AA16CR21

AS (2016) CR 21
Provisional edition

2016 ORDINARY SESSION

________________________

(Third part)

REPORT

Twenty-first sitting

Tuesday 21 June 2016 at 10 a.m.

In this report:

1.       Speeches in English are reported in full.

2.       Speeches in other languages are reported using the interpretation and are marked with an asterisk.

3.       The text of the amendments is available at the document centre and on the Assembly’s website. Only oral amendments or oral sub-amendments are reproduced in the report of debates

4.       Speeches in German and Italian are reproduced in full in a separate document.

5.       Corrections should be handed in at Room 1059A not later than 24 hours after the report has been circulated.

      The contents page for this sitting is given at the end of the verbatim report.

(Mr Agramunt, President of the Assembly, took the Chair at 10.05 a.m.)

      THE PRESIDENT – The sitting is open.

1. Election of a judge to the European Court of Human Rights

      THE PRESIDENT – This morning the agenda calls for the election of a judge to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of the United Kingdom.

      The list of candidates and biographical information are to be found in Document 14050, and the opinion of the Committee on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights is in Document 14086, Addendum II.

      Voting will take place in the area behind the President’s chair. At 1 p.m. the ballot will be suspended. It will re-open at 3.30 p.m. I shall close the ballot at 5 p.m. As usual, the count will then take place under the supervision of two tellers.

      The names of Mr Fournier and Mr Garðarsson have been drawn from the ballot as tellers. They should go to the back of the President’s chair at 5 p.m.

      I hope to announce the result of the election before the end of the sitting this evening.

      I now declare the ballot open.

2. Debate: Refugees at risk in Greece

      The PRESIDENT – We come now to the debate on the report titled “Refugees at risk in Greece” (Document 14082 and Addendum), presented by Ms Tineke Strik on behalf of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, with statements by Ms Meritxell Mateu, rapporteur of the Ad hoc committee of the Bureau on the situation of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Greece (Document 14086, Addendum III), Mr Ioannis Mouzalas, Alternate Minister for Migration Policy of Greece, and Mr Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

      I remind you that speaking time is limited to three minutes.

      In order to finish this debate by 1 p.m., we must interrupt the list of speakers at about 12.45 p.m. to allow time for the reply and the votes.

      I call Ms Tineke Strik, rapporteur of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons. You have 13 minutes in total, which you may divide between your presentation of the report and reply to the debate.

      Ms STRIK (Netherlands) – Dear President, Minister, Secretary General and members, during the April part-session, we adopted a resolution on the EU-Turkey agreement of 18 March in which we considered that the agreement raised several human rights issues. Today, three months after the agreement entered into force, our conclusions are ever more true. With the agreement, the EU member States shifted responsibility for hosting and protecting refugees to two countries already under pressure: Turkey, which was hosting 3 million refugees, and Greece, which was experiencing a serious financial and economic crisis and had a seriously deficient asylum system.

      The EU member States supported the “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” when it closed its border with Greece, which might have pushed the Greek Government into supporting the EU-Turkey deal. But what are the consequences for the refugees? Since the sudden closure of the borders, almost 60 000 refugees have become stranded in Greece. Some 50 000 are on the mainland and not subject to the EU-Turkey deal, while almost 9 000 are stuck on the Aegean islands and are threatened with return to Turkey.

      I will first say a few words about the refugees on the mainland. From last year until February,170 000 refugees crossed Greece on their way to northern Europe, and when their journey was stopped, the Greek Government had suddenly to organise reception facilities. It succeeded in its final task of quietly clearing the Idomeni camp without violence – it should be applauded for this immense achievement – but the majority of the camps are temporary emergency facilities. Some provide only basic provisions, such as food, water and sanitation and basic medical care, while others offer even less.

      In particular, the alternative camps for Idomeni fall short of what refugees and especially vulnerable people need. Their circumstances are unacceptably unsafe and unhealthy, especially for longer stays – the uneasy truth is that they might be stuck there for months or even a year. The dreadful living conditions, and the lack of concern shown for them, make the refugees desperate and exhausted. The resolution therefore urges the Greek Government to improve the reception facilities swiftly; to enhance the capacity of the asylum service; and to prepare more permanent resettlement and integration policies, such as access to the labour market, education and housing. I remind you, however, that all our governments have created this situation – by simply erecting a fence and not caring about the consequences for the refugees affected and by concluding an agreement based on wishful thinking about the protection level in Turkey for refugees and about the capability of the Greek asylum system.

      The behaviour of some has been cynical. Five years ago, our European Court on Human Rights, in the M.S.S. case, prohibited the return of asylum seekers to Greece because of the lack of standards and safeguards – appalling living conditions, arbitrary detention, no effective right of appeal. Yet member States now make asylum seekers dependent on the Greek malfunctioning asylum and reception system. It is true that member States do not return asylum seekers to Greece, but they make sure that refugees cannot escape from Greece. What is the difference? Let us be honest: the effect for the refugees is exactly the same, so we can conclude that the current EU policy amounts to a violation of the judgment of the Court.

      The living conditions and lack of concern for the refugees is a European responsibility, so the resolution calls upon European member States to take responsibility as soon as possible. They have many ways of doing so: they could help Greece to improve its reception conditions, with sufficient services, privacy, medical and psychological support, access to education and so on, and to enhance its capacity to process asylum claims, with sufficient officials, lawyers, interpreters and judges; and once refugees have reached that stage, member States could help by taking responsibility for their protection.

      Members of the Ad hoc committee, our President among them, spoke with many family members of refugees already living in other European countries: women with young children but also parents with children up in the north. These refugees are entitled to travel to their family members, but they face a lot of bureaucratic obstacles. I therefore call on member States: be practical, be pragmatic and invite them without delay. The sooner they can be reunited, the better it will be for all parties and for their integration prospects.

      Furthermore, I remind European member States of their agreement last year to relocate 66 400 refugees from Greece. Only 1 674 – less than 3% – refugees have currently been relocated. That is the result after nine months – how many decades before the other 97% have been relocated? The idea of relocation was that people could be transferred quickly to better places without complicated procedures. We see too few offers and we hear too many additional requirements. Not all member States accept the most vulnerable cases: they want the graduates or the Christians. We must quit these delaying tactics and become reliable. We must live up to our agreements. Many of the 50 000 refugees could and should be distributed among other member States currently experiencing a significant drop in the number of asylum applicants.

      The refugees on the islands are in an even less secure situation. While waiting to lodge their asylum claim, refugees in the hot spots live in overcrowded places with much tension. For the first 25 days, they are automatically detained, but the legal ground for detention is doubtful. The European Court has asked the Greek Government why they are detained with such a slow asylum procedure. It is clear that the reception and asylum capacity must be improved quickly, and European States should offer a lot more seconded staff. The asylum requests need careful assessment.

      The refugees fear a return to Turkey, and they have reasons for that fear. The 90% of Syrians in Turkey who live outside the camps find it difficult to earn a living and their children still face problems in accessing education. Other nationalities can hardly access the asylum procedure. It is reported that refugees have been returned to their home country.

      This Assembly concluded in its April resolution that Turkey is not a safe third country for refugees. That is exactly why, in at least 22 appeals, the appeals committees in Greece decided that refugees could not be returned to Turkey. The Greek Government takes those judgments seriously, and that is an important signal, because we should not blame the messenger. I hope and trust that the newly composed appeals committees will be just as independent as the current ones.

      All of this shows that the EU-Turkey deal still raises many human rights concerns, and we should therefore have the courage to reconsider the agreement. It is currently being challenged before the EU Court of Justice. All our experiences show that sharing the responsibility for protecting refugees is the only durable solution. All other policies come at the expense of the refugees, and we must avoid that.

      The PRESIDENT – Thank you, Ms Strik. You have four minutes remaining. I call Ms Mateu. You have three minutes.

      Ms MATEU (Andorra)* – Mr President, Minister, distinguished colleagues, what is a refugee? What is a migrant? They are citizens who have had to abandon everything to flee war, violence, persecution and poverty. For them, Europe is an El Dorado. What do migration and asylum mean for Europe? They are a challenge – a divisive issue on which we clash and which we need to manage better.

      On 30 and 31 March, a mission from the Bureau of our Assembly visited four camps: two official ones and two temporary, unofficial ones in and around Athens. Thanks to the good organisation of the Greek authorities, for which I thank Ms Kavvadia and the Minister, we had full freedom of movement. We spoke with residents, local non-governmental organisations, representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and volunteers from the Red Cross. A smaller delegation of seven people, including the President of the Assembly and Ms Strik, also visited Lesbos to see how things were on the islands.

      Greece, because of its geography, is used to the arrival of migrants and refugees of different nationalities, but the situation has changed completely over the past few months, especially with the sudden closure of the borders last March. Overnight, Greece stopped being a country of transit and became a destination – a place to which refugees head. Several thousand refugees have found themselves stuck in Greece, their efforts to find refuge in another country stymied. In just three months, the proportion of people seeking asylum in Greece went up from 3% of those passing through to 90% of arrivals.

      Some of the non-official sites are being dismantled, such as those in Elliniko and Piraeus, because they are temporary and have no facilities. They are overcrowded and unsuitable. The camps that the Greeks have built are much better equipped and have much better infrastructure. A lot of children, including a lot of unaccompanied children, are being transferred. During our meetings with ministers and local officials, we learned that Greece is adopting a new law on asylum through which it intends to rehouse asylum seekers to avoid ghettoisation and get all children into school by September. We were not able to evaluate the consequences or the impact of the agreement between the EU and Turkey.

      We have learned from our visit and Ms Strik’s report that there is a cruel reality out there. Finding a solution is the responsibility of Europe as a whole. The reality is different from what people expect. Many of our fellow citizens are simply afraid of the outside world. It is our job to go back to our countries and explain that we need to re-establish solidarity and trust. Europe must once again become a place of asylum, where anyone can rebuild their life. I am absolutely convinced that the citizens of Europe can achieve that.

      The PRESIDENT – Thank you very much, Ms Mateu.

      I am particularly pleased to welcome you, Minister, after our exchange of views in Athens. Just a couple of weeks ago on the Assembly’s visit to Greece, I really appreciated the opportunity to discuss with you the situation of the millions of asylum seekers and refugees in Greece, as well as the implementation of the European Union-Turkey agreement. It gave us a better understanding of the challenges your country faces on a daily basis and allowed us to identify ways in which we can further support your efforts. I am sure that your presentation today will be a valuable contribution to our discussion. Dear Minister, it is my pleasure to give you the floor.

      Mr Ioannis MOUZALAS (Alternate Minister for Migration Policy of Greece)* – Dear President, Secretary General of the Assembly, Ms Strik, dear colleagues, I feel honoured and moved to be here to address you today. It is an honour to speak to this august Assembly of the Council of Europe. This is an emotional moment for me because, as the current Minister, I know of a young man who was an illegal refugee when he 18, so I am all the more moved by this situation.

      I thank Ms Strik and all those who came to Greece and took the trouble to write this very balanced report. It gives a clear picture of the situation, and one can see exactly what the problems and complaints are. I will therefore describe briefly, as I do not have much speaking time, Mr President, the situation as it stands at the moment.

      The first meeting on refugees in Europe occurred last August. Jean-Claude Juncker did his best to find an interim solution. The proposal did not receive a positive response and was not acceptable to certain European States, so we lost a great deal of time – Europe lost a lot of time – in seeking to provide the right conditions for refugees.

      There were 800 000 refugees at that time – 10 000 were coming in virtually every day on rafts and all sorts of unseaworthy boats. We have taken in all these people. We have respected their human rights. We had economic and financial difficulties already, as you know, but we took them all in. We were going through a humanitarian crisis with regard to the refugees at the same time as we were going through an economic crisis. Some 170 000 people were saved by the emergency coastal services. Imagine – all those people would otherwise have drowned in the Aegean sea. Then there was the closure of the borders. Some countries were not prepared to apply Europe’s decisions. They opposed those decisions and 60 000 people were then detained in Greece, with 580 000 detained in both Germany and Italy.

      We do not have the structures to cope with those whose progress is now blocked. Fifty-five thousand provisional places were made available for these refugees. They were obviously not the best places, but at least we are trying to improve their situation day by day. If you had come to Greece at that time, you would have seen that we were making great efforts to do the right thing by these people. Eighty per cent of those 55 000 people were provided with all the necessary basic services – anything that a refugee would be entitled to under human rights law. There has also been considerable day-by-day improvement of the situation, and if the rapporteurs had been able to look at the situation back then with the same honesty and clarity, they would have recognised that.

      Then the Idomeni camp was closed, as you have heard. What happened at the Idomeni camp was one of the greatest breaches of European rules: within the space of just a few days, we stopped the refugees and migrants from making any progress – basically, we stopped them from being able to live or move on. I understand all the difficulties and everything that led to that situation, but if we had waited for the camp to be built in the proper way according to European standards, we would have lost even more time. Of course the camps can be improved upon, and we have improved them, as much as we can, and are still doing that every day. In November 2016, we will be able to provide better camps, with small houses and school buildings – that is in the pipeline – and we hope that reception will be accelerated. As the Minister responsible for refugees, I felt that we should not lose any time.

