As a European trade union confederation representing primarily public sector workers, CESI has attached great importance to both topics. CESI has for a long time worked on solutions to address rising radicalist threats and to manage migration and integrate migrants successfully. Its members, be it from the education, justice or security sectors, have for long brought the problem of rising radicalist tendencies in European societies to the public attention. Working at the forefront with incoming migrants and refugees, CESI affiliates have recently also stressed that investments in migration management and the integration of migrants are urgently needed if major societal costs are to be avoided in the longer term. CESI and its members have and will continue to contribute to finding holistic and cross-sector solutions.

Migration management: Better support for public sector workers needed

The position paper on migration management and the integration of migrants outlines CESI’s view on how public sector workers could be better supported to efficiently receive and effectively integrate incoming migrants.

Above all, the position stresses that sufficient personnel and investment should be urgently allocated to central and local administrations as well as to the health and education sectors in order to deal with additional workloads resulting from the arrival and integration of numerous migrants.

It also underlines the importance of ensuring access to training courses and resources for staff members in order to give them the capacities necessary to deal with the challenges involved in the reception and integration of migrants.

Prevention of radicalisation and terrorism: Public services need more resources

The position on the prevention of radicalisation and terrorism notes that public services need more resources in order to act more effectively – in particular with regards to the justice sector (prison administrations), social, education and healthcare services, and the justice sector.

The text notes above all that:
• CESI supports moves towards the improvement of the legal protection of security agents;
• soldiers are increasingly being deployed in the fight against terrorism despite the fact that this was not initially part of their mission, which makes it necessary to provide them with additional tailored training;
• further support and training is urgently required for the various other public sector workers who are in direct contact with individuals at risk of being radicalised;
• education should become a social integration channel and a vector for values such as civil rights, democracy, fundamental rights, tolerance and respect, which means that teachers must receive more support from schools – and that schools must receive more support from the state in order to better guide students when shaping ideas and their identity;  and that
• there is a need to strengthen and support penitentiary personnel, namely by training them to better understand and detect the signs of radicalisation as well as respond to such situations.

Both position papers will be made available in the policy positions section of CESI’s website.