On 30 September-4 October 2019, during the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) autumn session, parliamentarians decided to hold an urgent debate on “Saving lives in the Mediterranean Sea: the need for an urgent response”. Echoing the June 2018 urgent debate on the same subject, rapporteur Domagoj Hajdukovic (Croatia, SOC), stressed the need to “place the rescue of men, women and children in the Mediterranean above political and other considerations”. The resolution encourages current positive signs of a greater will to share responsibilities for reception and settlement of refugees and asylum-seekers. In a debate on the possibility of a specific legal status for “climate refugees”, rapporteur Marie-Christine Verdier-Jouclas (France, ALDE) urged PACE members to prepare for the future exponential rise in displacement due to climate change, and a report on labour migration from eastern Europe (rapporteur Ionuţ-Marian Stroe, Romania, EPP) gave a balanced view of the positive and negative aspects of migration for employment.

On 18 September 2019, the PACE Parliamentary Network on Diaspora Policies, in cooperation with the Jordanian House of Representatives, held a regional Conference on the economic potential of diasporas in Amman, Jordan. 75 participants from 25 countries, including diaspora NGOs, parliamentarians from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, government officials, experts and diplomats, explored their role as partners for development and in promoting the transfer of knowledge, skills and ideas between diasporas and their countries of origin and host countries. Special focus was given to the experiences of the countries of the Middle East and North African in involving their diasporas in the economic development of the region.