      The report is very sincere and clear-minded and gives a faithful description of the situation. However, if we take the camps as a snapshot, they do not really convey the effort that Greece is making. There is improvement all the time. Of course, the hotspots on the islands face a much more difficult and fraught situation. We are trying to open up new camps and new areas so that conditions improve all the time. The situation is rather precarious when it comes to provision for asylum seekers, although our structure is now growing and has achieved European standards. The asylum service is now available in all the camps and we have set it up in two and a half months, a record time, whereas in Germany it took six months to set up all the necessary services. Various things have been achieved in Greece in record time, but if we had had more aid, we would have been even more effective.

      The agreement that is being talked about is the result of all the discussions with the European Union. There has to be an agreement between Greece and Turkey. The agreement with Turkey is a European agreement, although my country nevertheless welcomed it. The only error in the report that I might highlight is where it says that the agreement is dangerous for refugees because they risk being sent back to their countries of origin. A decision was taken in the Bundestag, the German Parliament, deeming there to be no such danger and saying that all precautions had been taken to ensure that that did not happen. The European and Greek authorities have all decided that the agreement is safe. We do not want to get into that discussion. It would be erroneous to call the agreement into question again and ask for a new settlement. We are not going to comment on whether Turkey is safe or not. It would be a mistake for any country to go down that road. This is an ad hoc procedure – one can always say that in this situation Turkey is saving the day – and we are respecting all the rights of European countries and maritime law as well.

      I must say that the report is very complex. The situation is very difficult to judge. This is the first time in Europe that we have established a legal route for refugees. We need to be able to take stock and look at how we can broaden that route to try and achieve the relocation of 50 000 to 75 000 refugees a year and also to allow greater time for that relocation. During that period, Europe has to do everything it can to stop the war in Syria. At the moment, we are at least not seeing an in-pouring of 170 000 refugees. We do not have 70 000 to 80 000 people a day arriving on inflatables, so we are not picking up hundreds of adults and children from the sea every day. The movement of refugees has been slowed to some extent.

      We will also be getting funding, not from Turkey but for the refugees from Turkey – this is the opinion of the Greek Government, which agrees with the European Commission on this issue. We need to be able to apply this decision, because otherwise we will go back to the figure of 170 000 of refugees coming in, with racism, xenophobia and the rise of extreme right movements throughout Europe. Our country is very proud to be the only one in Europe where there has not been one single protest or demonstration against migrants and refugees. I would like that to be recognised by other countries, because our people deserve recognition for it.

      I should also say that there is a danger in Turkey. After all, what are we going to say: that nobody has the right to go back? That is a mistake in the text. What I am saying is that there is no de facto distinction between refugees and migrants. We feel that that distinction is legal and can give rights and entitlements to both categories. I have total responsibility for unaccompanied children, and we are doing everything we can to have 1 000 places by the end of July. At the moment 350 children do not have a place—we do not know where to put them—about which I am very upset.

      We are very attached to the European Union. We believe in Europe, but it has a responsibility to share the burden. We must not delude ourselves, because the burden has not been shared fairly across Europe. We have received a bit of money, but only so that the problem can be confined to Greece. We are happy to receive any kind of money, but that is not the concept of Europe—Europe is about a fair sharing of the burden. My country has done its part, and of course there have been mistakes, but we need to recognise that it is not just about giving money; it is about sharing the refugees and giving them a proper life and proper living conditions. The European Union agreement is not excellent in every respect, and it can be criticised, but we can make it work to protect human rights.

      The PRESIDENT – Thank you for participating in our debate. I hope that we will continue to co-operate closely. Thank you, Mr Mouzalas. I call Mr Jagland.

      Mr JAGLAND (Secretary General of the Council of Europe) – Thank you for holding this debate. Europe must urgently do all it can to find common solutions to the problem. This is about human beings, but it is also about the future of Europe. I thank Ms Strik for her useful report. I wholeheartedly agree with what she said, namely that Europe is suffering the consequences of panicked reaction. It is troubling to see governments looking for quick ways to tighten their borders and to push problems on to each other. Greece is clearly bearing the burden of what is, or should be, a European problem.

      My special representative and I have been to Greece, and my impression is that Greece is doing its utmost to process applications efficiently and with respect for migrants’ rights, but the situation is very difficult. We need to keep in mind that some 52 000 migrants are still stranded in Greece, which needs much more assistance and solidarity from other European nations.

      It is important that we listen to what Minister Mouzalas has told us today. He strongly supports the EU-Turkey deal, as I do, because it provides a guarantee that each individual can apply for asylum and that their applications will be processed in the right way. We have to do something to stop the unacceptable smuggling of people, to prevent more needless deaths in the sea and to ease the pressure on Greece. We all agree on those guarantees. The alternative, to reject the agreement, would mean that the smuggling continues and that more people will die, with severe consequences for Europe as a whole. The alternative should not be to reject the agreement but to do everything we can to help Greece and Turkey to implement it. Those who oppose the deal should think about the consequences.

      What is the Council of Europe doing? First, I have appointed a special representative to be on the spot to monitor whether the guarantees are in place in both Greece and Turkey. My special representative is reporting to the Committee of Ministers, and he is in constant contact with the UNHCR and other interlocutors to co-operate and co-ordinate with them. We are helping Greece to ensure that relevant laws and practices meet European standards, and we are training lawyers, doctors and civil servants to implement the agreement in the right way.

      We are particularly focusing on minors and unaccompanied children. When I recently visited a centre for unaccompanied children in Greece, it was impressive to see what the Greek Government has done in co-operation with civil organisations. There are not sufficient places, but still the Greek Government is doing a lot. If we do not do something for these people, the smugglers will hand them over to be trafficked across Europe. The issue is urgent, and we must help Greece and other member States to take care of these people.

      There is a problem with what I have described as “legislative nationalism”, whereby member States adopt laws that are obviously not in conformity with European standards, such as on family reunification. At the centre I visited outside Athens, there was a boy with family in Denmark. He cannot be reunified with his family because Denmark has adopted a law preventing family reunification. Such new laws might prevent us from helping the most vulnerable people, and helping young people is a priority for the Council of Europe. I have already forwarded guidance to our member States recalling their obligations, I have launched an emergency monitoring operation to see to it that the guidelines are being followed and I have received support from all member States to develop a Europe-wide action plan.

      I commend the Council of Europe Development Bank, which is providing grants – not loans – for the establishment of reception centres on three of the Greek islands. We need to focus on what we can do to help Greece, the EU and Turkey implement the agreement that they have entered into. One obstacle is that part of the agreement between Turkey and the EU is visa liberalisation for Turkish citizens. The EU has put demands on Turkey for the granting of that liberalisation, one of which is changes to terrorism legislation that is affecting freedom of expression. That has been a concern for us for a long time, and there have been a number of European Court of Human Rights judgments against Turkey because of it.

      Independently of what has happened with the refugee crisis, we have set up a working group with the Government of Turkey to look into how we can implement Court judgments and prevent new applications to it caused by that terrorism legislation. The President of Turkey, Mr Erdoğan, told me when I met him in Istanbul that he would signal to the working group that he wants to see results. That is crucial, because we will not get results if there are new applications to the Court, which would also put the agreement between the EU and Turkey at risk. We can see how important the Court cases are to solving the problem that exists between the EU and Turkey and to the implementation of a broader agreement. I hope that the work that the group has started will bring results as soon as possible.

      This issue is a good example of how the Convention and the case law of the Court can be a guide to how we can solve problems. They provide an alternative to what we have seen so far, which is more and more nationalistic legislation. If we cannot harmonise our laws, legislative initiatives and actions, we will obviously have more and more nationalism, both legislative and political, which will put the whole of Europe at risk. The Convention is a good platform for coming through these difficult times, so that we can tackle not only the problem that we are facing today but those that we will face in the future. There are huge problems on the other side of the Mediterranean in Africa, and the refugee problem is not over. Only if Europe takes a common stand and has a unified policy can we tackle it; the alternative is that we put the whole of Europe at risk.

      Thank you very much for holding this debate, which is only the beginning of a discussion on how Europe can tackle the wider problem that we face.

      The PRESIDENT – Thank you, Mr Jagland.

      We now come to the list of speakers. I first call Mr Garðarsson.

      Mr GARÐARSSON (Iceland, Spokesperson for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) – On behalf of ALDE, I thank the rapporteur for this excellent report.

      We left Turkey alone, we left Jordan alone, we left Lebanon alone. We did not react until the flow of refugees to Europe started and we saw images on television that disturbed us – sinking boats full of refugees, and dead children on beaches. Sometimes, even often, we are slow to react, but that should be a lesson to us that we need to show more support for countries that are the first stop for refugees.

      There are 65 million displaced people worldwide, according to a new report by the United Nations. Refugees are vulnerable and can easily be exploited by smugglers and other people who take advantage of their hopeless situation. The problems in Greece should be solvable. There are 46 000 refugees and migrants blocked in mainland Greece and a further 8 500 on the islands. Those who qualify for international protection will be forced to stay in Greece until they are admitted into other European countries under the EU’s relocation scheme or find their own way to travel further north. Those on the islands are mostly detained.

      Last month I visited refugee camps in and around Athens as a member of the ad hoc committee sent by the Council of Europe. In the Elliniko camp south of Athens, refugees were overcrowded in an old Olympic stadium. They had put up small tents on the concrete floors of the hallways. Their basic needs were covered – food, hygiene products, sleeping bags and blankets. Many of them had been there for months waiting for some information about their future. The situation at the harbour at Piraeus was no better. Families with small children, elderly people and pregnant women lived in small tents by the terminals on some kind of parking lot. Thankfully it was not the middle of winter.

      The rapporteur is right that this is a European responsibility, not just a Greek one. The Greek asylum system is dysfunctional, even though the Greek authorities are improving it. Monetary support has been coming from the European Union, but the system itself has not been able to cope with the problem. Asylum seekers are not getting the necessary information about their rights, and there are long delays in the asylum process, especially in dealing with applications. There is not enough capacity in the system, and more staff are needed. There has been a call for other EU member States to contribute 400 asylum officers and 400 interpreters to Greece to speed things up, but by last month only 63 asylum officers and 67 interpreters had been deployed.

      This is not the time for finger pointing. It is not the time for blaming the Greek authorities or other EU member nations, many of which have been reluctant to accept refugees. The only thing that matters is the refugees. They need a safe place to live in, they need to be able to work, they need access to health care and their children need education.

      Mr SCULLY (United Kingdom, Spokesperson for the European Conservatives Group) – I welcome the report, which shows a way forward, and I congratulate Ms Tineke Strik on it. I thank Ioanetta Kavvadia and the Greek authorities for arranging and hosting our trip to Athens and Lesbos.

      The Greek authorities are working hard and effectively to cope with the huge number of people arriving on their shores, both refugees and economic migrants. At the peak, 5 000 people a day were coming to Lesbos, which, as we have heard, caused real strain. I am glad to see that with the EU-Turkey deal those numbers have now shrunk quite considerably.

      We saw and heard about a mixed range of conditions. We have just heard about the stadium being used as a camp, and you may have seen some of the photos during Ms Strik’s original presentation showing tents pitched inside the building with families living in them. Families were also camped outside the stadium, because they were distrustful of the authorities and not sure whether they were going to be beholden to them in the future or whether they were going to be detained.

      We saw conditions at Skaramagas, another reception centre in Athens. It was clean, there were some educational facilities and there were volunteers coming in from outside the camp who spoke the native tongues of the people inside, which was very much to be welcomed. When I was there, I met a wonderful man, a Yazidi Christian, who spoke of the fact that he had brought his 10-day-old child across the mountains and then on a dangerous boat trip.

      The hot spot on Lesbos, though, was Maria, and I think it surprised us all, because we could really feel the tension as we saw the protest of some migrants, who seemed to be predominantly north African, complaining about the preferential treatment of Syrians in the camp. We were unable to inspect the camp fully, due to understandable security issues.

      Regarding the situation in Europe, we also need to give Frontex more powers. At the moment, the EU-Turkish deal allows Turkish coastguards to return people to where they came from, but we need to give Frontex the power to interdict on the high seas and also the power to return people to their point of disembarkation or to safe third countries, as is done in Australia.

      It is not right that in the absence of a common migration and asylum policy in the EU – there is no agreement on the issue – infringement notices have been given to Greece and Croatia for failing to implement the Eurodac screening process, when there are obviously extenuating circumstances.

      I welcome the report and I hope that it is another way in which we can move towards having more dynamic, positive and joined-up thinking on this issue across the EU.

      Ms KAVVADIA (Greece, Spokesperson for the Group of the Unified European Left) – Ms Strik’s report is a crucial and integral part of the search for a common European solution to the refugee crisis. In this context, we welcome the inclusion in the report of the results of the recent visit of the Ad hoc committee of the Bureau to Greece, my country. Far from trying to hide any existing problems, on our part we tried to shed light on all that has been done to address the crisis in recent months, and particularly on the difficulties that still exist. The reason for this is that we feel that we have absolutely nothing to hide. On the contrary, considering what has been achieved in such a short time, what the situation was like a few weeks or months ago and how quickly Greece responded in such an urgent situation, we believe that we have every reason to be proud of what has been done so far.

      In discussing this report, it is necessary to recognise explicitly that in a very short period and despite the continuing severity of the economic crisis, our country responded impressively with a mission to manage and care for a large population of refugees and migrants in difficult conditions, since these are people who are trapped in Greece and who do not wish to remain there. Greece mobilised all the resources of the State apparatus and of social solidarity structures. It is not true that Greece lacked the necessary infrastructure to respond to the crisis. On the contrary, it is extremely doubtful whether any other European country would have been able to build, within two months, more than 40 organised refugee hosting camps throughout its territory. Most importantly, it is even more doubtful that any other European country would have been able to accomplish that without a significant reaction within its own society, including the aggravation of racism and xenophobia. The situation was quite the opposite in Greece, with the vast majority of the population supporting the refugees and showing solidarity with them.

