Members of the European Parliament seek positive solutions to migration issues
Praha, 25. 2. 2009
On 22 and 23 February 2009 there was a conference of the chairpersons of security committees in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. “Integrated rescue system, legal and illegal migration in connection with environmental security”.
The conference was attended by 23 parliamentary delegations from 18 EU member states and from the Republic of Croatia and the Turkish Republic. The Czech Republic was represented by the Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies, Ing. Miloslav Vlček, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Security, Jiří Dienstbier, Tomáš Grulich, a member of the Senate Committee for European Union Matters, the General Director of the Fire and Rescue Corps of the Czech Republic, Mr. Miroslav Štěpán, and the Director of the Asylum and Migration Policy Committee, Martin Linhart; the meeting was presided over by the Chairman of the Committee on Security of the Chairman of Deputies, František Bublan.
During the course of the conference its motto became the frequently asked question as to whether to build “bridges” for people migrating into Europe from 3rd world countries so they can find their places in European Union countries or whether, conversely, to protect against the migrants by building all sorts of “walls” to protect Europe against migration that will in the end fail to provide protection successfully. Despite the complexity of the entire issue, the conference demonstrated the will to positively resolve the migration issue in the future, and not to close the European Union to arrivals from developing countries.
In their speeches conference participants stated that it is necessary to ascribe greater significance to climatic changes; in terms of security this is a mass phenomenon that reaches into life in a large number of countries, whose solution is exclusively the responsibility of human beings. Migration, be it legal or illegal, has long since ceased to have a predominantly north-south dimension in Europe, and has taken on an eastern dimension with which the new member states of central Europe in particular have experience. Of course this does not overshadow the problem that persists on the southern borders of the EU, especially in Italy, Cyprus, and Malta, where EU member states are facing dramatic growth of migrants from Africa, which is slowly becoming unmanageable. Representatives of those countries also speak up for building bridges, not barriers, possibly only because basically, many immigrants cannot be repatriated, which applies in the case of Somalia in particular.
Several serious associated and urgent matters also were opened up: excluding produce originating in Africa, drawing educated people from African states into the European Union, and, for instance, deforestation of the planet, water shortages, and the like.
In their contributions delegates often praised the Czech Republic for its courage in opening up this delicate topic, which so far has been very frequently met with silence, with an apparent attempt to set aside these existing problems until some time in the future. It is expected that some of future presiding states will take up this topic.
In the part relating to the Integrated Rescue System the conference participants were acquainted with its introduction and with practical experiences with the operation of the European hotline, number 112. The subject of the discussion then became mainly the system for protecting the citizenry of the Czech Republic, its legal underpinnings, and the extent to which citizens are aware of and accept it. A guide through crisis situations at home and abroad was also presented: “What to do…,” which briefly and graphically brings to the public information for all in contemplating extraordinary events that may occur.