CCME and civil society partners publish Joint briefing: EU leaders should uphold asylum and rights-based migration policies in Europe. Read it here
CCME is in the context of the COMET project inviting you to a
WEBINAR: COMPLEMENTARY PATHWAYS IN A CHANGING POLITICAL CONTEXT
28th May 2024 15.00-16.30 (Brussels time)
More info here
CCME and CEC call to commemorate refugees who lost their lives
at European borders on 23rd June 2024 (Sunday after World Refugee Day)
READ IT HERE
CLICK HERE
CCME and 80 other Civil Society Organisations call on MEPs to vote down harmful EU Migration Pact.
Please read it here
CCME General Assembly Concludes with Key Decisions on Leadership and Budget
By Joy Eva Bohol
THE General Assembly of the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) on 18 June 2024 concluded its recent session with significant decisions on leadership appointments, financial approvals, its work program, and membership recommendations. The hybrid assembly was held at the CCME office in Brussels and online. Click to read.
Photo: The roll call confirmed the presence of 29 (initially 28) voting members, both onsite and online, out of a total of 39 members, thereby establishing a clear quorum for the assembly.
CCME Webinar on EP Elections Reaffirms Commitment to ‘Protection of People More Than Borders’
By Joy Eva Bohol
PARTICIPANTS from across Europe, including members of the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) and its partners, joined a webinar on asylum and migration on May 21, in the context of the upcoming European Parliament (EP) elections. Click to read.
Photo: Two MEPs standing for re-election, Lena Düpont of the German CDU/European People’s Party and Tineke Strik of the Dutch GroenLinks/Greens, shared their perspectives on the Migration and Asylum Pact and its future implementation. Both have played central roles as members of the LIBE Committee, working on European asylum and migration legislation.
CCME’s Advocacy Training, ‘vital’ in the growing importance of EU law on asylum and migration policy
by Joy Eva Bohol
WITH the growing importance and worrying trends in European Law on asylum and migration, the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe’s (CCME) Advocacy Training in Athens, Greece on 12-15 February 2024 “is vital, more than ever, to train and empower its constituency to better understand European Union (EU) legislation,” said CCME General Secretary Dr. Torsten Moritz. Click to read here.
Photo: Participants of the CCME Advocacy Training interact, during spaces of sharing and discussion. Photo by Alice Jahier
CCME executive committee convenes to discuss mandates from the 2023 general assembly
By Joy Eva Bohol
THE newly elected members of the Executive Committee of the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) convened on 15-16 January 2024 in Brussels to start to implement its mandate from the General Assembly in November 2023, and to propose priorities and strategies for the term 2024-2027. Click to read here.
Photo: Newly elected members of the Executive Committee of CCME and staff with European Peoples Party EPP representative Vit Novotny (middle front row) at the headquarters in Brussels, Belgium for its first in-person meeting on 15-16 January.
CCME to GRF 2023: welcoming the stranger and upholding refugee rights are in our ‘Christian DNA’
By Joy Eva Bohol
AS PART of this year’s Global Refugee Forum (GRF) held in Geneva, Switzerland on 13-15 December, the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) had engaged in the side events, affirming the churches’ continued commitment to uphold refugee and asylum protection, and to offer as safe sanctuaries to refugees, forcibly displaced people, and people on the move. Click to read here.
Photo: (From R to L) CCME Moderator Ms. Fiona Kendall, CCME General Secretary Torsten Moritz, CCME seconded staff and UMCOR Regional Migration Specialist for Europe Ms. Joy Eva Bohol
CCME appeals to negotiators on EU asylum and migration pact: “avoid a pact which results in an ill-functioning, costly, and cruel system. Click to read here
PLEASE FIND OUR PRESS RELEASE FROM OUR LAST GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN ROME, NOVEMBER 2023 here
CCME and other Christian organisations support migrants rights in EU labour migration proposals:
– Christian organisations
– NGO coalition
Click here to read it
YOU CAN READ IT HERE?
READ IT HERE
CCME EXPRESSES CONCERN ON EU-TUNISIA AGREEMENT, CONTRADICTS EU COMMISSION PRESIDENT: ”SAFE PASSAGE INSTEAD OF SHADY MIGRATION DEALS “
READ IT HERE
CCME INVITES YOU TO THE WEBINAR
SECONDARY MOVEMENT: HIDDEN CHALLENGES, 26th October 2023, 10.30-12.00 (Brussels time)
CCME COMET-Webinar-secondary-movements-agenda
Despite increased discussions and activities on complementary pathways into protection into the EU in recent years, one issue has emerged but rarely been discussed: the secondary movement of beneficiaries of complementary pathways.
While the secondary movement of asylum seekers is well-known, the secondary movement of beneficiaries of complementary pathways raises a number of important questions regarding
• target groups and their aspirations;
• programme set-up;
• reception and integration;
• remedial action.
As complementary pathways expand and multiply, the interactive webinar “Secondary movement: hidden challenges” for practitioners, experts and those wanting to become either in the area of complementary pathways will consider this important issue.
The webinar is organised by CCME as part of the COMET project – https://www.cometnetwork.eu
Please register here
The EUAA “Practical Guide on Interviewing Applicants with Religion-based Asylum Claims” – content, opportunities and challenges from churches´ perspectives on 8th June 2023, 11.00-12.30 (Brussels time) on zoom.
Please SEE THE AGENDA AND REGISTER here
After 5 days of intense and very interesting Africa Europe Ecumenical Forum on Migration, in Hamburg, we have come up with a communique . Please find it here.
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CCME with partners asks EU member states to abandon plans to condition trade
preferences for countries in the global south on their migration and readmission cooperation with the EU.
Read the joint letter here
30 leaders of Christian churches and organisations across Europe prior to Easter declare
“As you did it to one of the least of these…you did it to me. – Matthew 25:40 – ALL refugees welcome”
You can read the full declaration here
CCME solidarity visit to Hungary, in March 2022.
CCME and partners Event focuses on Christian conversion in asylum procedure in Europe
The topic “conversion in the asylum procedure, new developments and old challenges” was brought into focus in an online event from 18 to 20 January 2022. The participants reflected together on how the conversion to Christianity by asylum seekers in Europe has raised pastoral, theological-missiological, legal as well as ethical questions and dilemmas for the churches.
The event was organised by the Churches Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) and the Conference of European Churches (CEC), together with the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) … read more
You can also read here the Executive Summary