Speech delivered by senator alexandru mazăre
Member of the Romanian PABSEC Delegation
member of the cultural, educational and social affairs committee
“Migration in the BSEC Member States – social and cultural aspects”
Mr President,
Dear colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, on behalf of the Romanian PABSEC Delegation, I would like to congratulate the Georgian Delegation for organizing the Thirty-Second Meeting of the Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee here, in this nice city on the Black Sea, Batumi, and for their wonderful hospitality.
We believe that the social and cultural aspects related to the migration in the BSEC Member States are fully corresponding to my country’s interest and to my steadfast concern regarding the transformation of the Black Sea region into an area of stability, democracy and prosperity.
I would like to take this opportunity to briefly survey the main chapters of the Strategy:
1. The controlled immigration. Under this matter, the following actions are
foreseen:
- Setting up of the administrative framework designed to ensure the exercise of the right to free movement and residence in case of the EU member states' citizens;
- Promotion of the admission of third citizens with a view to employment, according to the needs identified on the domestic market of labor force;
- Encouragement of the admission of certain categories of foreigners performing trade activities;
- Promotion of an efficient selection system for the admission on Romanian territory on study purposes;
- Drawing up, development and management of effective information systems in the management of immigration on the national territory.
2. Prevention and fight against illegal immigration. In order to meet these objectives, the following actions are foreseen:
- Efficient information of possible immigrants on legal ways of admission and the measures to be taken by the Romanian state to fight illegal immigration;
- Speeding up of the Romanian authorities' cooperation to fight illegal immigration and illegal work;
- Intensification of the measures aiming at removing the foreigners who illegally entered Romania, or who legally entered but their residence here became illegal subsequently;
- Preparation with a view to Romania's accession to Schengen area;
- Cooperation enhancement of the Romanian authorities with the corresponding institutions from EU Member States, as well as with those from the countries of origin or transit.
3. Asylum. Under this matter, the following measures and activities are to be envisaged:
- Unrestricted access to the asylum procedure and observance of non – refoulement principle, in line with the international commitments that Romania has taken, under the treaties and conventions it joined;
- Development of an asylum system on the basis of efficiency and procedures criteria and the compliance of the relevant policies and practices to prevent, discourage and punish the abuses of the asylum procedure;
- Assurance and maintenance of Romania's capacity to undertake the obligations as EU Member State, related to the asylum issues;
- Undertaking an active role within the regional and international cooperation in the asylum field and contribution to the development of some functional asylum systems in the Eastern and South - East Europe;
- Improvement of the reception conditions of asylum applications and investigation of the information from the countries of origin through the identification of an appropriate financing solutions on the part of the European Fund for Refugees;
4. Social integration of foreigners. Under this chapter, the following aims are to be followed:
- Support of the active participation of foreigners who legally reside in Romania to the economic, social and cultural life, observing at the same time their identity;
- Making sure that these relevant categories of foreigners make the necessary efforts to sufficiently integrate into the Romanian society, through their participation in programs provided by the Romanian state to this end, including;
- Acknowledgement of all persons involved in this field, civil servants at all levels, citizens, including foreigners, with respect to the importance of supporting the integration process and identifying the adequate financing solutions of some projects through the European Fund for Refugees and the European Fund for the Integration of the third-country nationals, with a view to improving the services provided to all categories of foreigners;
The concrete measures for the implementation of the objectives of the National
Strategy of Romania on Migration are included in yearly action plans, devised
upon the proposals of relevant bodies, members
of the Inter-Ministerial Group of Coordination of the Strategy Implementation
and approved by the Government. The action plans set concrete activities and the
obligations incumbent upon all Ministries and
institutions in charge of immigration matters for the fulfillment of the
objectives enshrined in the strategy.
The financial resources necessary to the strategy implementation derive basically from:
- funds from the state budget allocated to each Ministry and relevant bodies as regards the strategy implementation;
- funds set at EU level for the immigration management at European level;
- external loans guaranteed by the Government of Romania;
- external loans without governmental guarantees;
- grants and patronage, provided under the legal provisions;
- other sources.
Dear colleagues,
Romania, considers regional cooperation in the Black Sea area as a priority, supports the enhancement of the cooperation within the Black Sea Synergy and considers the Official Development Assistance (ODA) as an appropriate tool for developing the regional projects.
In this context, Romania has been strongly involved in promoting a new project: The Black Sea Cooperation Platform in the field of Migration and Development, the first regional initiative promoted by the EU with the States belonging to the Eastern Neighbourhood Partnership and is meant to improve the already existing dialogue between EU and the Black Sea States, and to add a regional dimension to the management of migration.
The Platform is part of the measures implementing the EU external policy on migration - the Global Approach to Migration (GAM). Initially conceived for the Southern neighbourhood of the EU, following the efforts of the new EU Member States, GAM was later adapted to meet the specificity of Eastern dimension of the EU foreign policy. Within this frame, the participating countries will better manage the legal migration, will encourage synergies between migration and development by drawing up policies on voluntary return and sustainable reintegration of returning migrants, will prevent and counter illegal migration.
On 30 – 31 March 2009, Romania hosted the Preparatory meeting for the Ministerial Conference on Building Migration Partnership, to be held under the Czech EU Presidency, in Prague, on 27 – 28 April 2009. During the Bucharest meeting, the participants considered the draft Joint Declaration on a Cooperation Platform in the field of Migration and Development in the Black Sea Region. This document is supposed to be adopted by the Ministers of Home Affairs, during the Conference in Prague.
I would like to conclude by stressing our point of view, that only through constant dialogue and cooperation we will be able to address this difficult, but essential issue, its challenges and opportunities. The Romanian PABSEC Delegation therefore fully supports the adoption of both the Report and Recommendation.
Thank you for your kind attention.