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9 June 1995
Doc. 7324
OPINION
on the fight against racism,
xenophobia, anti-semitism and intolerance
(Rapporteur: Mrs BRASSEUR,
Luxembourg, Liberal, Democratic and Reformers' Group)
1. The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography welcomes the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights' report on the fight against racism, xenophobia, anti-semitism and intolerance. It congratulates Mr López Henares, the rapporteur, for his very clear, exhaustive coverage of such a complex subject.
2. The committee expresses its satisfaction with the speedy implementation of the decision to launch a plan of action combating racism, xenophobia, anti-semitism and intolerance, adopted by the heads of state and government at the Council of Europe's Vienna Summit in October 1993. It considers that this campaign will not only heighten the European public's awareness of these problems, but will also provide a Europe-wide incentive to those who combat racism and xenophobia, encouraging them to intensify their action. Further, the committee welcomes the opening for signature, on 1st February 1995, of the framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities, the elaboration of which was decided at the above Summit.
3. Under the terms of its mandate, the committee regularly has to give opinions on problems of racism and intolerance affecting migrants and refugees. It recently drafted two recommendations connected with this issue, which were adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly, namely Recommendation 1211 (1993) on "clandestine migration: traffickers and employers of clandestine migrants" and Recommendation 1206 (1993) on "the integration of migrants and community relations". The latter recommendation emphasises, inter alia, that "adequate measures are needed to combat ethnic and racial violence or harassment directed at immigrants" and that they "should include prevention through education, dissuasion through the law, intervention against perpetrators and support for victims".
4. The questions raised by media presentation of subjects related to migrants and ethnic minorities and its impact on public opinion are covered in a report to be submitted by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights as its contribution to the Assembly's current debate on the fight against racism and intolerance (Doc. 7318). This report proposes a strategy, involving concrete measures, with the aim of ensuring that migrants are described in a balanced, unbiased manner, thereby furthering better understanding between different social groups.
5. The report explains in its introduction the reasons for the increase in racist phenomena, which particularly affect migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers. The committee points out the role played by marginalisation and exclusion in this respect. The degrading of the image of the minority populations is reinforced by the fact that most migrants continue to have the lowest economic and social status. This situation favours the attitudes of some members of the host population, which, if not openly racist, are at least based on a sense of superiority. These negative attitudes then make it more difficult for migrants to settle and integrate and prevent their social progress. The migrants themselves are aware of being rejected by the host society and fail to identify with it, leading to even greater tensions.
6. To break this vicious circle of negative reactions, it is essential that immigrants be encouraged to participate in community life and to guarantee them full equality in terms of social and economic rights. Similarly, the courage must be found to take steps to involve them in the political decision process. In view of the fact that full political rights are currently enjoyed only by nationals, member states should allow migrants to acquire the nationality of their host country without having to lose their original nationality.
7. As for the political rights of migrants who are not nationals of the host country, those member states who have not yet ratified the European Convention on the participation of foreigners in public life at local level should do so, to enable migrants to participate in their municipality's political system after a given period of residence.
8. Integration is a complex process necessitating the adoption of measures in fields as diverse as migrants' legal status (in particular security of residence), employment, education, housing and relations with the public services and authorities. When implementing such policies, the member states should draw inspiration from both the above-mentioned Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1206 (1993) and the recommendations in the final report of the Council of Europe's community relations project, carried out between 1987 and 1991 under the auspices of the European Committee on Migration (CDMG).
9. Another CDMG project, "The integration of immigrants: towards equal opportunities", is currently under way. As part of this project, the CDMG will examine measures adopted in different countries to overcome the obstacles to equal opportunity facing legally resident immigrants in Europe. In the view of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, this approach, which comes within the ambit of the Vienna Plan of Action, deserves the Committee of Ministers' full support.
10. In his report, Mr López Henares rightly pointed out that the upsurge in xenophobic and racist attitudes had also resulted in the adoption by European countries of more restrictive policies on the granting of refugee status. The application of certain strict rules may, in some cases, lead to asylum being denied to people who would need international protection and assistance. In this way, racism and xenophobia impede compliance with the humanitarian principles on which our societies are founded.
11. The committee also concurs with the call for member states to adopt an approach based on solidarity as regards fair distribution of refugees and asylum-seekers. Institutional measures, such as the proposed creation of a European refugee forum and/or High Commissioner for Refugees, could indeed contribute to solving this problem. However, the committee considers that the real obstacle is the lack of political will among the member states, who are unable to agree on "sharing the burden". The committee therefore takes this opportunity to make a further appeal to member states for solidarity and political wisdom regarding this sensitive issue.
12. Lastly, the committee wishes to point out the importance of providing training in inter-ethnic relations for public officials who have to deal with migrants, ethnic minorities, refugees or asylum-seekers. This applies in particular to employees of immigration, housing, social security, health and education authorities and to police officers and frontier guards. In the latter's case, the problems of training staff who receive asylum-seekers at border-crossing points will be discussed in a special report currently being drawn up by the committee.
13. Racism, xenophobia, intolerance and anti-semitism undermine the very foundations of our societies — human rights, pluralist democracy and the rule of law. We members of the Parliamentary Assembly must convey this message to our fellow citizens through a personal commitment to combat such phenomena. It is therefore essential that we do our utmost to ensure that racist and xenophobic arguments, even by implication, are eliminated from political speech, including during election campaigns.
Reporting committee: Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights (Doc. 7318).
Committee for opinion: Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography.
Reference to committee: Doc. 6349, Reference No. 1711 of 28 January 1991 and Doc. 6766, Reference No. 1847 of 5 November 1992.
Opinion approved by the committee on 2 June 1995.
Secretaries to the committee: MM. Newman and Sich.