of sport and to support these organisations
financially. Furthermore, the Assembly strongly calls for national
sports organisations and Olympic and Paralympic committees to be fully
funded to support refugee athletes.
