Mr. Kyriakos Hatzigiannis, Special Representative of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) on Civil Society Participation, participated today in a teleconference co-organized by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the UNHCR on combating the lack of tolerance towards refugees and migrants.
In his intervention in a session on shaping public perceptions towards migrants and refugees in host societies, Mr. Hatzigiannis noted that refugees and migrants can make a significant contribution to the societies of their host countries, if given the opportunity, while stressing that public perceptions have a significant impact on this perspective.
The Special Representative of the OSCE CSO Special Representative for Civil Society Participation noted that international and local non-governmental organizations can make a significant contribution to shaping positive perceptions. He stressed that the development of meaningful interpersonal contacts between the local population and refugees or migrants, as well as the encouragement of the local population to participate in voluntary activities, strengthens empathy and understanding and creates the conditions for the cultivation of positive perceptions in host countries. He assured that civil society organisations are ideal actors for promoting such actions.
Hatzigiannis also noted that efforts to foster positive attitudes in host societies face additional challenges when citizens of frontline countries have to host disproportionately large numbers of migrants and refugees. This, Hatzigiannis stressed, is the result of the unacceptable refusal of other states to contribute to the hosting of refugees and migrants and their instrumentalization by states seeking to secure political trade-offs.
Therefore, Hatzigiannis concluded, we must make every effort to find a holistic solution to migration in order to reap its significant benefits in the most efficient way.
(M/F)
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