On the occasion of the 2023 edition of International Migrants Day, Congress rapporteur on the reception of women and children refugees, Bernd Vöhringer (Germany, EPP/CCE), stressed that the reception and integration of migrants and refugees will be amongst the major challenges of local and regional authorities in upcoming years and will require a profound human rights approach.
“As local authorities, we must not only take care of the most vulnerable groups of migrants and refugees, such as women and children, but also ensure that the fundamental rights of all newly arriving persons on our territories are respected. Whilst the integration of migrants and refugees requires concerted efforts across all levels of government, subnational governments manage most of the policies that support migrant integration, such as housing, education, or support to local employment and welfare services. We are thus key actors of migrant and refugee integration and must be equipped to fulfil our responsibilities, including through sufficient financial allocations from regional or national governments.
We must not forget that, in the long run, local communities can benefit from migration, for example thanks to the influx of new cultures and skills. This pre-supposes that the local population remain open-minded to the integration of migrants and refugees from various countries and cultural backgrounds, and that tools facilitating this are put in place, such as linguistic, intercultural or professional trainings. The Congress will continue to support local authorities, both in addressing relevant challenges of integration and in promoting the potential of migrants and refugees for society.”
