TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON MIGRATION, REFUGEES AND DEMOGRAPHY
SECRETARIAT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY
Synopsis No. 2001/060 rev.
23 May 2001
The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, meeting in Baku (Azerbaijan) from 17 to 19 May 2001 with Mr Iwinski (Poland, SOC) in the Chair:
As regards:
– Refugees and displaced persons in the South Caucasus (Rapporteur: Mrs Vermot-Mangold, Switzerland, SOC):
- held a Conference on this issue at the invitation of the Parliament of Azerbaijan on 17 and 18 May, with the participation inter alia of representatives of the governments of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Russia, of NGOs from Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, as well as representatives from the European Union, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Food Programme (WFP), Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), International Organization for Migration (IOM), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Danish Refugee Council, USAID, World Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank;
- on 19 May, visited camps of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) throughout the country;
– UNHCR and the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention (Rapporteur: Mrs Aguiar, Portugal, EPP/CD): approved a draft report and adopted a draft recommendation as amended;
– Activities of the Council of Europe's Development Bank: hold an exchange of views with Mr Guglielmino, Vice-Governor of the Development Bank, and appointed Mr Díaz de Mera (Spain, EPP/CD) rapporteur for opinion, replacing Mrs Zapfl-Helbling (Switzerland, EPP/CD);
– Humanitarian situation of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Chechnya (Rapporteur: Mr Iwinski, Poland, SOC): was informed on the humanitarian situation in Chechnya and hold an exchange of views with Mr Blochin, Minister on Federation issues, nationalities and migration policies, Russia;
– The situation of refugees and displaced persons in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Rapporteur: Mr Iwinski, Poland, SOC): was informed by Lord Judd on the state of preparation of the meeting of the Sub-Committee on Refugees and the Conference on the subject, to be held in Belgrade on 5-6 June 2001;
– Conference on "irregular migration and dignity of migrants: cooperation in the Mediterranean region" (organised by the European Committee on Migration (CDMG), in Athens on 3-4 October 2001): took note of the following candidatures to be part of an ad hoc Sub-Committee to attend the Conference (subject to authorisation by the Bureau): Mrs Aguiar (Portugal, EPP/CD), Mr Akhvlediani (Georgia, LDR), Mrs Bušic (Croatia, EPP/CD), Mr Christodoulides (Cyprus, UEL), Mr Cilevics (Latvia, SOC), Mr Connor (Ireland, EPP/CD), Mr Gross (Switzerland, SOC), Mr Koulouris (Greece, SOC) (Alternate: Mrs Kanelli (Greece, UEL)), Mr Liapis (Greece, EPP/CD) (Alternate: Mrs Katseli (Greece, SOC)), Mr Libicki (Poland, EDG), Mr Mutman (Turkey, SOC), Mrs Shakhtakhtinskaya (Azerbaijan, EDG), Mrs Vermot-Mangold (Switzerland, SOC), Mr Yáñez-Barnuevo (Spain, SOC) and Mrs Zwerver (Netherlands, SOC) , and agreed to decide on the composition of the ad hoc Sub-Committee at its next meeting;
– Committee's priorities and work programme in 2001: held an exchange of views;
– Appointment of Rapporteurs:
§ Migration connected with trafficking in women and prostitution: Mrs Zwerver (Netherlands, SOC), for opinion;
– Representation of the Committee at various events – reports by:
§ Mrs Bušic (Croatia, EPP/CD) on the meeting of the MP Network for South Eastern Europe, Skopje, 26-27 February 2001;
§ Mrs Bušic (Croatia, EPP/CD) on the meeting on "The role of NGOs: from refuge to durable solutions in the Caucasus – constraints, dilemmas and possibilities", Baku, 12-14 March 2001;
§ Mr Tkác (Slovakia, EDG) on the meeting of the Specialist Group on Roma/Gypsies, Strasbourg, 10-11 April 2001;
– Appointment of representatives:
§ Mrs Vermot-Mangold (Switzerland, SOC), Rapporteur for opinion, for a visit to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (10-13 June 2001) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (10-15 September 2001), subject to the authorisation by the Bureau, with Mrs Biga-Friganovic (Croatia, SOC), Rapporteur of the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, on social measures for children of war in South-Eastern Europe, it being understood that no expenses occur for the Parliamentary Assembly;
§ Mr Luis (Portugal, SOC) to the Euro-Mediterranean Conference on Agriculture (jointly organised by the Committee on the Environment and Agriculture of the Parliamentary Assembly and the European Parliament), Strasbourg, 14-15 June 2001;
§ Mr Iwinski (Poland, SOC) and Mrs Vermot-Mangold (Switzerland, SOC) to the Seminary on "Human rights standards applying to the holding of aliens wishing to enter a Council of Europe member State and to the enforcement of any expulsion orders", Strasbourg, 20-22 June 2001
§ Mr Connor (Ireland, EPP/CD) and Mr Cilevics (Latvia, SOC) to the Special Hearing on the Future of Asylum and Migration, organised by the Society for International Development (SID), The Hague, 14-15 September 2001;
§ Mrs Bušic (Croatia, EPP/CD) and Mr Libicki (Poland, EDG) as representatives to the ad hoc Committee set up by the Bureau to co-operate in the preparation of, and participate in the Joint NGO/Parliamentarians' Conference on "Citizenship, solidarity: what sort of Europe do we want?", Strasbourg, 6-7 November 2001;
– Sub-committees: decided to repeat the election of the Vice-Chairperson of the Sub-Committee on Migration, as Mr von Schmude (Germany, EPP/CD) was not a full member of this Sub-Committee at the time when the election was held in Strasbourg on 23 April 2001;
– Decided to hold its next meetings as follows:
– Belgrade, 5-6 June 2001, Sub-Committee on refugees (Conference on refugees and displaced persons in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
– Strasbourg, during the 3rd part of the session 2001 (25-29 June 2001)
– Geneva, 3-4 September 2001, Plenary Committee (Conference on the displacement of population in Europe) (subject to authorisation by the Bureau)
– Strasbourg, during the 4th part of the session 2001 (24-28 September 2001)
– Yalta (Ukraine), 5-6 October 2001, Plenary Committee (Conference on the follow-up to the Recommendation on repatriation and integration of the Tatars of Crimea) (subject to authorisation by the Bureau)
– Budapest, 15-16 November 2001, Sub-Committee on Migration, in cooperation with the European Youth Centre (Hearing on the specific problems of young migrants) (subject to authorisation by the Bureau)
– Paris or Brussels*, December 2001, Plenary Committee (subject to confirmation *and authorisation by the Bureau).
Halvor Lervik/Agnieszka Nachilo/Markus Adelsbach