Migration, segregation and public policy

Migration, segregation and public policy: refugee reception and placement policies in the member states of the Council of Europe

Doc. 9961
7 October 2003

Motion for a recommendation
presented by Mrs Zwerver and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

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1. The member states of the Council of Europe have a great deal in common regarding housing policies: demographic developments with an increasing ageing population, integration policies and placement policies for the migrants in their societies.

2. In the report "Policies for the integration of immigrants in Council of Europe member states” (Doc. 9888), the rapporteur states that immigrants face a lot of difficulties in gaining access to the housing market due to widespread discrimination by private landlords and/or neighbours and even housing companies.

3. In Western countries we see an increase in homeless immigrant families in the big cities.

4. Public housing standards also give rise to concern, in so far as its standards are poor and the policy of allocation engenders ethnic segregation.

5. Segregation in housing policies gives rise to discrimination, social exclusion and xenophobia. National and local governments should implement effective integration policies for legal immigrants in order to promote equality and social cohesion.

6. The Parliamentary Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers asks its relevant (expert) committee(s) to:

i. conduct a survey on the role of (municipal) housing companies;

ii. promote best practices in sharing information on placement policies;

iii. study integration vs.segregation policy in relation to refugee reception and placement policies.

Signed [1]:
Zwerver, Netherlands, SOC
Branger, France, EDG
Çavusoglu M, Turkey, EDG
Dacic, Serbia and Montenegro, SOC
Dmitrijevas, Lituania, SOC
Duivesteijn, Netherlands, SOC
Foulkes, United Kingdom, SOC
Grabowski, Poland, EDG
Gülçiçek, Turkey, SOC
Hagberg, Sweden, SOC
Ilascu, Romania, NR
Judd, United Kingdom, SOC
Pericleous Papadopoulos, Cyprus, LDR
Popa, Romania, SOC
Shakhtakhtinskaya, Azerbaijan, EDG
Tekelioglu, Turkey, EPP/CD
Torrado, Spain, SOC
Wray, United Kingdom, SOC
Yáñez-Barnuevo, Spain, SOC