Paris, 22 October  2011

15.30 - 17.30 : Public event: Human rights and Independant media
Presentation of the campaign and discussion about its objectives with representatives of the civil society, journalists, Members of the European Parliament. With Rokhaya Diallo from les Indivisibles and Alain Morice, Paris7, l'URMIS and member of Migreurop.

From 9.30 to 15.30 : Working session with invited organisations - Agenda of the day available on request.

Directions to venue: Click here to download PDF

Background information

Most EU member-states manage migration flows through detention centres for migrants. Human rights violations have been reported in most countries, with de facto detainees, who have committed no crime, being denied legal advice, external communication, and freedom of movement. Living conditions are abysmal and have been denounced by human rights organisations.
 
If the drama of people crossing the sea to reach European shores has attracted some media attention, the public is largely unaware of the conditions of detention in these centres; the focus of mediatic attention in Europe on the case of Lampedusa often hides or forgets that equally unacceptable conditions exist in centres throughout the continent. Access to detention centres is indeed in most countries limited or impossible for journalists, human right groups, and civil society and in some cases even to local authorities. This is doubly problematic, as it infringes migrants’ rights as well as freedom of information and expression.
 
The European Commission and Parliament are discussing new guidelines for asylum seekers and migrants in Europe as part of the Green Paper on Detention and the ongoing Stockholm Programme, a process aiming to draft new European legislation on security, justice, and home affairs.
 
With the Paris forum we wish to bring together organisations working on freedom of information, migrants’ rights, and detention, discussing together the methods and strategy to set up a European human rights advocacy campaign calling for free access for journalists and civil society to detention centres.
 
Programme for the day
 
The objective of the day is to create a coalition of organization, ready to collaborate and undertake coordinated actions to call for access civil society (journalists, NGOs, etc.) to detention centres everywhere in Europe.
 
The day will start with a short review of the conditions of access to detention centres in different European countries from the southern shores to new European borderlands such as Bulgaria and Romania. Italy and France, in particular, will be analyzed as they were at the centre of the international diatribe over border controls that challenged the existence of the Schengen Treaty.
 
The morning will continue with a discussion on the possibility, modalities and objectives of a human rights advocacy campaign for access to detention centres, with a review of the merits of similar campagins run in the past by Migreuopr and most recently in Italy by the coalition LasciateCIEntrare. It will be complemented with a debate on implication of the media and journalists in such a campaign.
 
Then, participants will split in working groups which will plan the campaign. One group will develop the first version of a policy proposal; another group will discuss which members of the European Parliament the approach to take this forward and how to develop a strategy in this direction. A third group would design communication strategies to reach a European public opinion through traditional media as well as social networks.
 
In the end of the afternoon (15.30 to 17.30 pm) a public discussion will open the discussion to such a campaign to a wider public, members of the potential partners’ organizations and interested individuals.
 
 Contacts
 
For questions on the program and to confirm your attendance, please contact Ségolène Pruvot, s.pruvot@euroalter.com
 
For organizational questions, please contact Alexandra Solom on paris@euroalter.com

Paris, 22 October  2011

15.30 - 17.30 : Public event: Human rights and Independant media
Presentation of the campaign and discussion about its objectives with representatives of the civil society, journalists, Members of the European Parliament. With Rokhaya Diallo from les Indivisibles and Alain Morice, Paris7, l'URMIS and member of Migreurop.

From 9.30 to 15.30 : Working session with invited organisations - Agenda of the day available on request.

Directions to venue: Click here to download PDF

Background information

Most EU member-states manage migration flows through detention centres for migrants. Human rights violations have been reported in most countries, with de facto detainees, who have committed no crime, being denied legal advice, external communication, and freedom of movement. Living conditions are abysmal and have been denounced by human rights organisations.
 
If the drama of people crossing the sea to reach European shores has attracted some media attention, the public is largely unaware of the conditions of detention in these centres; the focus of mediatic attention in Europe on the case of Lampedusa often hides or forgets that equally unacceptable conditions exist in centres throughout the continent. Access to detention centres is indeed in most countries limited or impossible for journalists, human right groups, and civil society and in some cases even to local authorities. This is doubly problematic, as it infringes migrants’ rights as well as freedom of information and expression.
 
The European Commission and Parliament are discussing new guidelines for asylum seekers and migrants in Europe as part of the Green Paper on Detention and the ongoing Stockholm Programme, a process aiming to draft new European legislation on security, justice, and home affairs.
 
With the Paris forum we wish to bring together organisations working on freedom of information, migrants’ rights, and detention, discussing together the methods and strategy to set up a European human rights advocacy campaign calling for free access for journalists and civil society to detention centres.
 
