As delivered

Dear Ministers, dear participants, dear friends,

It is my great pleasure to be with you here today in Vienna, on behalf of the Council of Europe.

I would first like to thank Austrian Minister of Defence and Sport, Hans-Peter Doskozil, and our Austrian hosts for organising this event together with EPAS, the Council of Europe’s Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport, whose overall aim is to make sport fairer, to combat abuse in sport and to ensure that it conforms to high ethical standards.

We meet to discuss one of the biggest challenges facing Europe today – how to integrate the thousands of migrants and refugees landing on our shores, arriving in our cities, and entering into our societies.

For many of these people – who are coming here to flee persecution and war – Europe represents survival, hope and the chance of a better life. But the challenges are many. The often perilous journey to get here is only the beginning. Then comes the camps and the application process. Then, provided you are not sent away, comes beginning a new life in a country where you may not know a soul; where you and your family don’t speak the language; where you have no job, no immediate means of supporting yourself, and no home.

And, for the host societies, many of which are already facing deep economic and intercultural challenges, the integration of these people is a daunting task.

Up until now, the Council of Europe’s role in the refugee crisis has been very much to act as a guardian of the fundamental rights and freedoms of these people from the moment they arrive in Europe – as guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights. We have issued guidance to all governments reminding them of their obligations, with a particular emphasis on protecting refugee children, including the many unaccompanied minors. We are helping states ensure that new legislation and asylum reforms meet international standards. The Secretary General has appointed a Special Representative on the issue, who has now visited the camps in Greece and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, producing recommendations on the basis of what he has seen.

And we take very seriously our duty in helping our member states get ahead of the integration challenge, too. It will, I believe, be an even bigger test than receiving and processing these people. And our response will shape our societies for years to come.

The Council of Europe is, I believe, well placed to support our members in these endeavours. We have, for years, taken an intercultural approach to managing diversity, through which we aim for the respectful co-existence of different cultures, ideas and beliefs, provided they remain within an overarching human rights framework. In this way we seek to build inclusive societies – this is our vision: societies which include everyone and which capitalise on the benefits of diversity and migration.

Because, above all, we see diversity as an asset. This is the clear lesson from the Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities Network, now made up of 90 cities in 27 countries, where civic engagement is high and social cohesion strong. Our surveys show that Intercultural Cities generate greater trust, openness and tolerance, a decrease in the intensity of conflict and improved urban safety. They bring dynamism, innovation, creativity and growth.

And, in the present context, we think it is extremely important to recognise how much the refugees currently arriving in Europe offer our societies – many of them skilled and talented individuals, ready to work and contribute. We are therefore looking at how to improve the speed and ease with which their professional qualifications are recognised, for example. We are developing tools to assist with their language training. And we are here today, as part of the Council of Europe’s Action Plan on Building Inclusive Societies, to see how sport can fit into this wider mission, too.

Integrating migrants through sport has been a priority for EPAS since 2014. The large-scale arrivals over the last 12 months have clearly lent a new urgency to the task.

Sport, as you all know, is many things to many people.

A hobby or a healthy pursuit; some like to watch, some like to play; it can be highly competitive; it is big business.

And it also builds bonds and a sense of shared purpose – and in this way sport has an immense social power. Few have put it as simply and clearly as Nelson Mandela, who once said that “sport has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. It can create hope where once there was only despair. It is more powerful than government”, he said, “in breaking down racial barriers.”

I think it is, therefore, timely and intelligent to come together to ask how we in Europe can harness this power to welcome migrants and refugees?

There are examples we can learn from.

A group of Somali refugees who came to Sweden in their late teens decided they wanted to feel part of the small Swedish town where they lived (Borlänge), some 200km north of Stockholm.

So they created their own bandy team – a popular Swedish sport, which is a version of ice hockey with a ball. These were young men who had never before seen snow or ice.

How did it turn out? They made it to the 2014 bandy world championship. A film was made about them; they became local heroes; and, now, when you hear them interviewed, you can see that they feel recognised and appreciated and proud that they took their integration into their own hands.

It’s a remarkable story. I’m not suggesting that we will be able to replicate it, but we can be inspired by it. And a big part of the reason that we are here, together, is to share success stories and identify the best conditions for promoting successful integration through sport.

There are many brilliant examples of this taking place across our nations – the point of today is to bring them to the light.

We will look at the role of sports clubs and associations in creating safe, inclusive environments and building trust. I’m looking forward to learning more about the local initiatives which I know will be presented here today. And I very much hope that this Conference will help establish a network for the future – a community of good practice. This will give us the basis to continue learning from each other, evaluating the impact of different policies and practices as we move ahead and as we set long-term strategies and priorities.

And, just as we need to be clear on what works, we also need to understand what doesn’t.

Let’s be candid. Sport can also be a negative force. Just as it can deepen ties between people, sport can also reproduce all that is divisive in our societies.

It can be manipulated as a vehicle for intolerance, racism, discrimination, sexism, hate speech, xenophobia and corruption.

And we must be alive to the risk of reinforcing stereotypes about migrants through sport – just as in the past we have seen stereotypes reinforced about women, or people with disabilities, or LGBT people.

So we will also be analysing the obstacles to integration through sport and sharing experiences of how organisations and associations have confronted them.

We need to ask ourselves:

How do we ensure that sport is organised and managed democratically, respecting the human rights and dignity of all?

How do we open up sport to the energy, experience and outlook migrants and refugees bring with them, while remaining sensitive to the local and national realities which exist?

And, as we move ahead, how can we, in moments of reflection and adjustment – like this meeting – take stock of our progress, so that we are responsive and flexible?

I know that these questions will be addressed through the day – and I am extremely interested to hear the outcomes. As I said, I want this to be part of an ongoing conversation between us. The challenge of integrating migrants is not going away: in Europe, we will be working on this for years to come – and I am sure that the experience and expertise in this room can help use sport to shape an innovative, inclusive and sustainable response. So thank you for being here.

…and before I finish, I would also just like to thank the representatives of Albania, Austria, and Slovenia who are here to sign the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, which is another essential part of our work on promoting integrity in sport.

So far, 24 countries have signed. We trust that others will join them by the end of the year and that other countries will follow the lead of Norway and Portugal in ratifying the Convention, so that it can enter into force as soon as possible.

Thank you.