On 14 November 2017, in Strasbourg, the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees (SRSG), participated in a meeting with Michael O’Flaherty, Director of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. The aim of the meeting was to exchange views on further cooperation between the Council of Europe and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.
On 22 November 2017, in Strasbourg, the Special Representative opened the launch event of Language Support for Adult Refugees: a Council of Europe Toolkit. “Language is the key which opens many doors to migrants who would otherwise be left feeling isolated and unsupported. It brings confidence, to interact with communities, to assert rights and to take advantage of available opportunities”, he said in his opening remarks. The initiative was developed by the Language Policy Programme of the Council of Europe within the context of “Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants” (LIAM).
On 24 November 2017, in Strasbourg, the Special Representative participated in the 3rd meeting of the Ad hoc Committee for the Rights of the Child (CAHENF). He exchanged views with the Committee on his recent activities in protecting migrant and refugee children, such as the fact-finding mission to Serbia and Bulgaria, and the transit zones in Hungary. He also emphasised the importance of embedding the work of the Council of Europe within the UN Global Compact on Refugees and Global Compact on Migration. In addition, the SRSG expressed his appreciation on the cooperation with the CAHENF in the implementation Action Plan on Protecting Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe (2017-2019).
On 29 November 2017, in Strasbourg, the Special Representative opened the Council of Europe Roundtable on child-friendly information for children in migration, organised by the Children's Rights Division. The Roundtable gathered government and local authorities, child-protection authorities, border and asylum officials, Ombudspersons for children, civil society actors and children relevant to the topic of the roundtable. The aims of the roundtable were to collect examples of good practice of tools and methodologies to communicate with children in migration in a child-friendly way and also to gather the recommendations of stakeholders and child participants about how to improve child-friendly information tools and practices. The Roundtable was organised in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan on Protecting Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe (2017-2019).
On 11-12 December 2017, in Brussels, the Office of the SRSG, is meeting with various EU officials to discuss synergies and cooperation in the field of migration between EU and the Council of Europe.