Veit speech at 32 BSPC

132. BSPC (27 - 29 August 2023 in Berlin)Repor t on Migration and Integration29. August 2023As of 1200Deutscher Bundestag, Plenary HallDear President of the BSPC ( dear Mr. Schraps ),Dear incoming President ,Dear colleagues,Since many years, our working groups are important forour work and it is also a good tradition to report on ourannual conferences.Migration and integration are among the greatchallenges and tasks of our time. This applies more orless equa lly to all members of the BSPC.I may say:2In recent years up until today , civil war, protractedconflict, terrorism, deteriorating internal security andincrea sing poverty in many countries have led tomassive dep artures of civilian populations.Resulting in a significant rise of immigrants into theEuropean Union .Moreover, today, with Russia ’s military invasion ofUkraine we are facing o ne of the largest humanitariancrises in Europe’s recent history – with the ongoing warcausing increasing numbers of casualties, destructionand displacement within and outside Ukraine's borders.According to Eurostat , the EU ́s statistical office, i nApril 2023 , over 72.000 first -time asylum applicantsapplied for international protection in EU countries. Anincrease of 34 % compared to April 2022. Let meremind you yesterday’s contribution by the SecretaryGeneral of the PABSEC, Asaf Hajiev, who mentionedthe all-time-high number of 100 Mio. Refugees in theworld, expressing his opinion that the problem has to besolved through the close cooperation of all countries and3in the frame of international law, and asking us as BSPCfor cooperation .Dear colleagues,This all shows: With the number of asylum applicationson the rise , refuge and asylum have once againbecome a central issue of politics in the EuropeanUnion.People fleeing , refugees are not only Figures andStatistics – behind each number stand human beingsand fates. But: the statistics help us to find out about thehelp needed.Domestic p olitics in our region are confronted withfinding a response to housing, labour, education,healthcare and childcare.Common European solutions are necessary.However, recent developments show that this attempt– joint immigration and asylum policies – is a challengeitself.4In June , the Council of the European Union finallyagreed on a negotiating position on reforming asylumpolicy , which provides that the reception of refugees willbe compulsory . EU states that are unwilling to take inrefugees are to pay compensation .The compromise exemplifies a new EU consensus :The majority is no longer focused, as it was in 2015, onhelping people as quickly as possible as they flee frompolitical violence or civil war. Rather, the focus is onreducing the number of refugees coming to Europe .In my opinion, t he consensus also shows that we live intimes , in which we discuss migration policy even moreemotionally , since there are differences in t he domesticpolitical situations in a number of EU member states ;name ly:Across W estern Europe, far-right parties are advancing,under the headline of migrants threatening security.5Poland is in favour of hardline policies; now p roposing tohold a referendum asking citizens whether they supportthe arrival of “thousands of illegal migrants coming fromthe Middle East and Africa” .The Swedish government is aiming to tighten theimmigration requirements for family members of foreignresidents residing in the country.Finland's new government lately announced a“paradigm shift” with immigration crackdown .The Danish government says it plans to tighten thecountry’s citizenship rules. Already, nearly half ofcandidates have their applications rejected.Besides, in response to hybrid warfare, several countriesare tightening security: Finland, Lithuania, Latvia andEstonia have agreed to coordinate and enhance bordermeasures at the cr ossings with Russia and Belarus.Dear colleagues,6What can we, the member states of the BSPC , do? Howcan we contribute to handle this European challenge?For sure we can say that w e have realized the urgencyof the situation and see the importa nce to work on thesubject together , regardless of any differences.Our “Working Group on Migration and Integration”aimed to put emphasis on integration , to promote theexchange of knowledge amongst the members and toshare best practices regarding migrat ion and inte gration– with an open dialogue and exc hange between BalticSea member states. Our final report is still worth to havea look at.What are the perspectives of successful integration ofmigrants and refugees in our region?OECD and European Commission have – just veryrecently in June 2023 – released an interesting study ,called “Indicators of Immigrant Integration : SettlingIn”.7The study represents the most comprehensiveinternational comparison created to date, analysingthe characteristics and integration results for immigrantsand their children in OECD, EU, and certain othercountries.The report highlights that integration and inclusioninvestments benefit migrants, their families, societies,and economies, while failure to integrate is costly. Withshrinking workforces and labour shortages in manycountries, efforts to integrate migrants and families areessential.This leads to one conclusion, to my opinion: We justcannot stop to stress this topic under different aspects,since new and ongoing conflicts will continue to forcepeople to flee.Thank you very much for your attention .