On 2-3 February 2018, the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Migration and Refugees (SRSG), together with the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the municipality of Athens, will organise training sessions on the non-discrimination, tolerance and integration of refugee and migrants children in mainstream education. The sessions are inviting teachers from 80 schools in Athens hosting refugee children and will discuss challenges, potentials and good practices in mainstream schooling of refugees. Similar training sessions will be organised on the 8-9 February 2018, by the SRSG, also in cooperation with the Athens municipality, on non-discrimination and integration for local authority officials in their interaction with refugees and migrants in terms of emergency assistance, social assistance, housing and integration. Among the participants for these training sessions are social workers, interpreters and other staff working in the field in Athens with almost 4,000 asylum seekers and relocation candidates. Both training programmes are organised in the context of the follow-up recommendations made in the SRSG’s report on Greece, following a fact-finding mission there in 2016.
On 18 December 2017, on the International Migrants Day, the Special Representative published a statement emphazising the importance of integration of migrants in Europe. “Many countries struggle to guarantee the human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrants and refugees. The voices of those who portray migrants as a threat to public order, national identity and security are louder than others. Anti-immigration political agendas swing election results while adding to the expansion of populism in Europe. Only effective integration policies can create opportunities for economic, social and cultural development in European societies, he said.”
On 18 December 2017, in Vienna, Austria, the Office of the Special Representative participated in a High-Level Panel Discussion on the occasion on the International Migrants Day: “Perception is not reality - Towards a new narrative of migration”, co-organised by OSCE and IOM.
On 11-12 December 2017, in Brussels, the Office of the Special Representative met with various EU officials to explore opportunities to work together, particularly as regards implementation of the Action Plan on protecting refugee and migrant children and the recommendations in the SRSG´s fact-finding mission reports.
The Council of Europe Action Plan on Protecting Refugee and Migrant Children in Europe (2017-2019) is now available in three new languagues: German, Italian and Turkish.