Programme for the day
 
The objective of the day is to create a coalition of organization, ready to collaborate and undertake coordinated actions to call for access civil society (journalists, NGOs, etc.) to detention centres everywhere in Europe.
 
The day will start with a short review of the conditions of access to detention centres in different European countries from the southern shores to new European borderlands such as Bulgaria and Romania. Italy and France, in particular, will be analyzed as they were at the centre of the international diatribe over border controls that challenged the existence of the Schengen Treaty.
 
The morning will continue with a discussion on the possibility, modalities and objectives of a human rights advocacy campaign for access to detention centres, with a review of the merits of similar campagins run in the past by Migreuopr and most recently in Italy by the coalition LasciateCIEntrare. It will be complemented with a debate on implication of the media and journalists in such a campaign.
 
Then, participants will split in working groups which will plan the campaign. One group will develop the first version of a policy proposal; another group will discuss which members of the European Parliament the approach to take this forward and how to develop a strategy in this direction. A third group would design communication strategies to reach a European public opinion through traditional media as well as social networks.
 
In the end of the afternoon (15.30 to 17.30 pm) a public discussion will open the discussion to such a campaign to a wider public, members of the potential partners’ organizations and interested individuals.
 
 Contacts
 
For questions on the program and to confirm your attendance, please contact Ségolène Pruvot, s.pruvot@euroalter.com
 
For organizational questions, please contact Alexandra Solom on paris@euroalter.com

Paris, 22 October  2011

15.30 - 17.30 : Public event: Human rights and Independant media
Presentation of the campaign and discussion about its objectives with representatives of the civil society, journalists, Members of the European Parliament. With Rokhaya Diallo from les Indivisibles and Alain Morice, Paris7, l'URMIS and member of Migreurop.

From 9.30 to 15.30 : Working session with invited organisations - Agenda of the day available on request.

Directions to venue: Click here to download PDF

Background information

Most EU member-states manage migration flows through detention centres for migrants. Human rights violations have been reported in most countries, with de facto detainees, who have committed no crime, being denied legal advice, external communication, and freedom of movement. Living conditions are abysmal and have been denounced by human rights organisations.
 
If the drama of people crossing the sea to reach European shores has attracted some media attention, the public is largely unaware of the conditions of detention in these centres; the focus of mediatic attention in Europe on the case of Lampedusa often hides or forgets that equally unacceptable conditions exist in centres throughout the continent. Access to detention centres is indeed in most countries limited or impossible for journalists, human right groups, and civil society and in some cases even to local authorities. This is doubly problematic, as it infringes migrants’ rights as well as freedom of information and expression.
 
The European Commission and Parliament are discussing new guidelines for asylum seekers and migrants in Europe as part of the Green Paper on Detention and the ongoing Stockholm Programme, a process aiming to draft new European legislation on security, justice, and home affairs.
 
With the Paris forum we wish to bring together organisations working on freedom of information, migrants’ rights, and detention, discussing together the methods and strategy to set up a European human rights advocacy campaign calling for free access for journalists and civil society to detention centres.
 
Programme for the day
 
The objective of the day is to create a coalition of organization, ready to collaborate and undertake coordinated actions to call for access civil society (journalists, NGOs, etc.) to detention centres everywhere in Europe.
 
The day will start with a short review of the conditions of access to detention centres in different European countries from the southern shores to new European borderlands such as Bulgaria and Romania. Italy and France, in particular, will be analyzed as they were at the centre of the international diatribe over border controls that challenged the existence of the Schengen Treaty.
 
The morning will continue with a discussion on the possibility, modalities and objectives of a human rights advocacy campaign for access to detention centres, with a review of the merits of similar campagins run in the past by Migreuopr and most recently in Italy by the coalition LasciateCIEntrare. It will be complemented with a debate on implication of the media and journalists in such a campaign.
 
Then, participants will split in working groups which will plan the campaign. One group will develop the first version of a policy proposal; another group will discuss which members of the European Parliament the approach to take this forward and how to develop a strategy in this direction. A third group would design communication strategies to reach a European public opinion through traditional media as well as social networks.
 
In the end of the afternoon (15.30 to 17.30 pm) a public discussion will open the discussion to such a campaign to a wider public, members of the potential partners’ organizations and interested individuals.
 
 Contacts
 
For questions on the program and to confirm your attendance, please contact Ségolène Pruvot, s.pruvot@euroalter.com
 
For organizational questions, please contact Alexandra Solom on paris@euroalter.com