      An image of Greece as a country that was helpless to respond to the refugee crisis is therefore simply not accurate. Far more accurate is an image of Greece as a country that was forced, both by chance – its geographical location – and by the reluctance and failure of its partners to act, to deal alone with a major humanitarian crisis that was and still is a European responsibility. Greece continues to demand that its European partners finally assume their responsibility, particularly in implementing the decisions about the relocation and resettlement of refugees based on analogous quotas for each member State. That does not mean that we do not recognise that there are still problems and difficulties, but this is a European problem, the management of which Greece has had to bear in full, suffering the consequences of a European reluctance – indeed failure – to address the refugee crisis jointly.

      The report acknowledges all of that and raises directly the issue of European responsibility. For those reasons, after thanking Ms Strik for her work, I would like to stress once again that, at its core, this situation is a fundamental test for Europe, which will determine for the foreseeable future whether Europe can live up to its founding values and whether the words “solidarity, human rights and humanitarianism” are something more than just words.

      Mr FISCHER (Germany, Spokesperson for the Group of the European People’s Party)* – Without doubt, Greece is currently having to bear a great burden as a result of the refugee crisis. We have economic and financial difficulties, and in Greece the high number of refugees constitutes a great challenge for the country as a whole.

      When we look at the current migratory flows, I think we all realise that this crisis involving migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean region is clearly not just a problem for Greece. All European countries, or nearly all of them, have felt the impact of these migratory flows, which involve refugees and migrants, and therefore it is hardly surprising that this mass of migrants crossing the Aegean Sea and arriving in Greece meant that the authorities there were pushed to the limits of their capabilities and beyond by this influx of people. We understand that. Unfortunately, the situation has not been wholly positive for migrants and refugees in the reception facilities, which we deplore.

      Many initiatives have been adopted by the EU and by member States, including Germany, to try to improve the conditions of these refugees and migrants. Together we have worked with NGOs and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and we have provided support to and solidarity with Greece. Since the most recent agreement between the EU and Turkey, there has been a drastic reduction in the number of refugees arriving on Greek islands, which is a success story in terms of fighting against people traffickers, because prior to the EU-Turkey agreement people were jeopardising their lives by crossing dangerous seas. This is, if you like, a moment when we can pause for thought and even a rethink. Of course, the Greek authorities have had to continue to manage the situation. The camp in Idomeni has been closed down and there has been a redistribution of the refugees to other reception facilities.

      We need to work together as Europeans. We need to support the Greek authorities when it comes to registrations, interviews and providing protection for the refugees. This approach could provide the basis for a new European policy on how we deal with refugees and migrants. The European Union needs to provide financial assistance, and the European Commission is there to co-ordinate the activities of the border guards, including the Greek coastguards, and of course Frontex, as well as the European Asylum Support Office. So the whole of Europe – I emphasise that I mean the whole of Europe – needs to stand by Greece and support it, and we need to be successful in that respect. As for the Greek authorities, they need to provide safety for the refugees, and we must also consider all the other persons affected by this crisis throughout Europe. We need to provide the support that is necessary for that effort.

      I will take this opportunity to congratulate the rapporteur, because this report does not seek to embellish anything; it really depicts the situation as it stands, right now.

      Mr VENIZELOS (Greece, Spokesperson for the Socialist Group) – I congratulate Ms Strik on this balanced report. The rapporteur highlighted not only the humanitarian aspects, but Greece’s specific geographical location and, therefore, the reasons why it is pressed between the closure of the so-called Balkan corridor and the necessity of maintaining relations between the EU and Turkey. However, both factors are the product of the political weakness of EU member States in managing the refugee crisis, especially since the German Government’s radical change of attitude after 1 million refugees entered Germany.

      Greece is therefore held hostage, along with approximately 60 000 refugees and irregular migrants. They have been trapped in Greece, but without having Greece as their final destination and without wishing to apply for asylum in Greece. They feel unlucky compared with their compatriots who have managed to get to Germany or other countries of their preference. They do not consider Greece an appropriate final destination because of the economic crisis and the high unemployment rate. Furthermore, they are under the threat of being returned to Turkey.

      The EU, as a political entity, and its member States are called upon to manage the refugee crisis as a symptom of the tragic situation in Syria and in Libya, despite the fact that the initiative behind international moves belongs to the United States, Russia and other non-EU actors. As the Greek Minister, Mr Mouzalas, said, there are obviously serious problems with Greece’s administrative mechanisms and infrastructure, which are inadequate for holding up against such pressure.

      The crucial political dimension of the issue, however, is that the land border between Greece and other EU countries is now de facto closed and Greece is isolated, along with thousands of refugees who now expect either to be returned to Turkey or to stay in Greece – two outcomes that they do not consider desirable. Greece has an obligation to respect fully the European Convention and international humanitarian law, but other EU member States must relieve Greece from the unprecedented situation it faces, along with the refugees and irregular migrants, and the other countries of the Council of Europe have an obligation to take part in a truly international refugee relocation programme that extends the borders and the frame of the European Union.

      The PRESIDENT – Thank you, Mr Venizelos. The rapporteur will reply at the end of the debate, but does Ms Strik want to respond at this stage? That is not the case.

      I remind the Assembly that the vote to elect a judge to the European Court of Human Rights is in progress. The poll will close at 5 p.m. Those who have not yet voted may still do so by going to the area behind the President’s chair.

      Mr FOURNIER (France)* – I would like to thank our colleague, Ms Strik, for her well-documented report, which lives up to the values of the Council of Europe. The situation facing refugees in Greece is particularly worrying, and at times dramatic, particularly for the 22 000 unaccompanied children. Our colleague has also described the situation on the Greek islands. Greece has a heavy load to bear – if not a burden – at a time of budgetary and financial crisis and under an asylum system that has long been found wanting.

      Nevertheless, the authorities and people of Greece have courageously made remarkable efforts to boost their reception capacity for migrants. They should be commended for their humanity and sense of duty. Furthermore, Greece, by dint of its geographical location, finds itself pretty much alone in managing a crisis whose dimensions are European, if not global, and suffering from a lack of solidarity on the part of its European neighbours – a point quite rightly stressed by our rapporteur.

      I would like to qualify some of what the rapporteur said, however. At a time when populism of all stripes is raging across the European Union, it is less Europe that has been found wanting in managing the crisis than some of its member States. Although there are agreements on the relocation of refugees – for example, Germany took in more than 1 million refugees in 2015 – some countries are building walls at their borders. Faced with this massive inflow of refugees and economic migrants from the Middle East and Africa, Europe has had to act urgently and has therefore come up with disparate responses without sufficient co-ordination.

      Europe must do better, and it must do more. The humanitarian approach to the migration crisis is necessary, but it is not adequate. In order to manage migratory flows, we need a set of practical decisions to strengthen Europe’s external borders. We need to give Frontex the wherewithal to set up real border guards and coast guards. We also need an operational system to check people as they enter and leave the Schengen area and register their country nationals. In parallel, the European Union must crack down on the trafficking networks, whose turnover has reached billions of euros. The way in which the migration crisis is managed and resolved will largely determine the future of not only Greece, but Europe as a whole.

      Ms KARAMANLI (France)* – The debate on refugees at risk in Greece is a very important one for our Assembly, but even more so for Europe as a whole. It places at the centre of our deliberations not only the lives of those who are fleeing war and suffering – civilians faced with violence, aggression and dictators – but the basic values underlying European institutions, whether the Council of Europe, the European Union or the institutions of its 28 member States. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to go to Greece, on a mission organised by the French National Assembly, and visit the refugee camps. I am also a member of our parliament’s Committee on European Affairs.

      I welcome Ms Strik’s timely and balanced report. There are three elements that I would like to stress. Europe greatly underestimated the migratory crisis. More than 1.5 million people arrived in 2015, having illegally crossed our frontiers. This means that we have to recognise what, with hindsight, is patently obvious: the decision to share our territory for free movement means that we must have effective control over our external frontiers.

      We must also note that without the measures that have been taken, the crisis would be even worse. We have the maritime operations carried out in the Mediterranean by member States, which have saved several hundred thousand people from death, but they have also made the first inroads against the large volume of traffic directed by organised crime, which is making a fortune out of trafficking. Then there are the centres for registering and screening incoming people, because the agreements under Dublin III were simply not coping. There are later provisional measures that have been only partially implemented, such as the measures for relocating people – only 1 440 people have been relocated, which is less than 1% of the 160 000 expected.

      The European Union has progressed in parallel, for instance by talking about establishing a shared list of countries of origin to manage the granting or removing of international support. That has also been discussed in the French National Assembly and there has been progress. The agreement with Turkey was a new stage in the process. However, it is likely to be a windfall for those less scrupulous States, and it is, after all, a last resort for co-operation with Turkey, which remains necessary.

      Finally, I want to say something about those States and politicians who are refusing to show the solidarity that the values to which their countries have subscribed requires, by refusing to participate. Europe needs to relaunch its process for accepting refugees, in order to encourage citizens to move forward on this issue.

      Baroness MASSEY (United Kingdom) – I thank Ms Strik for her open and hard-hitting report on the situation of refugees in Greece. I also thank Mr Mouzalas and Mr Jagland for their interventions.

      As the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons states, it is evident that Greece has been left to bear a grotesquely disproportionate burden simply because of its place on the map. The committee expressed concern about reception facilities on the mainland and for the fundamental rights of refugees and migrants. That situation must concern us all. I also found the Ad hoc committee’s report on its visit to Athens and Lesbos in May useful. More resources are clearly called for to improve facilities such as education and family reunion.

      It has been reported that Germany wants to divert 10% of the European Union budget towards dealing with the refugee crisis, arguing that a lack of joined-up thinking has exacerbated the challenges posed by irregular migration to Europe.        A journalist for a national newspaper in the UK has expressed the view that in the past year Europe’s leaders have responded to a wave of migration at its borders with a fragmented series of strategies and promises, many of which they have failed to uphold or have been slow to enact. That statement was made in the wake of the closure of the Macedonian border to certain nationalities and the setting up of the informal camp at Idomeni, which has already been mentioned. As we know, that became a full-scale camp, and was then cleared. It has been reported that there were hundreds of unaccompanied minors in the camp, which has been seen as an emblem of Europe’s failure to manage the refugee crisis.

      In May this year Médecins Sans Frontières published data on the symptoms of patients who came to their out-patient clinics at major entry and exit points in the Dodecanese islands. Symptoms included anxiety and depression as a result of traumatic incidents such as violence and ill treatment by state authorities. Medical conditions had not been attended to, including mental health needs. Volunteers in camps have described a lack of running water, no medical care, a lack of translators and no provision for infants. One said that the conditions in the new army camps were abysmal, ranging from depressing to unsafe. I am glad that Mr Mouzalas has reported improvements.

      I am aware that events in this traumatic migrant crisis move fast, and that countries, including the UK, have send experts to contribute to alleviating the problem. But how long do experts stay, and what long-term plans are there for resolving the current crisis? As the report says, this is a European and global problem, not just a Greek one. No immediate solution is apparent. It is to be hoped that more resources, both human and material, and better systems will contribute to some long-term resolution.

      Mr HEER (Switzerland)* – President, distinguished colleagues, I too thank the rapporteur for her report. I specifically want to say that I got a very good impression of the work of the Greek authorities during the visit by the Ad hoc committee. I also thank our Turkish colleagues for everything they have achieved on refugee policy.

      Europe needs a model. We are always going on about solidarity, but when it actually comes to taking in refugees, all kinds of promises are made but very few are kept. Ms Strik outlines in paragraph 41 of her report that although the European Commission decided that refugees should be relocated, not even 1 000 of the hundreds of thousands of refugees have been transferred. That goes to show that that solidarity simply is not working. A handful of countries in Europe—Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Netherlands—are bearing the brunt. In contrast, other countries are doing virtually nothing.

      Politicians across Europe are lecturing people, but the United Kingdom and Ireland, for example, have sealed themselves off from the influx of refugees. Of course, they have a certain geographical advantage over countries located in continental Europe, but we are all affected by the crisis and so we have to show solidarity. It is simply not on for a handful of countries to bear the brunt; it has to be fairly shared. As colleagues have said, a lot of refugees do not want to remain in Greece, and I can well understand why, as the economic situation there means that Greece will not able to look after people in the long term, and is unlikely to be able to provide jobs for them.

      We are facing migratory flows from Libya to Italy. Although we have possibly sorted out the problem in the Aegean for now, the problem has shifted, so I call on the Council of Europe to make sure that resources are directed to countries that are experiencing problems, to make sure that we deal with the problem at source and that people have a way out.

      Ms BAKOYANNIS (Greece) – Dear colleagues, the report is wonderfully precise in its description of the failings both of Greece and of the European Union to which it belongs. For example, it mentions the failings in the asylum system in Greece, the often hard and even inhuman detention conditions, and the risks to children.

      What the report does not describe is the unbelievable sight of thousands of impoverished, crisis-struck Greeks rushing to the shores or into the water to save women and children, or the families whose sons and daughters have long been unemployed giving shelters to refugees, or the long lines in Greek supermarkets to buy food some of which goes directly to organisations providing nutrition to the destitute newcomers, or the jobless doctors and nurses offering free medical care. We can hardly say the same of the European Union and some of its member States. Some have refused the relocation of even a few hundred refugees and migrants. Others have suggested we should turn our tourist islands into some sort of Ellis island, or advise us on border defence.

