Meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and the Committee on Development&nbsp;&nbsp;(DEVE) with young people of the European Youth Event (EYE) on migration, in the EP in Brussels. Statements by Linda McAVAN (S&amp;D, UK), Chair Committee on Development, Matthaus FANDREJEWSKI, Germany, Andreea Gabriela GAVRILA, Romania, Marielle DE SARNEZ (ALDE, FR), Pier Antonio PANZERI (S&amp;D, IT), Linda SLAPAKOVA, Romania, and Ana GOMES (S&amp;D, PT).

Committee on Foreign Affairs

Brussels

exchange of views

meeting

migration and refugees in Europe (T)

Committee on Development

PANZERI, Pier Antonio (S&D, IT)

GOMES, Ana (S&D, PT)

McAVAN, Linda (S&D, UK)

DE SARNEZ, Marielle (ALDE, FR)

European Youth Event 2016 (T)

Exchange of views with young people of the European Youth Event (EYE) on migration: extracts from the debate at the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Development

SOUNDBITE (English), Linda McAVAN (S&amp;D, UK), Chair Committee on Development, I am very pleased to welcome our guests today. The second edition of the European Youth Event took place in Strasbourg in May, on 20-21 of May, and there were 7500 young people that got together to discuss ideas that are now being presented across the parliament in 10 different committees.

SOUNDBITE (English), Matthaus FANDREJEWSKI, Germany, Youth Representative, European Confederation of Indepedent Trade Unions, My proposal would enable all the diplomatic representations belonging to the EU Member States to receive and acknowledge asylum requests in order to provide first protection to applicants on humanitarian basis. This would give the opportunity to recognise asylum status for asylum seekers who are in direct need of protection as we can see now in the Syrian population. This proposed service, of receiving request at diplomatic missions could be shared between all Member States so that only one embassy provide it on the ground. I think this is an important change on the hand, because we could provide protection for the asylum seekers from the very onset, and on the other hand failed requests will be communicated to the person in question and provide them with the knowledge that the request has been denied.

SOUNDBITE (English), Andreea Gabriela GAVRILA, Romania, My proposal today is for the EU to create safe zones, and function as cities inside the countries of conflict, instead of the already existing refugee camps, in order to prove the EU and therefore combined power. In other words, the refugee camps should be transformed into safe cities with our support, the support of Europeans. These safe cities can further enter into partnerships with different EU cities on specific issues.

SOUNDBITE (French), Marielle DE SARNEZ (ALDE, FR), I fully agree with the first idea. Of course the EU should have opened up offices to cope with asylum seekers. For example for Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. And its true that it is quite surrealist that the only way to request asylum is to pay a human trafficker and risk your life and that of your wife and your children to get here illegally, when it could have been done in your own country. So I fully agree with what was proposed. The Canadians have done it.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Pier Antonio PANZERI (S&amp;D, IT), The idea of using diplomatic missions has a series of requirements that dont seem to be there. We would have to strengthen our diplomatic outposts and I don't think that that's going to happen. And we would have to acknowledge that we would need Europe to take in more refugees. Canada is one country, Europe is more difficult, there's no solidarity here when it comes to redistribution of refugees.

SOUNDBITE (English), Linda SLAPAKOVA, Romania, I would like to propose a Euro-Mediterranean framework for action specifically designed to address the needs and concerns of young people abroad, and this in three regards; firstly in ensuring better access to education, vocational training and address the issue of youth unemployment. The lack of socio-economic opportunity is definitely one of the primary push factors of mass migration, and if not addressed with a long term perspective the situation of young people will not change and they will simply no have any other option but to leave their countries again and again.

SOUNDBITE (English), Ana GOMES (S&amp;D, PT), Of course this has to do as well with policies that really empower the young people and of course it has to be with opportunities, social opportunities, economic, jobs. Because we cant go on thinking that we are going to deliver a good work in terms of prevention, if at the same time indeed we do not offer basic opportunities to young people and these opportunities come from jobs and so on.