To:
CC:
Heads of OSCE PA Delegations
Members of the OSCE PA Bureau
Secretaries of OSCE PA Delegations
21 September 2015
Dear Colleagues,
Having followed with great concern, as I’m sure you have, the recent developments and
numerous tragedies related to the migrant crisis in Europe, I wanted to take this opportunity to
remind you of some of our previous work in this field.
At the time of our Annual Session in Helsinki the migrant situation was already at a critical
level, but the challenges have only mounted since that time. In Helsinki, we addressed a number of
issues related to crisis, but I think that the following are particularly relevant in the current
circumstances. As the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, we:
128. Applaud[ed] the significant efforts of States neighbouring crisis situations to care for
refugees, and call[ed] upon participating States across the OSCE area to increase their
efforts to care for people fleeing their homes out of fear of persecution and personal safety,
and to ensure the safe and dignified return of IDPs and refugees to their places of permanent
residence;
21.
Support[ed] the efforts of the European Union to develop migrant reception quotas
for Member countries under a new Agency on Migration, call[ed] for an increase in the
number of migrants to be accepted and hope[ed] that migrants will be provided with decent
conditions of reception in full compliance with fundamental human rights and the
international conventions on the protections of migrants and refugees;
There can be no doubt that the thousands of migrants and refugees coming to and moving
around Europe present certain economic and security challenges for our countries. However, as we
recognized in Helsinki, this is first and foremost a humanitarian situation and we must do all we can
to ensure the safety and well-being of these displaced people. I therefore appeal to all of you to
advocate within your own country for the policies that we recommended during our Helsinki
meeting. In the best interests of our countries and the many thousands of migrants, I encourage an
open and tolerant approach to people fleeing for their safety. Closing borders and putting up walls
will not resolve anything – it simply avoids responsibility and may even result in further tragedies.
_________________
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