Brussels, 21/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - At the Palais Universitaire, Strasbourg, on 26 September, CIMADE will celebrate its 70th anniversary. In the morning, two round table discussions will examine the history of the displacement of people in Europe. The event will conclude with a round table on European immigration policies. How can a European hospitality policy be devised? How to build a Europe that does not renege on its founding principles of justice, peace and cohesion? The round table will be chaired by Antoine Péroud, a specialist from the UNESCO International Migration and Multicultural Policies Programme. Among those taking part will be Michel Rocard, a former MEP and prime minister of France, Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, Bassirou Diarra, Technical Adviser to the Presidency of Mali, Catherine Trautmann MEP and Lorena Escudera, Minister for Ecuadorian Migrants.
CIMADE was set up in 1939 to come to the aid of people displaced by the war, then, from 1940, it became involved in internment camps, demonstrating its resistance to the Vichy regime and its solidarity with the “undesirables” of the time, a press release says. From 1942, CIMADE teams worked in escape networks and helped save many Jews. For information, go to: http://www.lacimade.org (G.B./transl.rt)