On 1 March 2019, 14 of the 28 refugees who were awarded the European Qualifications Passport for Refugees (EQPR), during a week of evaluations in Strasbourg, received their Passports in a public ceremony at Strasbourg City Hall. The ceremony followed a roundtable on the role of education in supporting the integration of refugees in their host societies organised by the Council of Europe, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the City of Strasbourg. Roland Ries, Mayor of Strasbourg, Nawel Rafik-Elmrini, Deputy Strasbourg Mayor in charge of European, International Affairs and Human Rights, Snežana Samardžić-Marković, Director General of Democracy, Council of Europe, Sjur Bergan, Head of the Education Department, Council of Europe and Roland-François Weil, UNHCR Representative to the European institutions in Strasbourg addressed the participants. Representatives from the Universities of Strasbourg, Cagliari and Clermont-Ferrand, the City of Bergen and the Greek NGO “Solidarity Now” shared their experiences and lessons learned supporting the integration of refugees into the academic environment and the local economy. Amel Al Ariqi, shared her experience as a participant in the Project CoLAB funded by the European Union/Council of Europe Joint Programme DISCO.
Newsletter - March 2019
NEWSLETTER SUMMARY
- Border protection and the rights of young refugees and children in focus
- Spain did not breach the Convention when returning migrants to Morocco at Melilla border
- PACE to discuss violence and discrimination against religious minorities
- New study on gender-based asylum claims and non-refoulement
- Launch of toolkit on academic integration of refugees into higher education
- Taking young refugees seriously: key messages from the conference
- North-South Prize 2019 honours the efforts to support the integration of migrants