The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, meeting in Paris on 19 May, called on member states to strengthen the co-operation between public and private actors involved in migration management, whether in terms of first assistance, reception, or inclusion of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.
The report by Sandra Zampa (Italy, SOC), adopted unanimously by the Committee, specifies that “public actors” include the national and local public authorities, administrations or agencies dealing with the first arrival, the reception and the management of migrants, while “private actors” refer to charities, foundations and NGOs working in co-operation with the public sector, as well as private sector companies that have contracts with public authorities and are sub-contracted to manage reception facilities.
In order to respond to the needs of public and private actors involved in the reception and the inclusion of migrants, member states should, in particular, favour decentralised decision-making by empowering local government bodies and local communities to design and implement integration programmes, the committee underlined.
With a view to supporting the efforts of public and private actors to facilitate the inclusion of refugees and strengthen social cohesion within host communities, the committee called on member states to prioritise smaller reception facilities and adopt the model of “integrated reception” going beyond the mere distribution of food and accommodation, and providing individual programmes that enable people to regain an effective involvement in life in the community,
Finally, parliamentarians advocate public-private co-operation in informal contexts where the humanitarian situation is very concerning. National authorities and local government bodies should put in place specific measures to assist people living in informal settlements, to respond to their basic needs and orient them to local services, they emphasised.
Responding to the needs of public and private actors involved in migration management
In addition, the latest issue of the Forced Migration Review addresses the pressing need to protect migrants undertaking perilous migration routes, focusing on “Dangerous Journeys: Saving Lives and Responding to Missing Migrants and Refugees” (https://www.fmreview.org/dangerous-journeys/; available in English, French, and Spanish).
Among the many contributions received for this issue, an article co-authored by PACE members Paolo Pisco (Portugal, SOC) and Julian Pahlke (Germany, SOC) was selected and published on Shaping policy responses to missing migrants through the Council of Europe - Forced Migration Review.
The article recalls the commitments undertaken by the Council of Europe’s member States concerning the right to life obligating states and public entities, such as coast guard authorities, to safeguard and preserve all life. Alongside articles submitted by academics, international organisation experts and NGOs, this article values the voice and the role of parliamentarians across member States as promoters of CoE standards in the design of public policies to protect the right to life and to prevent and address cases of missing migrants.
As stated by the co-authors: “The tragedy of migrant deaths at sea and missing migrants is an unbearable reminder that these vulnerable human beings – those seeking international protection and fleeing wars, persecution, crises and disasters, extreme poverty and danger – remain marginalised in their ability to access the most fundamental rights and dignity. The Council of Europe has a significant role to play in bringing together governments, parliamentarians and civil society actors from our European continent and beyond in order to address societal challenges from this perspective of human rights and human dignity.” This comprises migrants’ lives, and the article refers in this respect both to Resolution 2569 (2024) “Missing migrants, refugees and asylum seekers – A call to clarify their fate” and to Mr Pisco’s report recently adopted by the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons and the ensuing resolution and recommendation to be put to a vote in the next plenary session of the Assembly on 23-27 June 2025.
On 19 May, the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe under the chairmanship of Oleksii Goncharenko (Ukraine, ECPA)
- Unanimously adopted a draft resolution on Sandra Zampa’s report on « The challenges and needs of public and private actors in migration management » (Italy, SOC). Watch out for the debate to be held during the June part-session !
- Heard the 2nd vice-chair, Emmanuel FERNANDES (France, UEL) on the parliamentary conference on « Envisioning effective public policy to prevent and address cases of missing migrants », which took place in Strasbourg on 23-24 April 2025 as a follow-up to Julian Pahlke’s report on « Missing migrants - a need to clarify their date (Germany, SOC)
- Held an exchange of views with Cybèle Leclerc from the Forum of migration-based solidarity organisations (FORIM) in the framework of the preparation of the report on « The role of diasporas and migrants in building social cohesion and progress » (rapporteur : Lord Leslie Griffiths, United Kingdom, SOC)
- Held an exchange of views with Ward Lutin, Head of the Asylum Knowledge Centre of the European Union Agency for Asylum – EUAA as a follow-up to Resolution 2555 (2024) on « Ensuring human rights-compliant asylum procedures (rapporteur: Stephanie Krisper, Austria, ALDE)
- Heard an update from Andreas Wissner, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency about the consequences of the drastic cuts in the agency’s funding on its work and how this has had impact on the persons needing international protection.
Finally, Petri Honkonen (Finland, ALDE), rapporteur on « Artificial intelligence and migration » carried out a fact-finding visit to Frontex in Warsaw on 5-6 May 2025 in the framework of the preparation of his report. The debate in the plenary is expected to take place during the Autumn part-session of the Assembly.
