Madrid: Third IPCM Conference on EU Migratory Policies
With the support of the Secretary of State for the European Union the International Platform for Cooperation and Migration (IPCM) held the Third Conference on "EU Migratory Policies" (read programme),in Madrid on 19 September, a day which gave the 70 plus attendees the opportunity to extend their knowledge and raise questions for and/or comments to the different speakers. Below we provide a brief summary of speeches:
Rafael Rodríguez-Ponga,IPCM Chairman (see speech):
After greeting the audience and thanking the Secretary of State for the European Union for its funding, and the European Commission for hosting the session for yet another year in their Europa room, Mr Rodríguez-Ponga introduced the platform with a brief summary of its history, origins and the organizations that make it up... read more
Vicente Navarro de Luján, Cultural and Social Director for the CEU-Cardenal Herrera University of Valencia (see speech):
Professor Navarro made an introduction from the anthropological point of view, describing human beings as wanderers who, in order to learn, need to commune with others. Their contact and desire to travel the world is linked to their innate curiosity and the discovery of truth and knowledge. Emigration is part of the very essence of human nature, arising for different causes, not always as a result of the search for subsistence... read more
Eugenio Nasarre Goicoechea,Chairman of the Spanish Council of the European Movement: (see speech):
Mr Eugene Nasarre began his presentation by explaining the origins of the Hague Congress (about to celebrate its 70th anniversary), in the midst of a Europe devastated by World War II, which was the flame that ignited the pro-European spirit. The six founding states decided then that the Europe of peace, freedoms and democracy which they wanted had to be built upon the basis of a partial renunciation of the sovereignty of individual states, thus creating common structures... read more
José Ramón García Hernández, Diplomat and MP (see speech):
Mr García Hernández began his lecture by differentiating between the problem of illegal immigration and refugees. Some people want to link these terms together to confuse and define a field of play between demagoguery and xenophobia, and these two extremes make it very difficult to propose an interim solution; a point at which he believed the humanist parties should stand, placing human beings at the centre of political action... read more
Fernando Martínez Santamaría, Immigration Observatory Director (see speech) (read the presentation):
Mr Martínez Santamaría began by explaining that integration is a process and, as such, has a beginning and an end, which is achieved with the full integration of individuals coming from another country... read more
Piergiorgio Sciacqua, Vicepresident of Movimento Cristiano Lavoratori (MCL) - and Vicepresident of IPCM (see speech):
Referring to the framework of Christian thinking and the social doctrine of the Church, Mr Sciaqua said that the very Bible itself is full of exoduses; one of the most important being the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt, an image of the emigrant we must keep in mind... read more
María Reina Martín, Secretary General of Associação para a Formação, Investigação e Desenvolvimento Social dos Trabalhadores (FIDESTRA) and Vicepresident of IPCM, (see speech):
After describing the characteristics of her native country, with a small land mass and a population of just over 9 million, and generally unknown to immigrants, who do not consider Portugal among their priorities destination; María Reina Martín explained the situation in Portugal as far as migration was concerned, based on the latest 2015 SEF (Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service) report... read more
María Jesús Herrera, Head of Mission in Spain for the International Organization for Migration (see speech) (read the presentation):
First of all, María Jesús Herrera explained that on that same day, during the 1st global UN Summit on Refugees and Migrants, the IOM would officially become an organization associated to the United Nations... read more