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Cities in solidarity with refugees to take concrete action: Strasbourg deputy mayor

Xinhua, October 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Following the adoption of a declaration on the reception of refugees that she had helped propose, Nawel Rafik-Elmrini, deputy mayor of Strasbourg, confirmed to Xinhua on Thursday that she was thrilled to see the Council of Europe (CoE) supported a new European network of cities in solidarity with refugees.

"Now we can move on to the concrete phase where this network will meet so that the cities which receive the most refugees can be helped by those cities who are there voluntarily," said the deputy mayor, who is charged with international relations and is a member of the French delegation to the CoE Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.

The declaration, "The reception of refugees in Europe," which was adopted by the CoE Congress on Wednesday, called on cities and towns in the CoE's 47 member states to join the network intended to help coordinate reception initiatives and integration programs. The network was originally launched by Strasbourg in partnership with the Italian cities of Catania and Rovereto on Oct. 3.

"It's a call for solidarity in regard to the cities in the front line countries, but also to the refugees themselves," Rafik-Elmrini explained, outlining how municipalities would be able to share competencies and resources in order to better cope with the influx of refugees.

The members of the CoE Congress, in their declaration, also asserted the need for European states to assume shared responsibility for the accommodation of refugees with the right to asylum. They called for European cities, regardless of their geographical location, to participate in the reception of refugees in order to help ease the pressure on border cities.

The declaration requests the CoE Council of Ministers to work with member states and other European institutions to assure better national and European funding for the local authorities who play a key role in establishing the reception conditions for migrants.

The Congress also asked the Council of Ministers to cooperate with the European Union (EU) in order to "ensure that the question of immigration and the right to asylum are the subject of comprehensive European policies based on dignity and solidarity," underlining the need for a common European procedure for reception of refugees, with an eye toward long term goals for integration.

The declaration was adopted during the CoE Congress' 29th plenary session, which was held from Oct. 20 to 22, and gathered 648 members who hold elected office and represent over 200,000 authorities in the 47 CoE member states. Endit