A high level delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, made up of Secretary General, Amb. Sergio Piazzi and PAM Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna, Amb. Peter Shatzer. participated at the High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, held on 4 October 2013, on the occasion of the 68th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
In his statement, Amb. Peter Shatzer, underscored the key role of Parliamentarians in that an effective international approach needs to be backed by solid policies at the national and regional levels.
The PAM Permanent Observer reminded how over the years, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean has tackled the issues of population movements from several perspectives: economic migration, forced migration, the condition of refugees and, in 2012, the impact of the Arab Spring on migration in the Mediterranean region. “The democratization processes and the on-going crisis in Syria have created a huge wave of migration in our region”, he added.
PAM has been working at the creation of a Mediterranean Observatory on Migration, to be established in Greece, in order to better monitor migratory flows in the region, which in recent years have experience new dynamics and directions, due to the economic crisis in Europe.
According to current trends, in the coming decades Europe’s indigenous workforce will shrink due to low fertility and aging. On the other hand, migration movements are on the increase, with volumes that make it difficult for the receiving countries to adequately meet the needs that such movements entail.
Migration is a multi-faceted topic, and PAM has analyzed it also from an educational point of view. Amb. Shatzer referred to vocational training and student exchange programmes considered as useful tools to increase know-how transfer in the region and to prevent the brain drain phenomenon. In this regard the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean is working in cooperation with the French government and the Sorbonne University at launching a Summer University for Mediterranean students, which will host 50 students per year, at Villefranche-sur-Mer. Every year, the project will focus on a different subject, with the cooperation of professors and experts from the Euro-Mediterranean region.
Amb. Shatzer concluded by stressing and reiterating the commitment of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean to contribute to the efforts of the international community, namely the G 20, the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration and the Alliance of Civilizations, in addressing the migration phenomenon through coherent and harmonized legislative action by its member parliaments.