      I want to take up two important points made by Minister Mouzalas. The EU-Turkey agreement can be criticised, and it has been by a lot of people. But those same people do not put any other proposals on the table for how we should deal with the refugee crisis. It is hypocritical to ask Greece to bear the burden simply because of her position on the map while at the same time criticising an agreement without putting forward any other proposal.

      Secondly, I say to the rapporteur that I really believe that we should make a distinction between migrants and refugees. I have often said in this Chamber that Europe cannot take all refugees and migrants and all the poor of the world. We must look after the refugees. That distinction must be made if we are to have a successful European policy.

      Mr HOWELL (United Kingdom) – I thank the rapporteur for producing a good report. It identifies a number of issues of interest pertaining to this matter. I have also had the chance to discuss the situation in Greece with those of my own delegation who recently went there on a visit to look at the refugee problem. I have also read the report of the Ad hoc committee.

      I want to concentrate on the areas in the main report on which we can agree, rather than those on which we might want to take a different view. The situation in Greece is, by whichever account you read, a humanitarian crisis. As the report shows, the principal sufferers are the refugees and economic migrants themselves. The descriptions that have been given of the appalling conditions they face paint a grim picture, and the report speaks of not being able to provide basic protection. However, I disagree with the report when it seems to blame the European Union solely for this. True, the EU must carry a lot of the responsibility, but the problem is a much bigger one. While the EU has a lot to do to put the situation right and to show real leadership, blame cannot stop there, given that the people involved do not come just from Syria, but are widely drawn from other places, including Afghanistan. That does not mean I do not believe that the EU can do more.

      I was interested in two comments in the report: the first is the suggestion that money alone is not the answer; and the second is the need for technical assistance. On the first, money is clearly important. My own government in the UK is the largest bilateral donor, contributing some £34 million to Greece through a number of organisations, including the UNHCR, various NGOs and the Red Cross. In relation to technical assistance, I am glad that the UK is deploying, through the European Asylum Support Office, a team of about 75 personnel, including case workers to help with asylum processing, interpreters and medical staff. This very valuable assistance will help the situation enormously. It is just the sort of practical help we are looking for other countries to provide.

      To turn briefly to another issue, the report is right to stress the problem of unaccompanied children in this context, but it is also necessary to stop parents giving their children to despicable people traffickers as a precursor to coming over themselves. Overall, the report of the committee who visited the camps is right when it says that while the Greek Government is willing to take criticism, more should be done to improve the situation and to increase the level of response in Greece, which does not fit the facts.

      Mr FRIDEZ (Switzerland)* – The situation is clear, and we need solutions. Our colleague Tineke Strik has produced an excellent report. Europe really needs to wake up and act. The refugee population in Idomeni has been living under unacceptable circumstances. The addendum to the report also mentions the situation in the new camps in Greece. We can see that there has been an improvement, but it is not nearly enough. I do not doubt that Greece is doing what it can, as are the countries neighbouring Syria, but we are talking about hundreds of thousands of refugees and those countries are of course overwhelmed by such a number.

      This is a challenge for Europe, and I welcome the fact that the resolution refers to Europe as a whole, which is a good concept. We are talking about hundreds of thousands of refugees, asylum seekers – men, women and children – who have left a living hell and are now seeking protection, and the whole of Europe must respond to that appeal. We need to work together to find a solution to this exceptional migration, every country doing so in accordance with its means.

      Given the geographical situation of Greece and other countries in the Near East, they are of course at the heart of these operations. They urgently need our support – with staff and finance – as such support is absolutely necessary. In addition and in parallel, we need an ambitious readmission programme to move migrants towards other countries. Colleagues, the boat is not full. All of our countries must of course respond in accordance with our own socio-economic circumstances and general conditions, but we need a resettlement and relocation programme that will allow us to take care of everyone. Nobody should be left by the wayside. We must also fight against xenophobia and the hijacking of this issue by populist forces. Finally, family reunion is a humanitarian priority and an essential response to the fact that these displaced populations are fleeing barbarism and extreme distress.

      (Mr Rouquet, Vice-President of the Assembly, took the Chair in place of Mr Agramunt.)

      The PRESIDENT* – Thank you, Mr Fridez. I remind everybody that the voting for the election of a judge from the UK to the European Court of Human Rights is now open, so if you have not already done so, please vote soon. I call Ms Ahmed-Sheikh.

      Ms AHMED-SHEIKH (United Kingdom) – I thank Ms Strik for her very comprehensive report on this extremely important matter. I also thank the Assembly for its demonstration of solidarity and condolence for our colleague Jo Cox MP, who so tragically lost her life while serving her constituents. It is poignant that much of her work involved highlighting the plight of refugees; indeed, her work contributed to a change in UK Government policy. I am sure you all join me in expressing our condolences to her husband, Brendan, and the two young children she leaves behind.

      The latest figure provided by the UNHCR for the number of people forced to return to Turkey is 460. Returning people to a country that demonstrably does not have the human rights values many of us in this Chamber espouse will not help them. We must remember their mental and physical state and the fact that, as we speak about them, these people are crossing dangerous waters because they consider that safer than staying in the land where they live, where they are forced into terrible circumstances and face destruction at every minute. Let us remember that no parents would put their children in such a position unless they were absolutely desperate. We have seen pictures of children washed up on beaches, and our generation will be judged on our actions in relation to this crisis. We will surely be in breach of the values we espouse if we do not do enough or do not do the right thing to help these refugees.

      I agree with the report when it says that it is not fair to place the full burden on Greece. I want to mention the Greek legal system and to draw everyone’s attention to the growing number of appeals in Greek tribunals, where Syrian asylum seekers are winning cases to avoid deportation to Turkey. That in itself demonstrates that the EU-Turkey deal to establish a refugee management policy is unstable and potentially illegal. The situation must be a reassessed, and it is of course incumbent on all EU member States to do more – so much more – as we continue to watch this terrible footage of death and destruction.

      I will finish by saying that refugees are not numbers or statistics, but people: they need us, and we must not let them down.

      Ms DURANTON (France)* – After transit through Turkey and risking their lives in the Aegean, thousands of refugees arrive in Greece. In March 2016, the Balkan countries closed their frontiers, preventing people from leaving Greece, and 46 000 people are now blocked in mainland Greece. The agreement between the European Union and Turkey of 18 March provides for every new migrant who illegally crosses the frontier between Turkey and the Greek islands to be returned to Turkey if they do not seek asylum or if their asylum claim is rejected. Today, 8 500 people are stuck on the Greek islands, half of whom are locked up in a reception centre while awaiting the results of their asylum applications. They have little chance of success in those applications because Turkey is considered by Greece to be a safe country and they may therefore be returned to Turkey. For them, the danger is very real.

      Greece is not coping with the influx. On 1 April 2016, Greece adopted a new law on asylum with the aim of applying the agreement between the European Union and Turkey, which means that asylum applications must be heard within a maximum of 20 days. Out there in the field, however, resources are inadequate, and the Greek authorities are able neither to complete consideration of refugees’ applications in 25 days nor to provide decent conditions for lodging them. This means that we already have, in the overcrowded camps, excesses that might well intensify as we get towards the summer.

      Doubt is being cast on Greece’s system for asylum and the process that has been put in place. The lack of resources means that the rights of these refugees are not guaranteed. Even more seriously, they risk going back to Turkey – a country that does not apply the Geneva Convention except for people from European countries – so they are unlikely to achieve true refugee status, which would give them access to jobs and education.

      Greece needs more resources, both material and human, to allow the refugees to exercise their rights fully. Moreover, the system for resettling them is not functioning, be they arrivals in Greece or in Italy. Only 1 740 people have been relocated, and the lack of political will in a context where populism and xenophobia continue to grow is preventing resettlement. Our capacity to help each other will show our real support for the values that we declaim.

      Mr SCHWABE (Germany)* – Dear colleagues, we are discussing the situation in Greece partly because of our genuine desire to look at the conditions but also because of something completely different: the fact that 65 million people are in flight and the world has basically failed them. We are not in a position to accommodate those people in the places to which they have flown.

      There is another reason why we are talking about Greece: the European Union has been unable to show solidarity and cope with this situation. This is a fundamental failure of historic dimensions. Therefore, we have seen the closing of borders as well as an EU-Turkey deal to get us out of this situation that bypasses international law and the requirements to protect refugees.

      I was in a detention camp in Turkey – a prison, I would say. There were 348 people in that camp, none of whom was in the asylum procedure. This is not the fault of Turkey, which is where the camp was; it is because Turkey is not in a position to carry out the procedure.

      I want to say something about what the Alternate Minister for Migration Policy of Greece said earlier. It is not that Germany has not recognised that it is a country of destination or that Greece is a country of destination – I would reject that. We have a European failure. That is why we have 50 000 refugees in Greece who already have economic and social problems to cope with, and that is why it is good, as people have said, that there is so much readiness on the part of the Greeks to help the refugees, despite their own plight. There is so much readiness to help people.

      I have looked at one case in Greece. Between Trikala and Larissa there is a camp of 3 500 people, and everything is being done to try to allow them to live in decent conditions. There is also the centralised state. The relations between the centralised State in Greece and the local communities are not always clear. However, it is most important that the EU as a whole contributes to putting Greece back on its own two feet, and it would be good if the European Union were to comply with the provisions that it entered into so that Europe could show solidarity in relocation.

      Basically, this is about coming up with political solutions. Greece might be being helped slightly in the current situation, but we cannot foresee what other burdens will fall on it in the future, so it needs the full support of the European Union.

      Ms SCHOU (Norway) – I thank our rapporteur. This is an important report; it confronts us with the humanitarian consequences of Europe’s lack of solidarity and burden sharing. Some 55 000 refugees, migrants and asylum seekers are stranded in Greece. The Greek asylum system is overstretched, and the rapporteur describes a situation that is nothing less than a humanitarian crisis – a crisis on European soil. It is clear that Greece needs our full support. The draft resolution’s most important message is the need for better burden sharing. This is the only sustainable solution, and we should encourage our governments to start implementing last year’s important agreement on relocation.

      Norway has agreed to relocate a total of 1 500 refugees from Greece and Italy, and to resettle 3 500 from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. We prefer this controlled influx of refugees rather than the situation that we faced last fall, when suddenly thousands of migrants arrived in Norway in a short period of time. We were not prepared, and in the beginning it caused a chaotic and uncontrolled situation, which led to unnecessary scepticism and fear of the asylum seekers.

      I fully appreciate that it is challenging for many countries to accept a higher number of refugees. We are debating this intensely in Norway. But looking at the current situation, what are the alternatives? Today, Europe has better control of the Schengen border. This is important. If we manage to complement this with better co-operation through relocation and resettlement, I believe that we can also achieve better overview and control of the flow of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers already in Europe.

      Freely choosing where to register your application for asylum is not a human right. Seeking protection, asylum and the proper processing of the application, however, is a human right. It is our responsibility to guarantee this right.

      The refugee crisis affects us all. It is our common European responsibility, and we all have to take our share of that responsibility. Otherwise, I am afraid that we will not be able to maintain the open and free societies that we enjoy today as citizens of Europe. Thank you.

      Ms de SUTTER (Belgium) – Dear colleagues, we have reached a point of no return. The EU-Turkey agreement has been described as bad, but actually it is worse; it is unacceptable, because it is based on selection and deportation and violates international law. It may have reduced the number of arrivals from Turkey, but we cannot ignore the fact that more people continue to arrive than to leave, and they are now looking for other routes. This fact, combined with the inability of the Green authorities and the European Union to put an effective, functioning asylum system in place and the poor number of pledges made by receiving States, is only making an already appalling situation even worse.

      Every figure stated and every sentence written in the report by Ms Strik is crystal clear. I had the opportunity to see this with my own eyes when I visited Greece. The people in Greece do what they can, but they cannot do it on their own. Fundamental human rights are still being seriously violated, although numerous efforts are being made. I have observed that care for vulnerable groups, such as women, is not seen as a priority. Officials told us that they were responsible only for security, and that domestic, sexual and gender-based violence was none of their concern. I find this difficult to accept. It is especially in crisis situations that women need special protection against this type of violence.

      Of course Greece needs more resources and help to do all this, and this is exactly the problem: the EU puts its finger on the wound but it does not heal that wound itself. It is staying at a safe distance, sending a bit of money, letting it happen. We need this EU doctor to tackle the deeper wounds and provide assistance. This EU team desperately needs asylum officers to hear asylum claims, interview people and assess their demands in order that we might speed up the administrative process; it needs lawyers to ensure the rights of refugees, including the right to appeal a decision; it needs interpreters to provide correct information to refugees; it needs relocation officers to accompany people; and it needs escort and return officers.

      This assistance – this EU doctor – can heal Greece’s wound and is the only way to ensure respect for human rights. If the EU or its member States cannot provide this team in order to ensure respect for human rights, we, as an Assembly, must urge them to do so. The only response to the situation in Greece is to reinforce solidarity and to see this as a European – and not simply a Greek – crisis.

      Mr NORDQVIST (Denmark) – I congratulate and thank Ms Strik for her excellent report and the many others she has produced on the same challenges. It is a great honour to serve on her committee.

