25th January 2017 Holy See
January is traditionally a time for New Year’s resolutions and for planning ahead, so it seems a good moment to look at what the year may have in store for the UK and the Holy See. My starting point is Pope Francis’s address to the diplomatic corps, in which he set out how he sees […]
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21st March 2016 Geneva, Switzerland
The Syrian conflict is the source of the most immediate threats now facing the United Kingdom and Europe. Dealing with it has become the most important agenda in Geneva. Our citizens have travelled to the conflict and came back radicalised and ready to commit acts of terrorism. Regional rivals have been drawn into the conflict […]
7th September 2015 Geneva, Switzerland
Who could fail to be moved by the photograph last week of the little Syrian boy on a Turkish beach? We have long grown numb to the statistics of the Syrian conflict yet here was a picture that captured with blinding clarity the human tragedy. Hundreds of little Aylans have drowned in the Mediterranean far […]
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25th November 2014
The following is a guest blog by Simona Prete, Policy and Communication Officer, British Embassy to the Holy See Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Last week, I attended a roundtable discussion held during the VII World Congress of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants, focused […]
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20th November 2014
I was delighted this week to be able to have taken part in a podcast interview at Vatican Radio, organised by Caritas Internationalis, on child migrants. The occasion was the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), an important international Convention that the United Kingdom signed in 1990 and […]
7th March 2014
On Tuesday 11 March a group of officials from different British government departments will be in Rome to meet their Italian opposite numbers, to explain how our benefits system has changed and how it will work for those coming into the UK. On this topic, it is important to underline that we are not trying […]
29th January 2014
Although for me the biggest story of 2013 was the way civil society found its voice, the biggest story UK-Bulgaria story was the vexed issue of migration. We should differentiate between actions and words. The British government’s actions have been clear. We have honoured our legal commitment to lift labour restrictions on Bulgarian workers. In […]
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19th February 2013 Kingston, Jamaica
Just over a week ago the British High Commissioner to Jamaica, Mr Howard Drake, officially launched the Coming Home to Jamaica DVD at his residence. The DVD showcases the work financed and implemented by the British High Commission, in partnership with the Jamaican Government, to safely return, reintegrate and rehabilitate deportees returned from the UK. […]
20th December 2012 Athens, Greece
In January 2009, the then newly-arrived Ambassador, Dr David Landsman, OBE walked into my room, accompanied by our then Political Counsellor, for a brief discussion about my work. Upon leaving, he asked “what is the single area of work that you think will be most important in the period ahead?” I replied “migration”. I think […]
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14th September 2012 Athens, Greece
During the last years Greece has become a host country for many labor migrants. The education policy concerning the children of those migrant families has however still room for development. As the legitimacy status for many immigrant families remains uncertain or unclear due to delays in completing applications for residence permits, the children’s inclusion in […]
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