On 18-19 August 2022, the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) met in Athens, Greece, at the invitation of the Hellenic Parliament. Highlights included a keynote speech from Mr Notis Mitarachi, Minister of Migration and Asylum of Greece, exchanges of views with the SRSG on Migration and Refugees, Mr Gianluca Rocco, Chief of Mission and Regional Response Coordinator (IOM Greece), Ms Maria Clara Martin, UNHCR Representative in Greece, Ms Jette Christiansen, Coordinating Officer at the EU Asylum Agency, Mr Spyros I. Capralos, President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Ms Melina Daskalaki, Special Advisor to the Mayor of Athens for Migrants and Refugees and President at City of Athens Reception and Solidarity Centre, and Mr Christos Papadopoulos, Special Advisor to the Mayor on the field of culture, city of Ioannina. The topics discussed included pushbacks, European solidarity, integration, including through sports as well as the Council of Europe’s contribution to the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees. The members of the Committee also benefited from a keynote address by Dr Christos Tsevas on “The Council of Europe as a Change Factor for the Global Refugee Regime: From Human Rights Theory to Refugee Protection”.

The meeting was an opportunity to underline that, living in a global and interconnected world, whatever happens in one part of the world has repercussions in Europe as well. The Council of Europe, together with its international partners, can and must put forward innovative proposals to address global challenges. The committee stressed that while Europe, as a continent open to the world, can and should be the leader on best practices in terms of solidarity, integration, protection and security, it constitutes an essential platform for exchanges on the concrete implementation of international and European norms and values. Discussing their role, as parliamentarians, the members of the committee acknowledged that it is not limited to producing a diagnosis on the many challenges posed by migration. Their role is also to ensure the concrete implementation of the common standards and values to which the 46 Council of Europe member states have adhered by being a member of this Organisation.