      The report highlights the humanitarian problem – if not catastrophe – in Europe and makes it clear that it is not the fault or problem of a single country but a European and global problem. I hope that we will adopt both this report and the others on the same challenges, but it is also important that we take them home and use them actively in our work in national parliaments. It is not enough just to be here discussing it; we must keep it in mind when we go back home. In our work as parliamentarians, we must remember one phrase from the report in particular: we should “be prepared for the possibility of the failure of the current approach with alternative solutions ready in advance”. We must not just point fingers but prepare new solutions to meet this great European challenge. Remember this: when we point a finger – in this instance, at a country – at least three fingers point back at us.

      Mr YATIM (Morocco, Partner for Democracy)* – First and foremost, I wish to express my condolences, solidarity and compassion to our UK friends following the murder of the young member of parliament, Ms Cox.

      Mr President, I wanted to be here and to meet the committee that went to Greece because Morocco is also now a country of destination. The closure of European borders has opened up a new paradigm. I have been in situ and seen the difficult conditions in which refugees live in reception facilities. I know that the Greek authorities are making a considerable effort to welcome the refugees and trying to meet their basic needs, including the need for human dignity, but it is by no means easy. I have spoken to many of the refugees, and they have told me in great detail of their tragedies and suffering. Many spoke of their lucky escape from war – the shelling, the missiles, the bombings, the raids – following the destruction of their homes and the loss of their nearest and dearest and of how they embarked on adventure, putting their lives in the hands of traffickers, in order to reach the coast of Greece.

      Greece is a victim of authorities’ panicked policies following the refugee crisis and is suffering from the consequences of the agreement with Turkey. I fully support the recommendations concerning the implementation of the resolution on relocation. We must provide assistance to Greece at all levels to ensure it can face these difficulties. But this is not solely a Greek problem; it is a European problem, and so Europe needs to shoulder its – primarily political – responsibilities. We need to make an effective contribution to the prevention and resolution of conflict, which is destabilising the region and is the genesis of these humanitarian and security risks.

      Mr MARQUES (Portugal) – Mr President, dear colleagues, it is a great pleasure to speak in the Chamber and to see Nadiia Savchenko among us.

      I congratulate Ms Strik on her honest and clear report. The migrant crisis in Greece is a consequence of the lack of a common European migration policy and the international community’s slow reaction. It is fair to congratulate the Greek people on their reaction to the crisis. While some countries are afraid of hosting migrants or refugees – perhaps they have problems of xenophobia – the behaviour of Greek citizens has been remarkable. The responsibility on Greece’s shoulders would be too great for a normal country; it is completely unfair for a country such as Greece facing an economic crisis. The international community has left Greece alone when it needs us most.

      The relocation system is too slow and the risks to migrants are not being eliminated fast enough. The relocation system did not fail because of Greece or the EU; it failed because too many member States did not fulfil their responsibilities. Turkey, despite all the problems and criticisms, was more collaborative than many European countries. As a Portuguese delegate – Portugal has hosted 400 refugees through this system, which is more than any other country – I think that the relocation process is too bureaucratic and gives refugees too many guarantees and options. For example, when a refugee refuses one European country because they would prefer another, they delay the entire process of relocation and risk reduction. That is why I think some requirements should be debated here again.

      I cannot finish without mentioning the positive side of the story and the good work of our common citizens – it is our responsibility to do so: thousands of lives saved by Frontex and European coastguards; thousands of families given help on European soil; children and families saved from the sea.

      Sir ROGER GALE (United Kingdom) - I would like to add my thanks to Ms Strik and the Ad hoc committee for their work in helping to inform the Assembly. I am particularly grateful to my colleagues from the United Kingdom who took the trouble to visit Greece and the islands to see the situation for themselves and to inform us further.

      I want briefly to pick up on two points. First, as Ms Bakoyannis rightly said, we have to draw a distinction between refugees and economic migrants. We cannot solve all the world’s problems, but we have a clear duty to do our utmost to assist genuine refugees, particularly those from war zones.

      The other point I want to pick up on is that made by my colleague, John Howell, when he took gentle issue with the conclusion of the report that this is not only a Greek, but a European problem. He was absolutely right to say that it is actually a global problem. We need to remember that. This problem is not merely a result – a terrible result – of the war in Syria, but the result of international intervention in Afghanistan and other places, including some locations in Africa. It is a colossal problem and one that the world has to address.

      In that context, it is not the European Union, but the world community that bears the responsibility for this matter. That, of course, includes those member States of the Council of Europe that are not members of the European Union. We have exacerbated some of these problems ourselves. I am not wholly convinced, and never have been, that Schengen has worked as it should have done.

      The Greeks undoubtedly are faced with an intolerable burden, and they do not need carping criticism from smug member States of the European Union; they need the kind of help that, I respectfully suggest, the United Kingdom has been offering, which has come in the form of hard cash and expertise, including naval expertise and assistance, to stem the flow of refugees across the Mediterranean from two directions and to seek to halt the dreadful trafficking of people.

      If this is a global problem, it requires a global solution. That means that we have to assist not only the Greeks, but the Turks, who have come in for more than their fair share of criticism on occasions in this Assembly, the Lebanese and the Jordanians, all of whom are taking thousands and thousands of refugees.

      Above all else, we have one clear duty, which is to help the next generation – not the adolescents and young adults posing as children, but the children and unaccompanied children. If we do nothing else, we must focus our attention on that.

      Mr KRONBICHLER (Italy)* – All members who have complimented the rapporteur, Ms Strik, have been quite right to do so, but I will direct my remarks to the Minister, Ioannis Mouzalas, and our colleague, Ioanneta Kavvadia, because I have been very impressed by the way they have dealt with this issue and particularly by the tone they have struck. They have been warm and shown solidarity; they have even shown optimism.

      I know that you are determined to succeed, and we have every confidence in you. Unfortunately, when travelling around Europe, what one hears is very different. You said, quite rightly, that it is shameful that people are saying that the boat is full. You talk about people – about men and women. You do not just talk about “the problem” or “the refugee problem”; rather, you stress that what we are dealing with is men and women facing an emergency – people who must be helped.

      I will close by congratulating and thanking you. We are indebted to you for the humanitarian example that you are showing Europe.

      The PRESIDENT* – I cannot see Mr Zech or Ms Rawert, so I call Mr Divina.

      Mr DIVINA (Italy)* – I, too, am an Italian parliamentarian and I would like to give a more realistic view of the situation than the one you have just been offered by my colleague.

      There have been many criticisms of the way in which Italy has managed the migrant and refugee crisis, although those two terms are often confused. However, those criticisms have been levelled against us by countries that refuse even to participate and that have not been willing to take their quota of refugees. We have been criticised by countries that have suspended Schengen.

      Greece faces a crisis that has been triggered by the crisis in Syria, whereas Italy is faced with a continuous flow of migrants from North Africa. Brenner and Ventimiglia face deadlock, with refugees who are only transiting through Italy being unable to choose where to spend the rest of their lives. In recent years, as a matter of routine, more than 200 000 migrants have arrived annually. Just think about how we have to manage that crisis. Lampedusa, for example, is no longer a place where people can lead normal lives.

      Bear all that in mind as we turn to the resolution. Paragraph 6.3 talks about the dangers that are inherent in this situation. It talks about releasing refugees who have been held for too long in hotspots. That means that refugees were free to move around Europe merely because a member State was not in a position to classify someone as an asylum seeker, a refugee or a migrant. That would be tantamount to undermining all the security measures that have been put in place by our member States. If we have a humanitarian crisis, that is one thing, but all of our countries are, at the same time, dealing with a massive security problem.

      Mr KANDEMIR (Turkey)* – I thank the rapporteur for her comprehensive report, which underlines many important issues and summarises very well the situation that refugees are in.

      On 30 and 31 May, I visited the camps in Greece as part of the Ad hoc committee of the Bureau. Despite the good intentions in Greece, the situation in some of the camps is far from acceptable and people are unable to fulfil their basic needs. I therefore strongly support the recommendations of the report regarding Greece.

      The situation faced by Greece is a direct consequence of a lack of solidarity in Europe. The burden created by migration is being shouldered by the border countries, further deepening the problem. That approach is worsening the situation for the refugees in those countries. That is the definition of the problem that Greece is experiencing. We must ask the following question: how can the European Union and the countries that do not want to share the burden created by migration expect Greece to shoulder that burden? The approach of shifting the responsibility to third countries is the reason behind the difficulties faced by Greece.

      The report also alleges that refugees are provided with insufficient protection. I do not agree and would remind you of some significant facts. Turkey has been hosting the highest number of refugees around the world. Excluding the NGOs, the aid provided by the government is $10 million. In Turkey, 150 000 Syrian children have been born since the start of the crisis. What has been provided in Turkey should actually be present in Syria. In that regard, the agreement between the EU and Turkey on co-operation in the area of migration is highly important. This co-operation is being undertaken within a framework of burden sharing and responsibility sharing and is preventing more lives from being lost in the Aegean Sea. I believe this report will help to improve the situation in Greece.

      Mr NIKOLOSKI (‘‘The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’’) – Dear friends, Europe faces one of its biggest humanitarian challenges since the Second World War. Many are fleeing from war, mainly from Syria. That is why we need a joint European approach – an approach that gives humanitarian treatment to these people who are facing a bad destiny.

      I must say that in many places the report is one-sided or even inaccurate. For example, it uses words such as “brutal realities” or “grotesquely disproportionate burdens” because of a country’s position on the map. In that context, I want to inform you of the challenges that Macedonia faces due to its place on the map. The situation in Macedonia is even more acute, as we face pressure from illegal migrants on our southern border, which is practically an external border of the European Union. That means that Macedonia faces a crisis that is spilling over from a member State of the European Union that is also a member of the Schengen area.

      More precisely, our neighbour, Greece, has in the past been responsible for the daily, organised transport of thousands of migrants to our border. In 2015 alone, more than 1 million migrants transited through the territory of Macedonia, a country with a total population of 2 million. To illustrate the point, on just one day, 11 September, 10 400 migrants entered our country. Nor does the report mention that Greek NGO activists instructed many migrants on how to attack the Macedonian police and violently cross the border.

      Macedonia is trying to take a humanitarian approach to all those fleeing from war. It is not true, as the report claims, that Macedonia closed the border. Macedonia has only channelised refugees towards legal check points. Refugees who are fleeing war are allowed to enter the country and to continue – we are trying to take a humanitarian approach to these people – but those who are economic migrants from countries that are not affected by war, according to EU decisions, cannot be accepted.

      We have to help the refugees – I hope all here will stand by that. We call for a joint and responsible European approach to this issue. Many must help, not just Germany. Other countries in Europe must share responsibility. Do not abandon us in this crisis. Macedonia should not be a victim of the failure of the European Union, and in particular Greece, to protect its external borders and deal with migration issues. Do not forget that we are the only non-European Union country that receives refugees from a European Union country. Indeed, the paradox only gets bigger, because Macedonia – dear rapporteur, please do not use the offensive term "FYROM" in future – is not an EU member only because Greece has vetoed our membership. So Macedonia, which is not a member of the EU, is protecting the EU’s external border. I hope the rapporteur will reflect all these facts in the next report they write about this issue.

      Mr SCHENNACH (Austria)* – I would very much like to thank both rapporteurs for the two reports we have received today. I would also like to thank Greece, because, against the background of the unbelievable economic situation it faces anyway, it has managed to proffer help. Greece has shown us something that Europe can learn from: that you can help and that you do not have to descend into racism and xenophobia.

      We remember 1956, when 200 000 Hungarians turned up in our country at a time when Austria was rebuilding itself. A lot of our buildings had been destroyed and we welcomed in 200 000 people from Hungary. Perhaps sometimes we need situations like that. If you are in need and face difficulties yourself, sometimes you need to open your heart to people and help them, hence my total respect for what Greece has achieved.

      To be quite frank, I am no friend of this EU-Turkey agreement. Some speakers have said that it has stopped people-smuggling, but unfortunately more people are dying now because they have to pay more and choose more dangerous routes across the Mediterranean. We should not forget that. People have said that we should shoulder EU responsibility. The EU Commission is seeking to fulfil its responsibilities, yet only five EU countries, including Germany and Sweden, are shouldering that responsibility. Why are so few EU member States taking up their responsibility? Do not let us point the finger at the European Union and the European Commission. They have shown on several occasions that they are prepared to act; it is the nation States who have not followed their invitation.

      It is not strictly necessary, but I would like to apologise to Greece for the announcement by the Austrian Foreign Minister, which hit the news, that everyone should be kept on the islands. We all know that people live on Greek islands – people who are involved in agriculture and tourism. I would ask Greece to forgive us for that. That should never be a way of overcoming the refugee crisis.

      Mr KÖCK (Austria)* – As I see it, there are two points we have addressed in this debate. One is the idealistic approach of our rapporteur and the other is the realistic approach of the Minister from Greece. I would like to dwell, if I may, on both sides of the debate and to speak about solidarity in Europe or the lack of it. For some months – for some years – we have seen many countries that seem to believe that as long as they are not directly affected by this problem, they do not need to help out, but can instead leave it those who are currently affected. Those countries bear the main burden and they need to protect themselves, because they do not want an excessive burden placed on their shoulders. Ask them and they will say that they do not want to yield ground to nationalist forces in those countries.

