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The summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is starting in Strasbourg today, June 25.

"An urgent debate has been requested on 'Threats to the health and life of Ukrainian prisoners in the Russian Federation and occupied Crimea,'" the PACE press service said in a statement.

"The Assembly will discuss the humanitarian situation of refugees in the countries neighboring Syria and will hold a joint debate on the extra-territorial processing of asylum claims and the creation of safe refugee shelters abroad as well as the human rights impact of the external dimension of EU asylum and migration policy," the press service added.

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PACE is to elect its new President, the press service says.

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Forced marriage in Europe and the balance between the best interest of the child and the need to keep families together are also scheduled for debate.

The agenda also includes the persecution of LGBTI people in the Chechen Republic, as well as the deliberate destruction and illegal trafficking of cultural heritage.