This Thursday, 12 April, the S&D Group, together with its partners, will organise its next #EuropeTogether event in Hamburg focused on ‘Managing Migration & Supporting Refugees in a Globalised World’.

 

The conference will gather citizens, politicians and progressive partners with the participation of high-level speakers from Africa, Europe and the United Nations to discuss about global migration policy and the EU-Africa cooperation.

 

Speakers include the newly-elected S&D Group president Udo Bullmann; Frans Timmermans, First vice-president of the European Commission; Niels Annen, Minister of State at the German Federal Foreign Office; several S&D MEPs from various European countries including the S&D Group’s spokesperson for foreign affairs Knut Fleckenstein; as well as Rosa Malango, UN Coordinator in Uganda; Moussa Boly, vice-president of MPP in Burkina Faso; and other international representatives.

 

The conference will be moderated by Michel Abdollahi, prize-winning TV reporter and performance artist.

 

 

“We need to get out of the mind-set that increased migration is a temporary occurrence. Demographic changes, poverty, climate change and instability in North Africa and the Middle East mean that large numbers will continue to seek a better life in Europe for the foreseeable future.

 

“We need to show to our citizens that we can manage migration in a sustainable way. This means tackling the root causes of migration, but it also means creating a truly European asylum system and helping those newly arrived in Europe to integrate.

 

“It is now almost three years since the height of the refugee crisis and still we have not found a long-term solution on how to manage asylum in Europe. Our system still leaves countries on Europe's borders, such as Italy or Greece, to face the bulk of asylum cases alone and allows other countries to shirk their humanitarian responsibilities. This is not sustainable; we risk turning a manageable situation into another crisis. The European Parliament has proposed an ambitious overhaul of the EU asylum system – we now need national governments to finally act and approve it.”

 

 

“Our work on migration and refugees is in close dialogue with the African countries. For us it is crucial to plan together with Africa, and not for Africa. Africa is a top priority for the S&Ds. We will continue to work towards a strong EU-Africa partnership to effectively tackle the root causes of migration and create a long-term perspective for the African population.” 

 

The conference is open to the public and to the press.

 

Please see the full programme here

 

The conference can be followed via web streaming here