      The closure of the Balkans route and the agreement with Turkey showed that there can be positive changes, because we no longer have people drowning in Aegean Sea and we have fewer refugees arriving in Greece. These are the kind of steps we will have to consider in future as well. In Austria, we are doing whatever is necessary to contribute. We have decided on an asylum figure of 40 000 per annum this year and we do not want to exceed that limit, which is still a very high figure if you consider the total population of the country and what other countries in Europe are doing.

      We have spoken about Idomeni, and we need to look at exactly what happened there. The conditions at that camp were very poor, and we saw the children on our television screens. They could have gone to a good camp with good infrastructure, but they were not taken there, which shows that this is not so much about help or assistance. If you find yourself in a difficult situation, you will take any help that you can get. There has been a lot of anger and upheaval, but it was difficult to do anything else. This is often what happens. Portugal suggested taking in 7 000 asylum seekers, but only 500 wanted to go there.

      It is time for Europe to act. Europe needs to adopt the right measures, otherwise the problem will continue to grow. We need to send out clear signals, and we need to make immigration more difficult. I do not think that any country wants more immigration, and we should say that. We need to take these refugees back to where they got into their boats. As the pull factor increases, more people will board such vessels and more people will unfortunately drown. It is important to find the right measures. We need solidarity in Europe, otherwise Europe will simply fall apart. Greece, you have done an excellent job.

      Ms JANSSON (Sweden) – Following the closure of the border with “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, there are at least 60 000 asylum seekers, mostly from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, stranded in mainland Greece and on the Aegean islands. As a member of the Ad hoc committee, I visited the official refugee camps in Eleonas and Skaramagas and the informal refugee camps at Elliniko airport and the port of Piraeus. The difference between the official camps and the informal camps was huge. The living conditions for refugees are not acceptable at the Elliniko and Piraeus camps. On the day of our visit, there were no functioning toilets at the Piraeus camp, and there was no separate toilet and shower area for women. Other than the security measures, everything depends on the NGOs.

      For all of us who have met and listened to the Greek Government, to members of the Greek Parliament, to representatives of the Greek authorities, to the mayor of Athens, to representatives of the Aegean region, to the UNHCR and to the local and international NGOs, it is clear that Greece has neither the resource nor the capacity to handle the situation by itself. The message from Greece is very clear: “We are trying to do our best, but it is time for the whole of Europe to show solidarity.” I fully agree with that message.

      Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan have received more than 5 million refugees, whereas the 28 member States of the EU have received far fewer applications. Last year my country, Sweden, received more than 160 000 asylum seekers, of whom 35 000 were unaccompanied minors. From January to the beginning of June this year, Sweden received 18 000 asylum seekers. Today, the Swedish Parliament will vote on a temporary law to reduce the national migration policy to the minimum standards of the European Union and international law.

      Asylum seekers are not illegal immigrants; they are forced to cross our borders by irregular means due to the laws that we have decided. Refugees are vulnerable, with women and children being particularly vulnerable – they are exposed to the risks of violence and sexual abuse. I am concerned about the situation for refugees in Greece. The member States of the Council of Europe have the responsibility to protect and uphold human rights. Europe must respond to the refugee crisis with solidarity and respect for human rights, not with hate.

      Mr CSENGER-ZALÁN (Hungary) – I congratulate the rapporteur on her great job.

      A few weeks ago, as a member of an Ad hoc committee, I personally saw how complex and difficult the migration situation is in Greece. This spring, Macedonia erected a fence and strengthened patrols on its border with Greece. With that necessary step, the west Balkan route was closed. That was the first step to stop, stabilise and control the migration flow. The Hungarian Government and our Prime Minister, Mr Orbán, urged those steps last autumn. Naturally, the new development caused a chaotic situation in Greece because the authorities were not well prepared. It took time to do the job. On our visit we observed that the Greek Government had installed the migration camps, organised the logistics and started to implement the asylum procedures.

      Of course, there are big differences between the camps. Some of them are equipped with air-conditioned living containers and others have comfortable tents with fans but, frankly, there is some moderate or poor accommodation too, such as at the stadium in Athens. One thing is clear: all the camps are safe and offer transitional living facilities for migrants and refugees. The Greek authorities have guaranteed the special handling of pregnant women, disabled people and unaccompanied children. A camp leader in Athens reported to us that 60% of unaccompanied children are boys aged 17 and 18 – legally minors but practically young men. The Greek Parliament has also introduced necessary legislation to detain illegal migrants. All migrants who arrive by sea from Turkey, with the exception of vulnerable groups, will be accommodated in detention camps until their status is clear.

      Since the EU-Turkey agreement came into force, the Turkish authorities have successfully hindered migrants from crossing the sea and risking their lives. Thanks to that and Greece’s new detention legislation, the number of migrants arriving via sea has decreased to fewer than 100 a day, and to zero on some days. Our challenge is to save lives. We therefore have to strengthen patrols on the Schengen border, in co-operation with Turkish authorities, as proposed a few weeks ago by Frontex. The EU should address hot spots in Turkey, which is the only way to handle the crisis without risking the lives of migrants and real refugees on the Aegean Sea.

      Ms MAIJ (Netherlands) – I thank Ms Strik for her report, and I thank the Greek minister for coming here to share his policies at this difficult time.

      It has been three years since we first saw hundreds of people dying south of Lampedusa, and later we saw children dying on the shores of Greek islands, and still we have this crisis. We still do not know how to protect refugees. Yes, we have gone as far as stopping people dying in the Aegean Sea, but we have not gone as far as giving real protection to refugees on European and Turkish soil. Protection is more than just having a roof over your head or having food; protection also means that you can go to school, that you have access to sanitation and that you have perspective for your life.

      We have not been able to provide such protection on our European soil. I deliberately say “we” because I do not want to pinpoint Greece or Turkey, which are doing their utmost. However, the results we want are not there yet. There are vulnerable people in camps, and we have talked about the difficult situation in which women and children find themselves. There are also people affected in the cities – for instance, in child labour sweatshops not only in Turkey but in EU countries. That has come with the migration crisis, and we should tackle it.

      What puzzles me most is that from listening to most of our colleagues, we should not have this problem, because apparently many countries are doing their best. It seems that we are not putting our money where our mouth is, because we do have a problem. Protecting people is a challenge, as there is still very little resettlement and relocation going on. As far as I understand it, there are only a few Greek caseworkers – maybe 10 to 15 – on the islands to help carry out the proper identification of people and assess their need for protection. If we all did what we say we do, we could tackle the issue successfully and protect all the refugees who need it. We could also ensure that those who do not have the right of protection in European countries could be sent back to their country of origin. It seems that there is still not enough of a sense of urgency.

      Ms CHRISTODOULOPOULOU (Greece)* – I consider the Council of Europe the right Organisation to protect human rights, and I welcome the report. However, I would not like the Council of Europe to accept anything that may exacerbate the crisis in Europe. I have a few points to make in that regard. The first is about the borders being blocked, leaving 56 000 migrant refugees in Greece. The joint declaration by the European Union and Turkey is not even an agreement, and the result of it is that those 56 000 refugees are stuck in Greece.

      The refugees are not in any way our enemies. We cannot build walls and frontiers against them – that is not the Europe we have dreamed of. We cannot just push the issue aside and say that these people must live in Greece, even though we are told that there is no other solution. We are making sure that people do not drown off our shores, but they just drown elsewhere, such as between Libya and Italy. Europe must face up to those facts and to its commitments. The 500 million people who live in Europe have to face the problem. They should not think that they can just give Greece a little bit of money here or there for restructuring or small efforts while they remain bound up in their own selfishness. It makes me wonder, what is Europe today? Is it just the sum of national egoisms? That is what it becomes if we erect walls and frontiers and allow the extreme right to dictate the agenda.

      Greek society really does want to help. It is not racist, and it understands the refugees. There has not been a single example of violence against them, and the Council of Europe must make that crystal clear. We have to help Greece, and we must understand that Turkey may tear up the agreement tomorrow, as Mr Erdoğan has said. What will happen then? Will we say, “We have no other solutions up our sleeve; where can we go to look for them?” We need a plan B. The whole of Europe – all our leaders and all our peoples – must face up to what is happening. We need to show respect and solidarity with regard to the refugee situation; this is about Europe’s very history, its present and its future.

      Ms EL OUAFI (Morocco, Partner for Democracy)* – May I start by congratulating Ms Strik, our rapporteur, on this far-reaching and valuable report?

      Since the beginning of the conflict in Syria in March 2011, the situation has got dramatically worse for refugees, particularly children and women. Women like us are faced with violence and have to abandon their homes in the attempt to reach what has been called the European El Dorado. I am sorry for showing my emotions – I will have to pause.        We pay homage to all the men and women doing so much to support the women and children who are so badly affected.

      Only a coherent response from Europe will help. Unfortunately, there are many illusions about the issue. Between January and August 2015 alone, 1.7 million people requested asylum in Europe, many of whom were children. There are 4.2 million internally displaced people in Syria, of whom 50% are children. This is a true humanitarian crisis. We should all be careful to ensure that it does not become a human rights crisis and that we succeed in protecting the rights of the women and children affected.

      In our response at European and national level, we must make it our priority to protect women and children, who, as the report shows, are in danger. War and deprivation are afoot in their country, and many of the children are lost from their father and mother. European countries have been passing laws preventing such children from rejoining their parents, even if they are here in Europe. Those people are parents just like we are parents, and they have to wait such a long time to complete the journey to the European El Dorado. I understand that there are financial and political constraints, but we are not here to just turn the page. We are here to respect and protect the rights of women and children in a critical situation – as the report says, there is overcrowding, leading to insanitary conditions and the risks concomitant with that.

      Ms KYRIAKIDES (Cyprus) – I congratulate the rapporteur on her continued efforts and her resolve to find concrete solutions to the ongoing refugee and migration crisis in Europe. I thank the Greek minister for being here with us today.

      It is highly commendable that the plight of children in the midst of this chaotic situation receives special attention in the draft resolution. Yesterday was World Refugee Day, and I would like us to recall the words of a young refugee boy who said, “You may have taken my home, but you cannot take my future.” It is in that spirit that I want to concentrate on the impact of the crisis on children. The figures are shocking. According to UNICEF, 40% of the total refugee and migrant population in Greece are children. Their vulnerability exposes them to a multitude of threats, including potential abuse and exploitation. Their precarious situation has worsened due to defective asylum procedures and insufficient capacity in Greece and elsewhere, and no one should be finger pointing in the face of a humanitarian crisis.

      In reality, refugee children and unaccompanied minors have become the victims of a dysfunctional EU system that has failed to protect them. Greece’s economic crisis has made it all the more difficult for the authorities there to shoulder what is a disproportionate burden or, because of structural difficulties mainly, to respond effectively.

      At this point, I will commend the Greek authorities and the Greek people for the huge efforts that they have made despite the incredibly difficult economic situation that they have had to deal with. The humanity that they have demonstrated in rescuing refugees from the islands and elsewhere in Greece, including the mobilisation of volunteers and NGOs to help to alleviate an unprecedented refugee crisis, is a show of solidarity, and one should always remember that when we evaluate Greece’s performance during this crisis.

      In line with international and European law, children are considered a vulnerable group and as such should be protected. Therefore, authorities everywhere must prioritise the identification and registration of refugee and migrant children. The result of the many weaknesses of the systems across Europe is that children have had to fend for themselves. They are alone and lost in an unfamiliar and sometimes even hostile environment, which potentially can take them down the wrong road. This situation is about children’s rights. Colleagues, as representatives of Council of Europe member States, we need to find the mechanisms to embrace these children and we need to find solutions to these problems. All children deserve the opportunity to thrive. Let us not forget that being a refugee is not a choice; instead, it is often a desperate attempt to survive.

      The PRESIDENT* – I must now interrupt the list of speakers. The speeches of members on the speakers’ list who have been present during the debate but have not been able to speak may be given to the Table Office for publication in the Official Report. The texts are to be submitted, electronically if possible, no later than four hours after the list of speakers is interrupted.

      Mr Mouzalas, would you like to reply to the debate?

      Mr Ioannis MOUZALAS (Alternate Minister for Migration Policy of Greece)* – I do not wish to take up too much of your time; I shall be brief. I thank Mr Jagland, who said that this problem is a European problem and that since it is a European problem we have all been brought here together today to address it. I also thank the rapporteur for her report. In my view, it is a very comprehensive report; you may agree or disagree with that view, but I would certainly argue that the rapporteur has covered the problem accurately.

      The report talks about the efforts that have been deployed by the Greek Government and also about the opposition in Greece. Once again, we are united today. Despite all the other issues on which there may be disagreements between the Government and the opposition, when it comes to the matter of the refugees we agree. That is why we have not had an extreme right-wing issue in this particular situation. It simply was not allowable and we very much hope that that will also be the case in October. We have been talking about this issue, we have heard the criticisms and we look forward to welcoming you to Greece so that you can see for yourselves what is happening.

       If I may, I will pick up on the issue of unaccompanied minors – children who are left to fend for themselves. I have tabled a proposal that is before the European Commission. It concerns all children under the age of 12, regardless of their nationality. All of these children should be taken care of. When we talk about a child under 12, it does not matter whether they are Eritrean, Afghan or what-have-you; we are talking about a child. A child is a child and therefore we need to overcome whatever administrative hurdles there might be, and we need to welcome and help these children. I thank all those who have come to our assistance in doing that.

      We have problems and we have raised them. We would also like there to be supervision of the donations that have been made to charitable organisations and by NGOs. Of course, all that money needs to be supervised; we need to be able to trace it, of course.

