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Recommendation 1890 (2009) Final version
Engaging European diasporas: the need for governmental and intergovernmental responses
1. The Parliamentary Assembly refers
to its Resolution 1696
(2009) on engaging European diasporas: the need for governmental
and intergovernmental responses.
2. The Assembly welcomes the work undertaken in recent years
by the Committee of Ministers, and in particular the European Committee
on Migration, on issues concerning migration and development and
co-development and migrants working for development in their countries
of origin.
3. It recalls in this context its own contributions on the role
and rights of diasporas in European societies: Recommendations 1410 (1999) and 1650
(2004) on the links between Europeans living abroad and their countries
of origin, Resolution
1462 (2005) and Recommendation
1718 (2005) on co-development policy as a positive measure to regulate
migratory flows, Recommendation
1500 (2001) on the participation of immigrant and foreign residents
in political life in Council of Europe member states, and Resolution 1618 (2008) and Recommendation
1840 (2008) on the state of democracy in Europe: measures to improve
the democratic participation of migrants.
4. The Assembly is convinced that the Council of Europe can make
an appreciable contribution to the current policy debate on managing
mobility, multiple identities and diversity of societies in Europe.
In particular it can play a significant role in assisting member
states in integrating international migration into national development
policy frameworks and in increasing interstate co-operation on migration
management.
5. In the light of the above, the Assembly recommends that the
Committee of Ministers:
5.1. concentrate
its actions on the harmonisation and subsequent liberalisation of
legal provisions in its member states’ legislation concerning migrant
workers, in line with the general principles of protection of human
rights. To this end, it invites member states to speed up the ratification
of the European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers
(ETS No. 93), the European Convention on Nationality (ETS No. 166)
and the Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public
Life at Local Level (ETS No. 144);
5.2. instruct the European Committee on Migration to:
5.2.1. define the status, rights and
obligations of diasporas in Europe, both in their countries of origin
and in host countries;
5.2.2. elaborate policy guidelines to encourage greater engagement
of European diasporas in development projects in countries of origin;
5.2.3. carry out a study on the experience of member states in
setting up government offices for diasporas and the experience of
granting voting rights to diasporas and access to other political
participation mechanisms;
5.2.4. help build national capacities in terms of knowledge and
research, as well as human and administrative competences;
5.2.5. assist member states in developing partnerships between
diasporas and between countries of origin and host countries to
enable greater involvement of diasporas in development projects;
5.3. design and introduce a pan-European harmonised system
of collecting statistics on the nationals of Council of Europe member
states living in other member states
5.4. give further consideration to the establishment, under
the auspices of the Council of Europe, of a council of Europeans
abroad, a body representing European diasporas at the pan-European
level, which could organise a forum for Europeans abroad at regular
intervals.