20.6.2011

ADDRESS BY MR MEVLÜT ÇAVUŞOĞLU,

ON THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING CEREMONY

OF THE LIVING LIBRARY

(Strasbourg, Monday 20 June 2011, 5.30 pm,Lobby of the Hemicycle)

Deputy Secretary General,

Commissioner for Human Rights,

Chair of the Joint Council on Youth,

Mayor of Strasbourg,

Director UNHCR’,

Ambassadors,

Dear ‘Books’, Dear friends,

I am very glad to welcome you all here, during the Assembly Session, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Refugee Convention and on International Refugee Day.

The Geneva Refugee Convention is as relevant today as it was 60 years ago. Looking at the events in the Arab world and at the waves of refugees and asylum seekers arriving at Europe’s southern borders, Europe has not lost its vocation as a place where people fleeing conflicts and persecution seek protection.

Recent events, this year, however, have reminded us in a clear manner of the challenges not just Europe, but the rest of the world has to face when it comes to asylum. This year the Assembly has felt it necessary to remind Member States on several occasions of their obligations under the Geneva Convention and of the need for Europe to share responsibilities.

Refugees and asylum-seekers fleeing conflicts, risking their lives to find a place of safety – Europe – need and deserve our help. But granting asylum is not simply a responsibility... Refugees enrich their host countries. Refugee integration is a long-term, two-way process. Both refugees and local communities need to adapt to each other.

Ultimately, integration means enabling individual refugees and the communities to which they belong, to take part, without discrimination, and contribute to the life of the host country.

Thanks to the refugees or asylum seekers who are our living “books” in this library we will learn what this means in practice. I am grateful to all the ‘books’ for having accepted to take part in this experience: to share and dialogue with us, to confront the prejudices they have met, or still have to live with. I am certain that this is not an easy exercise and I am grateful for their openness and courage.

I am also convinced that this unique opportunity, offered to us Parliamentarians but also to Council of Europe staff members, Ambassadors and staff of the Permanent Representations, to establish a dialogue with refugees or asylum seekers will help, in an unconventional way, to learn something new and combat prejudices that we all have in ourselves and be more aware of the problems facing refugees.

Once again, I am glad for your participation today on this special occasion and I wish you all ‘happy reading’!