A meeting of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was held in Paris under the chairmanship of Ukrainian Member of Parliament Oleksii Honcharenko. The focus was on challenges in migration policy, refugee rights, and the threat of suspension of assistance to internally displaced persons.
At the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe session, avenues for enhancing cooperation among governmental, private, and civil society entities in the field of migration were considered, with a focus on preventing migrant disappearances and ensuring human rights compliance in asylum procedures.
During the discussion, Ukrainian Member of Parliament and member of the Permanent Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Larysa Bilozir, drew attention to the use of migration flows as a tool of hybrid influence by the russian federation.
«russia deliberately uses migration flows as a tool of hybrid pressure, targeting, for example, Finland and the EU. At the end of 2023, Finland closed all border crossing points with russia due to an increase in migrants from the Middle East and Africa arriving via russian territory. In April 2025, the Finnish government extended these measures indefinitely amid the risk of a resurgence of such “instrumentalized migration,” which poses a threat to national security and public order,» she stated.
Special attention was given to the critical underfunding of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This agency, particularly in Ukraine, has provided financial assistance to vulnerable families, housing rental support for internally displaced persons, and the restoration of damaged housing.
«For Ukraine, this holds particular significance; we understand the cost of losses and support. As of today, over 3.7 million of our citizens remain internally displaced, and millions are abroad,» emphasized Larysa Bilozir.
The Committee prepared a corresponding statement calling for enhanced support to UNHCR and for this issue to be included in the report of Committee Chair Oleksii Honcharenko ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, 2025.
Participants also discussed the mandates of governmental and non-governmental entities in the field of migration, raised by Italian Senate Senator Sandra Zampa, as well as initiatives to prevent migrant disappearances, presented by French National Assembly Deputy Emmanuel Fernandez. Ward Lutin, representative of the EU Agency for Asylum, reported challenges in upholding international standards for humane treatment at borders in several countries.
«Work continues with the understanding that, in today’s realities, the rights of migrants and displaced persons must not only be a topic of discussion but supported by appropriate decisions,» concluded Larysa Bilozir.
