The plenary week (27-31 January) showcased the intensive migration-related activities of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and of its Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons. Key developments included the adoption of Kate Osamor's (United Kingdom, SOC) report on "Immigration: one of the answers to Europe’s demographic ageing", the appointment of Christiana Erotokritou (Cyprus, SOC) as rapporteur on "Frontline States: the role of the Council of Europe in implementing the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum", of Diana Stoica (Romania, ALDE) for an opinion on "Analysis and guidelines to guarantee the right to housing and to decent housing". Additionally, the comittee held an exchange of views with Philippe Harant, Head of Unit in EU-LISA as part of the preparation for the report on "Artificial intelligence and migration (rapporteur: Petri Honkonen, Finland, ALDE).
The committee also co-organised a moving joint hearing on "Ukrainian prisoners of war, journalists and other civilians held in captivity of the Russian Federation". The hearing included testimonies of former prisoners released from Russian captivity and the participation of human rights defenders.
Congratulations are also in order for the re-election of the Bureau, with Oleksii Goncharenko (Ukraine, ECPA) as Chair and Kate Osamor, Emmanuel Fernandes (France, UEL) and Tamara Vonta (Slovenia, ALDE) as Vice-Chairs.
Outside the activieties during the plenary session, PACE rapporteur Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC), a member of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, carried out a fact-finding visit to Spain from 13 to 17 January as part of the preparation for his report on "Putting an end to the collective expulsion of migrants".
During his visit to Tenerife and Madrid, he met with state, regional, and independent authorities, representatives of the Prosecution Office of the Canary Islands and the Tenerife Bar, as well as civil society actors involved in migrant reception. He also held meetings with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and Frontex representatives in Madrid, and visited two reception centres - one for families, and one for adult males.
Despite the high and increasing number of migrants arriving in the Canary Islands, the rapporteur was impressed by the positive attitude of all those involved and by the authorities’ utmost efforts to welcome these individuals with dignity after their long and perilous journey by sea. While all actors agreed that collective expulsions of migrants do not take place in the Canary Islands—a good practice that should be emulated by other Council of Europe member States—the situation of unaccompanied and separated minors remains a concern and requires further attention.
