PIE Newsbulletin, Migrants and the Media

Aus dem PIE Newsbulletin, 2 July 2010: Platform for Intercultural Europe PIE

EU Integration Forum, 24-25th June

Migrants and the Media

The third meeting of the EU Integration Forum focused on the relationship between migrants and the media. The Forum allows for consultative input of civil society to EU policy-making on the integration of immigrants. Both the challenges of training media professionals to communicate about migrants and of training migrants to communicate in the media were subject of discussion. The Platform for Intercultural Europe was actively represented by its Steering Group member Tarafa Baghajati, who has a track record of raising the media profile of people with migration background in Austria and beyond. With his speaking contributions, he was also able to build on our workshop on migrants and the media during our Vienna Practice Exchange in November 2009.

Read the background paper to the Forum.

Read the input paper elaborated in advance by the participating European Civil Society organisations.

We would like to take our work on the topic ‘migrants and media’

further. If you have special expertise in this field, please

Write to dialogue [at] intercultural-europe.org

AMI Austrian Muslim Initiative and CEJI A Jewish Contribution to an inclusive Europe

Participation in OSCE Conference on Tolerance and Non-Discrimination, Astana (Kazachstan) June 2010

Two members of the Platform for Intercultural Europe contributed to the civil society preparatory meeting of this high-level conference. Gidon van Emden of CEJI chaired a session. Tarafa Baghajati, chair of the Austrian Muslim Initiative, was able to influence decisively the adoption of recommendations to Member States regarding combating intolerance and discrimination against Muslims. The participation of constructive Muslim NGOs had been encouraged by the co-organising Office for Democratic Development and Human Rights (ODIHR) in order to address their traditional underrepresentation. Tarafa Baghajati points out the historical importance of the existence of such conferences. Despite the lack of an immediate effect on governments’ actions, Tarafa is convinced that the civil society recommendations provide useful ethical reference for the future.

Read the Consolidated Summary of Recommendations:

http://www.intercultural-europe.org/newsbulletin/2010newsbulletin2.htmlhttp://www.intercultural-europe.org/docs/5Astana-20100628-OSCE-ODIHR-44969_en.pdf