TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON MIGRATION, REFUGEES AND DEMOGRAPHY
SECRETARIAT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY
Synopsis No. 2000/111
29 June 2000
The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, meeting in Strasbourg on 28 and 29 June 2000 with first Mr Díaz de Mera (Spain, EPP/CD), then Mrs Vermot-Mangold (Switzerland, SOC) in the Chair:
– approved a report on demographic change and sustainable development (Rapporteur: Mr Paslaru, Romania, SOC) and agreed to propose that it be included in the Order of Business of the Assembly's 4th part-session;
– considered a memorandum on rendering more humane the procedures for expelling illegal immigrants and rejected asylum seekers (Rapporteur: Mrs Vermot-Mangold, Switzerland, SOC);
– took position on two amendments, one written, one oral, to the report for debate under urgent procedure on clandestine immigration and the fight against traffickers (Rapporteur: Mr Gross, Switzerland, SOC);
– considered an outline for a report on vocational training of young asylum seekers in host countries (Rapporteur: Mrs Zwerver, Netherlands, SOC);
– decided that the delegation of the Sub-Committee on Refugees which will visit Kosovo from 11 to 13 September 2000, should be composed of the following members: Lord Judd (United Kingdom, SOC), Mr Iwinski (Poland, SOC), Mr Díaz de Mera (Spain, EPP/CD), Mrs Vermot-Mangold (Switzerland, SOC) and Mr Christodoulides (Cyprus, UEL), with Mr Connor (Ireland, EPP/CD) as substitute;
– proposed that two reports should be prepared on the situation of refugees and displaced persons in Transcaucasia (Order No. 533 (1997)), one (Georgia and the Russian Federation) to be attributed to Mr Iwinski (Poland, SOC) and the other (Armenia and Azerbaijan) to Mrs Vermot-Mangold (Switzerland, SOC);
– invited Mr Mutman (Turkey, SOC) to make proposals concerning the organisation of an interparliamentary colloquy on the protection of the fundamental and social rights of clandestine migrants (Order No. 563 (2000));
– appointed the following rapporteurs:
. Mr Laakso (Finland, UEL): Colonisation by Turkish settlers of the occupied part of Cyprus (Doc. 8711);
. Mr Connor (Ireland, EPP/CD): Emergency humanitarian aid for the displaced Kurdish population of Turkey (Doc. 8723);
– appointed its representatives as follows:
. Conference on diversity and cohesion in Europe, organised by the European Committee on Migration (CDMG), Namur, 7-9 September 2000: Mrs Zwerver (Netherlands, SOC);
. Seminar on migration, organised by the Society for International Development (SID), The Hague, 29 September 2000: Mr Gross (Switzerland, SOC) (at no expense to the Assembly);
. Seminar on asylum, organised by the Society for International Development (SID), The Hague, 8 December 2000: Mr Cilevics, SOC) (at no expense to the Assembly);
– noting that the next international Congress of the Association for the study of the world refugee problem (AWR) (Vaduz, Liechtenstein, 25-26 September 2000) coïncides with the fourth part-session of the Assembly, invited its Chairman to address a message of congratulations to the Chairman of AWR on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of this association;
– confirmed the holding of its next meetings as follows:
– Ohrid, 14-16 September 2000: full Committee (Colloquy on population displacement in South-Eastern Europe: trends, problems, solutions), to be preceded by a visit of a delegation of the Sub-Committee on Refugees to Kosovo, 11-13 September 2000
– Strasbourg, during the fourth part-session 2000 (25-29 September 2000)
– Paris, 20 October 2000
– The Hague, 16-18 November 2000: full Committee (Colloquy on policies for the integration of immigrants)
– Paris, 15 December 2000
– Strasbourg, during the first part-session 2001 (22-26 January 2001).
Simon Newman/Agnieszka Nachilo/Markus Adelsbach