Brussels, 25/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - Socialist and Democratic (S&D) Group leader Gianni Pittella will announce at a reception in the European Parliament on Tuesday 26 January that MEP Afzal Khan (UK) is to be his special representative to Muslim communities.
Khan, 57, is a British Muslim MEP of Pakistani origin. This Labour party member has, since 2014, sat on the Parliamentary foreign affairs committee and been a member of the delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula. He is also deputy chair of the security and defence sub-committee.
According to Pittella's spokesperson, Khan's task will be to put in place a strategy for better integration, organising, for example, conferences and field visits. He will focus on both first and second generation immigrants and new arrivals, working to prevent and to tackle marginalisation, intolerance, racism and radicalisation.
The means that will be put at his disposal, however, are not yet certain: according to the spokesperson, he will probably receive some financial assistance from the S&D Group in Parliament. No decision has been made either on the length of his term of office. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)