Ecumenical European meeting in Sigtuna about migration

The 19th General Assembly of the Churches’ Commission for Migrants in Europe (CCME) will start on 26 June and will be hosted by Sweden. One of the issues that will be discussed is how the churches can influence European countries to take greater responsibility for the refugee crises in our vicinity.

The General Assembly will take place at Sigtunastiftelsen (the Sigtuna Foundation) on 26–28 June and is estimated to attract about 50 delegates from CCME’s member organisations from all over Europe, as well as a few representatives of partner organisations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. On the first day of the General Assembly (26 June) everyone who is interested is welcome to visit Sigtunastiftelsen to attend a conference about the EU’s external borders and thematic seminars focusing on sharing experiences (registration of attendance is required in advance).

“The opportunity to share, network and learn from each other regarding issues of refugees, migration, diversity and the churches’ responsibility are key components in CCME’s work,”
says Kristina Hellqvist, advisor on refugee and integration issues in the Church of Sweden. She is also a member of the Christian Council of Sweden’s migration working group and is the vice moderator of CCME.

“One important issue in the General Assembly will be how the churches can influence European countries to take greater responsibility for the refugee crises in our vicinity – not least the humanitarian disaster that the civil war in Syria has entailed,” continues Kristina Hellqvist.

One of the seminars will be about the EU’s external borders, and participants will include experts from the civil society and politicians from various EU Member States. Swedish-Eritrean journalist Meron Estefanos will be one of the speakers. The theme will be the price that refugees and migrants pay for crossing borders and the price we are prepared to pay to try and keep borders to Europe closed. Preliminary results of a new European study that CCME is working on will also be presented. Organisational issues such as how closer cooperation with the Conference of European Churches (CEC) could be formed will also be discussed during the days in Sigtuna.

The participants at the General Assembly will include Victoria Kamondji, moderator of CCME; Åke Bonnier, Bishop of Skara Diocese; Karin Wiborn, General Secretary of the Christian Council of Sweden; Alf Linderman, Director of Sigtunastiftelsen; Seta Hadeshian, Diakonia and Social Justice Unit Director at the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) and Tabitha Kentaro Sabiiti, Policy and Advocacy Officer: Liaison Office to the African Union, the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC).

The Church of Sweden and the Christian Council of Sweden, the two Swedish member organisations in CCME, are hosting the event in Sigtuna.

Facts about CCME

CCME was founded in 1964 by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and today also has close cooperation with the Conference of European Churches (CEC). CCME has five areas of work on the agenda: Europe’s responsibility for the protection of refugees, human dignity for migrant workers, work to prevent human trafficking, uniting in diversity and strong ecumenism between domestic and migrant-led churches, and the churches’ work on integration and inclusion. 

For more information about CCME, visit: www.ccme.be

Contact details

Kristina Hellqvist, advisor on refugee and integration issues in the Church of Sweden, member of the Christian Council of Sweden’s migration working group and vice moderator of CCME.
kristina.hellqvist@svenskakyrkan.se  
Tel. +46 18 16 95 86