Parliamentarians can, and must, contribute to better manage the migration phenomenon with their legislative action – PAM President, Hon. Pedro Roque

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MEDIA INFORMATION: 44/2017
ISSUED ON: 21/11/2017

The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), H.E. Hon. Pedro Roque, addressed the closing ceremony of the International Conference Promoting better regional cooperation towards smart and humane migration across the Mediterranean”, held in Malta on 16-17 November 2017.

The Conference for parliaments from the European Union and from the Mediterranean region was organized jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Parliament of Malta and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean.

The conference brought together some 140 parliamentarians and experts from the region in order to discuss concerted responses to current migration challenges and opportunities. In doing so, it took inspiration from the recommendations contained in the IPU Declaration of October 2015 on The Imperative for Fairer, Smarter and more Humane Migration” and the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants adopted at the United Nations in September 2016. The outcome of the conference will also contribute to a parliamentary perspective on the negotiation of a Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration that will take place at the United Nations between February and July 2018 and discussions on a Global Compact on Refugees in 2018.

The PAM President highlighted once more the reference that several speakers made during the conference for a “Marshall Plan for Africa”, in order to provide the resources required for the structural development of the region allowing people to live with dignity in their countries. The President of the European Parliament, H.E. Antonio Tajani, himself, promoted this essential step both for Africa and for Europe, and it is for these reasons that we parliamentarians can, and must, contribute to better manage this phenomenon with our legislative action”, Hon. Roque added.

Hon. Roque then focused his intervention on the concrete contribution of the Assembly is this area. PAM will prepare the executive report of this conference for the member delegates and the document will include, in accordance with the consolidated procedures of PAM, a set of recommendations that emerged during the Conference. I strongly encourage all member parliaments to do their utmost to discuss at the national level the conclusions contained in the report in order to foster an integrated approach to the phenomenon”. Hon. Roque said.

PAM’s commitment on the issue of migration will include the organisation of a conference in Morocco next spring on the links between security and migration, this time in cooperation with the Pan-African Parliament in order to involve in the process the countries of origin.

This initiative should be seen as a continuation of the work done during the Conference and PAM is counting also on the contribution of the IPU while, at the same time, the participation of European countries that are not members of the Assembly would be mostly welcome and desirable.

PAM will also give its share at the UN preparatory meeting for the adoption of the Global Compact for safe, orderly and regular migration, which will be held from 4-6 December 2017 in Mexico.

Hon. Roque concluded his remarks with a reference to the migration-terrorism link over which there is yet no concrete data. On the other hand, a study presented by the Italian Minister of the Interior highlighted the paradigm between lack of integration in the host country, radicalization and terrorism.

This phenomenon does not only concern newcomers but, very often, the second or third generations of migrants in Western societies where integration has failed.

As part of our strategy, we need to evaluate the measures put in place by our governments to avoid this social framework and to combat the associated xenophobia and racism”, the PAM President concluded.

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