      I will move on to the agreement between the European Union and Turkey. For us, it is a solution. There could be a better solution but there is nothing else on the table right now and therefore I would argue that this agreement should abide by European legislation, human rights legislation and international legislation. I very much hope that that will be the case.

      I emphasise this point: we really need to help Turkey, because Turkey needs to meet its obligations and it needs our help. When I talk about Turkey, I am not talking about exerting pressure on it. You may remember that a lot of pressure was put on Greece, and the greater the pressure was, the greater the difficulties that we had to face; the pressure just exacerbated those difficulties. However, if we have a country that is abiding by the terms of the contract it has agreed to, such as Turkey, then we need to help it. Syrians who are returned to Turkey should be helped and they should be able to enjoy appropriate conditions, in line with the Geneva convention treaty. There is really no point in enmity; we need to help each other.

      In conclusion, in order to counter the phenomenon of traffickers – people smugglers, who are engaged in the unlawful trafficking of human beings – we need to realise that we are faced with a problem regarding migration and what we need is safe, legal routes of migration. We need to create such routes for legal migration. We need to make efforts to open up such avenues. With your help, we will get there.

      The PRESIDENT* – Thank you very much, Minister. I turn to the rapporteur. You have the floor, Madam.

      Ms STRIK (Netherlands) – I thank you, Chair; the minister, Mr Mouzalas; the Secretary General; and all members of the Parliamentary Assembly for their valuable contributions to this debate and their broad support, not only for my report but more importantly for the situation in Greece. As Ms Maij has already said, if you had heard all the contributions today you would think that there is no problem, because there is enough support to do what we have promised to do.

      I also thank Ms Ahmed-Sheikh for reminding us of the important work of Jo Cox for refugees, and I hope that we will continue her work.

      Finally, I thank the minister for hosting us in Greece and enabling us to see everything we needed to see and everyone we needed to speak to. We were impressed by the solidarity of Greek society with the refugees and by the enormous efforts of the Greek Government. It is good to hear that the situation is still improving and that the Government are preparing for permanent settlement. We recognise the constraints that Greece is under, but of course it is also our task to address the shortcomings and the problems that refugees face, wherever they are. Indeed, as Mrs Kyriakides just said, refugees have no choice; they depend on a State’s policies and they are affected by deals such as those the EU makes with third countries.

      Mr Mouzalas and Ms Bakoyannis said that we should make a distinction between refugees and migrants. I agree, but we can only distinguish between them once the content of someone’s asylum claim has been dealt with carefully. The problem with the agreement with Turkey is that the need for protection is not assessed; it is only assessed if people ask for asylum in Turkey. That is a completely different issue from that of returning people who have been rejected for asylum because they are not in need of protection. It is therefore critical for us to find out whether the necessary level of protection for people exists. What we know is that there are still many problems with the implementation of asylum law and that people cannot ask for refugee status.

      The minister also said that the positive thing about the deal is that it will create safe and legal channels. I completely understand how important that is, but we still have to see whether the member States will deliver. With only 3% having been relocated after one year, it does not look promising. Resettlement is also on a voluntary basis.

      Do we need the deal to stop these large-scale arrivals? Some of you think that we do, but let me remind you that more than 90% stay as close as possible to the regions they fled. Syrians in Turkey only started to move four years after the war started, and that was because their living conditions fell below the poverty level. If we can substantially improve living conditions in the region, which we never did before, if we resettle substantial numbers of refugees through safe channels, which we never did before, if we have fast and fair asylum procedures in Europe for spontaneous arrivals, and if we enhance public support by showing the need for solidarity and refraining from negative framing – look at the Greek example – I am confident that we do not need to completely shift the responsibility for asylum seekers to third countries.

      Many of you praised the efforts that Greece has made, but Greece does not just deserve our full support; it is entitled to it. Member States have an obligation to relocate and reunite families; it is not a matter of choice. The resolution, which I hope will be adopted, is the first step. The second step, and a very much needed one, is that we take the resolution to our parliaments – Mr Nordqvist also made this point – and create large support there to force our governments to live up to their obligations. If that does not happen, I agree with Ms Kavvadia that Europe will fail that fundamental test.

      The PRESIDENT* – Thank you, Ms Strik. I call the Chair of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons.

      Ms GAFAROVA (Azerbaijan) – As we have heard during the debate, this is another timely report. The Parliamentary Assembly has shown once again that it is at the forefront in tackling even the most difficult situations in order to seek co-ordinated solutions, and that it contributes to ensuring the Council of Europe’s continued global relevance and its capacity for rapid reaction.

      On behalf of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, I want to thank Ms Strik for working so hard to produce the most up-to-date report possible on refugees in Greece. It is an unprecedented crisis, so efficient responses can be found only by following developments closely and having a good knowledge and understanding of the challenges confronted on the ground by refugees and those responsible for dealing with their reception. That is what Ms Strik has tried to achieve, and what we have also done through the visits to Greece of the Ad hoc committee of the Bureau, in which I had the honour of participating. Outside the Chamber there is a photo exhibition of those visits – last year to Turkey and this year to Greece – and I encourage members to visit it and leave a message of support at the stand.

      The report contains important recommendations that I hope will be followed up by all concerned. Ms Strik’s addendum contains the latest information from her fact-finding mission last month. The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons will continue its work to seek humanitarian and political responses to the refugee crisis and ways of supporting those countries, particularly Greece, that are taking the largest burden of the current massive displacements towards Europe.

      The PRESIDENT* – Thank you, Ms Gafarova.

      The debate is closed.

      The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons has presented a draft resolution to which 13 amendments have been tabled.

      I understand that the chairperson of the committee wishes to propose to the Assembly that amendments 2 to 13 to the draft resolution, which were unanimously approved by the committee, should be declared as agreed by the Assembly. Is that so, Ms Gafarova?

      Ms GAFAROVA (Azerbaijan) – Yes.

      The PRESIDENT* – Does anyone object? That is not the case.

      Amendments 2 to 13 are adopted.

      I call Ms Johnsson Fornarve to support Amendment 1.

      Ms JOHNSSON FORNARVE (Sweden) – Instead of the European Union-Turkey agreement, Europe should find an original and humane solution to the problem. We all respect you, Mr Jagland, but I do not agree with you, and I am not alone. A huge number of human rights organisations are very critical of the agreement, including Médicins Sans Frontières, Amnesty International and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to mention a few. Turkey is not a safe country for refugees. It has recently taken several steps away from democracy and the upholding of human rights. Independent human rights observers have reported that Turkish guards killed eight Syrian refugees at the border on Sunday, four of whom were children. That clear example shows that Turkey is not safe for refugees. We cannot let Turkey act as the border police of Europe. Europe must take responsibility for the situation.

      The PRESIDENT* – I have been informed that Ms Strik wishes to propose an oral sub-amendment, on behalf of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, which is, in Amendment 1, replace the word “cancel” with the word “reconsider”. In my opinion, the oral sub-amendment is in order under our rules.

      Do 10 or more members object to the oral sub-amendment being debated?

      That is not the case. I therefore call Ms Strik to support her oral sub-amendment.

      Ms STRIK (Netherlands) – In the formal resolution on the EU-Turkey agreement, we did not call for its annulment. We made it clear that it raises serious human rights concerns, and the latest resolution says that as well. It is too far-reaching – and perhaps too early at the moment – to conclude that the agreement should be annulled. If we look at developments, we can see that there are reasons enough to say that we should reassess whether this direction is right or alternatives should be developed. I therefore propose to change “cancel” to “reconsider”; I could then support the amendment.

      The PRESIDENT* – My thanks to the rapporteur. Does anyone wish to speak against the oral sub-amendment?

      That is not the case.

      What is the opinion of Ms Johnsson Fornarve?

      Ms JOHNSSON FORNARVE (Sweden) – I support it.

      The PRESIDENT* – Very well. The committee is obviously in favour—am I right, Ms Gafarova?

      Ms GAFAROVA (Azerbaijan) – Yes.

      The PRESIDENT* – Very well.

      The vote is open.

      The oral sub-amendment is adopted.

      We will now consider the main amendment, as amended. What is the opinion of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons on the amendment, as amended?

      Ms GAFAROVA (Azerbaijan) – The committee is in favour.

      The PRESIDENT* – I shall now put Amendment 1, as amended, to the vote.

      The vote is open.

      We will now proceed to vote on the whole of the draft resolution contained in Document 14082, as amended. A simple majority is required.

      The vote is open.

      The PRESIDENT* – Madam rapporteur, congratulations. Minister, thank you for being present and giving us your time.

      Colleagues, it is now 1 p.m. I remind you that the Assembly has to vote on the election of a judge from the United Kingdom to the European Court of Human Rights. The poll is now suspended. You will be able to vote between 3.30 p.m. and 5 p.m., when it will close again.

3. Next public business

      The PRESIDENT* – The Assembly will hold its next public sitting this afternoon at 3.30 p.m. with the agenda which was approved on Monday morning.

      The sitting is closed.

      (The sitting was closed at 1.00 p.m.)

CONTENTS

1. Election of a judge to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of the United Kingdom

2. Debate: Refugees at risk in Greece

Presentation by Ms Strik of the report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, Document 14082

Statement by Ms Mateu, Rapporteur of the Ad hoc committee of the Bureau on the situation of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Greece

Statement by Mr Ioannis Mouzalas, Alternate Minister for Migration Policy of Greece

Statement by Mr Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe

Speakers: Mr Garðarsson, Mr Scully, Ms Kavvadia, Mr Fischer, Mr Venizelos, Mr Fournier, Ms Karamanli, Baroness Massey, Mr Heer, Ms Bakoyannis, Mr Howell, Mr Fridez, Ms Ahmed-Sheikh, Ms Duranton, Mr Schwabe, Ms Schou, Ms De Sutter, Mr Nordqvist, Mr Yatim, Mr Marques, Sir Roger Gale, Mr Kronbichler, Mr Divina, Mr Kandemir, Mr Nikoloski, Mr Schennach, Mr Köck, Ms Jansson, Mr Csenger-Zalán, Ms Maij, Ms Christodoulopoulou, Ms El Ouafi, Ms Kyriakides.

Draft resolution in Document 14082, as amended, adopted

3. Next public business

Appendix I

Representatives or Substitutes who signed the Attendance Register in accordance with Rule 12.2 of the Rules of Procedure. The names of Substitutes who replaced absent Representatives are printed in small letters. The names of those who were absent or apologised for absence are followed by an asterisk

