MALTESE PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO ATTEND OSCE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

The Hon John Vella, MP, leader of the Malta delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, will be attending the meeting of the Standing Committee of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, which is to be held in Penha Longa, Portugal, on the 9^th October 2001.

The conference, which will be opened by the President of the OSCE PA, Mr. Adrian Severin, will be discussing the report on the election monitoring in Belarus and the report of the ad hoc committee on Abkhazia. Other items on the agenda are discussions on future meetings of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and its fora.

A two-day conference on migration will follow the meeting of the Standing Committee. The Hon John Vella will also be participating in this conference that is being organised with the co-operation of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) at the invitation of the Parliament of Portugal. The President of the OSCE PA and the President of the Assembleia da República of Portugal, Mr António de Almeida Santos, will deliver the welcome address.

The Conference will be discussing the following themes:-

• An Age of International Migration;
• Migration: Good or Evil?;
• External, Internal and Trans-Border Migration;
• Problems encountered by Migrants;
• Migrants’ Rights; and
• Migration in the EU.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE is composed of 317 Parliamentarians from 55 OSCE Member States. The Standing Committee is composed of the Heads of National Delegations, the President of the Assembly, the nine Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer, the Chairs of three General Committees on Political Affairs and Security; Economic Matters; and Human Rights.