Farid Mukhametshin urged European colleagues to develop measures to address migration issues for local and regional authorities

Today Tatarstan Parliament Speaker, Chairman of Current Affairs Committee of Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Council of Europe Farid Mukhametshin arrived in Strasbourg (France) to take part in the regular meetings of the Bureaus of the Congress and the Chamber of Regions.
 

The European Parliamentary Week opened in the Palais de l'Europe from the meeting of the Bureau of the Congress, where Farid Mukhametshin reported on the activities of his Committee. Main issue on the next meeting’s agenda will be discussion of the situation with Romani people in European countries and countering radicalization in the cities and regions.

“The surge of migration in 2015 into Europe from the Middle East and North Africa became truly unprecedented in scope. Municipalities were the first who faced the challenges. It is time to analyze the situation and propose specific measures for local and regional authorities,” F. Mukhametshin said.

Tatarstan Parliament Speaker also reminded that within the framework of the project report “From reception to integration: the role of local authorities in the migration process”, the Committee formed a working group consisting of experts and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

The migration policy issues were considered at today's meetings of almost all parliamentary committees of the Congress. The growth of migration flows into Europe has been observed during the last few years, but in 2015 this surge became uncontrollable and turned into a real migration crisis with numerous cases of mass unrest and increase of the economic burden. All this has a negative impact on migrants who have arrived in Europe a few years earlier and are now actively involved in the life of the country.

The role of local authorities in the migration process will also be discussed at the meeting of the Current Affairs Committee chaired by Farid Mukhametshin.