Pedro AGRAMUNT

Tasmina AHMED-SHEIKH

Brigitte ALLAIN*

Jean-Charles ALLAVENA*

Werner AMON/Christine Muttonen

Luise AMTSBERG*

Lord Donald ANDERSON

Sirkka-Liisa ANTTILA

Ben-Oni ARDELEAN

Iwona ARENT

Volodymyr ARIEV*

Damir ARNAUT

Anna ASCANI*

Mehmet BABAOĞLU/Salih Firat

Theodora BAKOYANNIS

David BAKRADZE

Gérard BAPT/Jean-Claude Frécon

Doris BARNETT/ Mechthild Rawert

José Manuel BARREIRO*

Meritxell BATET*

Deniz BAYKAL

Guto BEBB/ Paul SCULLY

Marieluise BECK*

Ondřej BENEŠIK

Levan BERDZENISHVILI

Deborah BERGAMINI*

Sali BERISHA*

Włodzimierz BERNACKI

Anna Maria BERNINI/Claudio Fazzone

Maria Teresa BERTUZZI

Andris BĒRZINŠ

Jokin BILDARRATZ

Gülsün BİLGEHAN

Tobias BILLSTRÖM

Oleksandr BILOVOL

Philippe BLANCHART/Petra De Sutter

Maryvonne BLONDIN

Tilde BORK/Rasmus Nordqvist

Mladen BOSIĆ/Saša Magazinović

Anne BRASSEUR

Piet De BRUYN*

Margareta BUDNER*

Valentina BULIGA

Dawn BUTLER*

Nunzia CATALFO

Giovanna CECCHETTI

Elena CENTEMERO

José CEPEDA*

Irakli CHIKOVANI*

Vannino CHITI/Carlo Lucherini

Anastasia CHRISTODOULOPOULOU

Lise CHRISTOFFERSEN/ Ingebjørg Godskesen

Paolo CORSINI

David CRAUSBY/Baroness Doreen Massey

Yves CRUCHTEN/Claude Adam

Zsolt CSENGER-ZALÁN

Katalin CSÖBÖR*

Geraint DAVIES

Joseph DEBONO GRECH

Renata DESKOSKA

Alain DESTEXHE

Manlio DI STEFANO*

Şaban DİŞLİ

Sergio DIVINA

Aleksandra DJUROVIĆ

Namik DOKLE

Francesc Xavier DOMENECH*

Sir Jeffrey DONALDSON*

Elvira DROBINSKI-WEIß*

Daphné DUMERY/Hendrik Daems

Alexander [The Earl of] DUNDEE*

Nicole DURANTON

Josette DURRIEU

Mustafa DZHEMILIEV*

Lady Diana ECCLES

Franz Leonhard EẞL

Markar ESEYAN

Nigel EVANS

Samvel FARMANYAN*

Joseph FENECH ADAMI

Cătălin Daniel FENECHIU

Doris FIALA/Raphaël Comte

Daniela FILIPIOVÁ/Jana Fischerová

Ute FINCKH-KRÄMER

Axel E. FISCHER

Bernard FOURNIER

Béatrice FRESKO-ROLFO

Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ

Sahiba GAFAROVA

Sir Roger GALE

Adele GAMBARO

Xavier GARCÍA ALBIOL*

José Ramón GARCÍA HERNÁNDEZ*

Karl GARÐARSSON

Iryna GERASHCHENKO*

Tina GHASEMI*

Valeriu GILETCHI

Mihai GHIMPU/Alina Zotea

Francesco Maria GIRO

Carlos Alberto GONÇALVES

Oleksii GONCHARENKO*

Rainer GOPP/Hubert Lampert

Alina Ștefania GORGHIU/Maria Grecea

Sylvie GOY-CHAVENT/ Jacques Legendre

François GROSDIDIER*

Dzhema GROZDANOVA/Milena Damyanova

Gergely GULYÁS

Emine Nur GÜNAY

Valgerður GUNNARSDÓTTIR*

Jonas GUNNARSSON

Antonio GUTIÉRREZ*

Maria GUZENINA/Olli-Poika Parviainen

Márton GYÖNGYÖSI*

Sabir HAJIYEV

Andrzej HALICKI/Killion Munyama

Hamid HAMID

Alfred HEER

Gabriela HEINRICH

Michael HENNRICH/ Thomas Feist

Martin HENRIKSEN*

Françoise HETTO-GAASCH

John HOWELL

Anette HÜBINGER

Johannes HÜBNER/ Eduard Köck

Andrej HUNKO

Rafael HUSEYNOV

Ekmeleddin Mehmet İHSANOĞLU

Denis JACQUAT*

Gediminas JAKAVONIS

Sandra JAKELIĆ*

Gordan JANDROKOVIĆ*

Tedo JAPARIDZ*

Michael Aastrup JENSEN*

Mogens JENSEN

Frank J. JENSSEN

Florina-Ruxandra JIPA/Viorel Riceard Badea

Ögmundur JÓNASSON

Aleksandar JOVIČIĆ/Stefana Miladinović

Anne KALMARI

Erkan KANDEMIR

Marietta KARAMANLI

Niklas KARLSSON/Eva-Lena Jansson

Nina KASIMATI

Ioanneta KAVVADIA

Filiz KERESTECİOĞLU DEMİR

İlhan KESİCİ*

Danail KIRILOV/Krasimira Kovachka

Bogdan KLICH/Aleksander Pociej

Manana KOBAKHIDZE*

Haluk KOÇ

Ksenija KORENJAK KRAMAR

Attila KORODI

Alev KORUN/Nikolaus Scherak

Rom KOSTŘICA/Gabriela Pecková

Elvira KOVÁCS

Tiny KOX

Peter KRESÁK*

Borjana KRIŠTO/Bariša Čolak

Florian KRONBICHLER

Eerik-Niiles KROSS/Andres Herkel

Talip KÜÇÜKCAN

Ertuğrul KÜRKÇÜ

Stella KYRIAKIDES

Georgios KYRITSIS

Yuliya L OVOCHKINA*

Inese LAIZĀNE

Pierre-Yves LE BORGN’/Pascale Crozon

Jean-Yves LE DÉAUT

Luís LEITE RAMOS

Valentina LESKAJ

Terry LEYDEN*

Inese LĪBIŅA-EGNERE

Ian LIDDELL-GRAINGER/ Lord Richard Balfe

Georgii LOGVYNSKYI

Filippo LOMBARDI

François LONCLE/Geneviève Gosselin-Fleury

George LOUCAIDES

Philippe MAHOUX

Marit MAIJ

Muslum MAMMADOV*

Thierry MARIANI*

Soňa MARKOVÁ/Pavel Holík

Milica MARKOVIĆ*

Duarte MARQUES

Alberto MARTINS

Meritxell MATEU

Liliane MAURY PASQUIER

Michael McNAMARA*

Sir Alan MEALE

Ermira MEHMETI DEVAJA/Imer Aliu

Evangelos MEIMARAKIS

Ana Catarina MENDES

Jasen MESIĆ*

Attila MESTERHÁZY*

Jean-Claude MIGNON

Marianne MIKKO

Daniel MILEWSKI

Anouchka van MILTENBURG/Tineke Strik

Orhan MİROĞLU*

Olivia MITCHELL*

Arkadiusz MULARCZYK

Thomas MÜLLER/Roland Rino Büchel

Oľga NACHTMANNOVÁ*

Hermine NAGHDALYAN/Naira Karapetyan

Marian NEACȘU*

Andrei NEGUTA

Zsolt NÉMETH*

Miroslav NENUTIL

Michele NICOLETTI

Aleksandar NIKOLOSKI

Johan NISSINEN

Julia OBERMEIER*

Marija OBRADOVIĆ

Žarko OBRADOVIĆ

Judith OEHRI

Carina OHLSSON/Lotta Johnsson Fornarve

Suat ÖNAL

Ria OOMEN-RUIJTEN

Joseph O’REILLY

Tom PACKALÉN

Judith PALLARÉS

Ganira PASHAYEVA

Jaroslav PAŠKA*

Florin Costin PÂSLARU*

Jaana PELKONEN/Anne Louhelainen

Martin POLIAČIK*

Agnieszka POMASKA

Cezar Florin PREDA

John PRESCOTT*

Mark PRITCHARD

Lia QUARTAPELLE PROCOPIO/Giuseppe Galati

Carmen QUINTANILLA*

Kerstin RADOMSKI

Mailis REPS

Andrea RIGONI*

François ROCHEBLOINE/Yves Pozzo Di Borgo

Melisa RODRÍGUEZ HERNÁNDEZ*

Helena ROSETA/António Filipe Rodrigues

René ROUQUET

Alex SALMOND/Suella Fernandes

Vincenzo SANTANGELO/Maria Edera Spadoni

Milena SANTERINI/Cristina De Pietro

Nadiia SAVCHENKO

Deborah SCHEMBRI/Joseph Sammut

Stefan SCHENNACH

Paul SCHNABEL

Ingjerd SCHOU

Nico SCHRIJVER

Frank SCHWABE

Predrag SEKULIĆ

Aleksandar SENIĆ/Vesna Marjanović

Senad ŠEPIĆ

Samad SEYIDOV

Paula SHERRIFF/Lord George Foulkes

Bernd SIEBERT*

Adão SILVA

Valeri SIMEONOV

Andrej ŠIRCELJ*

Arturas SKARDŽIUS/Egidijus Vareikis

Jan ŠKOBERNE/Matjaž Hanžek

Serhiy SOBOLEV

Olena SOTNYK/Serhii Kiral

Lorella STEFANELLI

Yanaki STOILOV

Karin STRENZ

Ionuț-Marian STROE/Ion Popa

Dominik TARCZYŃSKI

Damien THIÉRY

Antoni TRENCHEV

Krzysztof TRUSKOLASKI/Grzegorz Janik

Mihai TUDOSE*

Goran TUPONJA

İbrahim Mustafa TURHAN*

Nada TURINA-ĐURIĆ*

Konstantinos TZAVARAS/Evangelos Venizelos

Leyla Şahin USTA/Lütfiye Ilksen Ceritoğlu Kurt

Dana VÁHALOVÁ

Snorre Serigstad VALEN/Kristin Ørmen Johnsen

Petrit VASILI*

Imre VEJKEY/Rózsa Hoffmann

Mart van de VEN

Stefaan VERCAMER

Anna VEREŠOVÁ*

Birutė VĖSAITĖ*

Nikolaj VILLUMSEN

Vladimir VORONIN/Maria Postoico

Viktor VOVK

Nataša VUČKOVIĆ

Draginja VUKSANOVIĆ/Snežana Jonica

Karl-Georg WELLMANN*

Katrin WERNER*

Jacek WILK

Andrzej WOJTYŁA

Morten WOLD/Hans Fredrik Grøvan

Gisela WURM

Jordi XUCLÀ*

Serap YAŞAR

Leonid YEMETS

Tobias ZECH*

Kristýna ZELIENKOVÁ

Marie-Jo ZIMMERMANN/Marie-Christine Dalloz

Emanuelis ZINGERIS*

Naira ZOHRABYAN/Mikayel Melkumyan

Levon ZOURABIAN*

Vacant Seat, Croatia*

Vacant Seat, Cyprus*

ALSO PRESENT

Representatives and Substitutes not authorised to vote

Kerstin LUNDGREN

Liliana PALIHOVICI

Svitlana ZALISCHUK

Observers

Ulises RAMÍREZ NÚÑEZ

Miguel ROMO MEDINA

Partners for Democracy

Mohammed AMEUR

Hanane ABOULFATH

Sahar ALQAWASMI

M^me Nezha EL OUAFI

Abdelali HAMIDINE

Bernard SABELLA

Mohamed YATIM

Appendix II

Representatives or Substitutes who took part in the ballot for the election of the judge to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of the United Kingdom

Tasmina AHMED-SHEIKH

Werner AMON/Christine Muttonen

Lord Donald ANDERSON

Iwona ARENT

Mehmet BABAOĞLU/Salih Firat

Theodora BAKOYANNIS

Gérard BAPT/Jean-Claude Frécon

Guto BEBB/ Paul SCULLY

Włodzimierz BERNACKI

Anna Maria BERNINI/Claudio Fazzone

Andris BĒRZINŠ

Gülsün BİLGEHAN

Tobias BILLSTRÖM

Oleksandr BILOVOL

Maryvonne BLONDIN

Tilde BORK/Rasmus Nordqvist

Anne BRASSEUR

Valentina BULIGA

Giovanna CECCHETTI

Elena CENTEMERO

Anastasia CHRISTODOULOPOULOU

Lise CHRISTOFFERSEN/ Ingebjørg Godskesen

David CRAUSBY/Baroness Doreen Massey

Geraint DAVIES

Joseph DEBONO GRECH

Renata DESKOSKA

Namik DOKLE

Alexander [The Earl of] DUNDEE

Nicole DURANTON

Josette DURRIEU

Markar ESEYAN

Nigel EVANS

Doris FIALA/Raphaël Comte

Daniela FILIPIOVÁ/Jana Fischerová

Ute FINCKH-KRÄMER

Bernard FOURNIER

Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ

Sir Roger GALE

Karl GARÐARSSON

Tina GHASEMI/ Boriana Åberg

Valeriu GILETCHI

Mihai GHIMPU/Alina Zotea

Rainer GOPP/Hubert Lampert

Dzhema GROZDANOVA/Milena Damyanova

Gergely GULYÁS

Emine Nur GÜNAY

Jonas GUNNARSSON

Hamid HAMID

Gabriela HEINRICH

Michael HENNRICH/ Thomas Feist

Françoise HETTO-GAASCH

John HOWELL

Anette HÜBINGER

Johannes HÜBNER/ Eduard Köck

Andrej HUNKO

Ekmeleddin Mehmet İHSANOĞLU

Gediminas JAKAVONIS

Erkan KANDEMIR

Marietta KARAMANLI

Niklas KARLSSON/Eva-Lena Jansson

Ioanneta KAVVADIA

Haluk KOÇ

Ksenija KORENJAK KRAMAR

Alev KORUN/Nikolaus Scherak

Rom KOSTŘICA/Gabriela Pecková

Florian KRONBICHLER

Talip KÜÇÜKCAN

Ertuğrul KÜRKÇÜ

Georgios KYRITSIS

Inese LAIZĀNE

Pierre-Yves LE BORGN'/Pascale Crozon

Jean-Yves LE DÉAUT

Luís LEITE RAMOS

Inese LĪBIŅA-EGNERE

Ian LIDDELL-GRAINGER/ Lord Richard Balfe

Philippe MAHOUX

Marit MAIJ

Soňa MARKOVÁ/Pavel Holík

Liliane MAURY PASQUIER

Sir Alan MEALE

Ermira MEHMETI DEVAJA/Imer Aliu

Evangelos MEIMARAKIS

Jean-Claude MIGNON

Arkadiusz MULARCZYK

Thomas MÜLLER/Roland Rino Büchel

Andrei NEGUTA

Miroslav NENUTIL

Michele NICOLETTI

Aleksandar NIKOLOSKI

Judith OEHRI

Carina OHLSSON/Lotta Johnsson Fornarve

Suat ÖNAL

Judith PALLARÉS

Jaana PELKONEN/Anne Louhelainen

Agnieszka POMASKA

Mark PRITCHARD

Lia QUARTAPELLE PROCOPIO/Giuseppe Galati

Kerstin RADOMSKI

René ROUQUET

Alex SALMOND/Suella Fernandes

Deborah SCHEMBRI/Joseph Sammut

Stefan SCHENNACH

Ingjerd SCHOU

Frank SCHWABE

Senad ŠEPIĆ

Paula SHERRIFF/Lord George Foulkes

Valeri SIMEONOV

Jan ŠKOBERNE/Matjaž Hanžek

Serhiy SOBOLEV

Olena SOTNYK/Serhii Kiral

Yanaki STOILOV

Dominik TARCZYŃSKI

Antoni TRENCHEV

Krzysztof TRUSKOLASKI/Grzegorz Janik

Konstantinos TZAVARAS/Evangelos Venizelos

Leyla Şahin USTA/Lütfiye Ilksen Ceritoğlu Kurt

Dana VÁHALOVÁ

Stefaan VERCAMER

Nikolaj VILLUMSEN

Vladimir VORONIN/Maria Postoico

Viktor VOVK

Katrin WERNER/ Annette Groth

Andrzej WOJTYŁA

Gisela WURM

Serap YAŞAR