Today, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees, Ambassador Drahoslav Štefánek, hosted the 4th meeting of the Network of Focal Points on Migration. The meeting, which takes place twice a year, gathered 48 participants from relevant ministries dealing with migration issues, coming from 41 member states. The Focal Points exchanged information on national policies and discussed Council of Europe activities related to migration and asylum.
“I thank the Focal Points for their continued engagement in developing and reinforcing a direct dialogue on issues related to migration and asylum. Since its creation two years ago, this Network has grown to include 45 member states who have designated their Focal Point on Migration. I am convinced that these meetings contribute to addressing the challenges arising from global migration, including the human rights of the most vulnerable migrants and refugees, said Ambassador Štefánek in his opening remarks.
During the meeting, an update on the progress of the implementation of the Council of Europe Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable Persons in the Context of Migration and Asylum in Europe (2021 – 2025) was presented. The progress review included a presentation of already implemented, ongoing, and future activities under the Action plan. Other topics on the agenda included a presentation of the new thematic factsheet on “Migration and Asylum”, published by Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as an update of relevant case-law of the European Court of Human Rights since the last meeting of the Network, in June 2021.
The aim of the Network is to exchange good practices and enhance co-operation between the different stakeholders and the Council of Europe. The Network was created as a result of an informal exchange of views on migration in the Committee of Ministers in 2018 and the decisions of the Helsinki Ministerial Session, from May 2019, which underlined the need to continue addressing the challenges related to migration.
