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Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 12533 | 07 March 2011
Europe’s forgotten people: protecting the human rights of long-term displaced persons
1. The Committee of Ministers has given
close consideration to Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1877 (2009) on “Europe’s forgotten people: protecting the human
rights of long-term displaced persons”, which it has drawn to the
attention of member states' governments and the European Union.
The Committee has also forwarded it to the European Committee on
Legal Co-operation (CDCJ), the Steering Committee for Human Rights
(CDDH) and the European Committee on Migration (CDMG) for information
and possible comments.
2. Like the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers
believes that particular attention should be paid to the situation
of internally displaced persons (IDPs), to ensure that their human
rights are fully respected and to guarantee stability and peace
on the European continent.
3. In connection with paragraph 15.1, and in accordance with
the concerns expressed by the Council of Europe's Heads of State
and Government at their Warsaw Summit in 2005, subsequently reaffirmed
at various ministerial sessions, the Committee is convinced of the
need to achieve a peaceful settlement of all the protracted conflicts
in Europe, with a view to securing the voluntary, safe, dignified
and informed return of IDPs to their place of origin. Subject to
the constraints it faces, and while ensuring that it does not interfere
in negotiations that are already the subject of international mediation
accepted by the various parties to the conflicts, the Council of
Europe conducts numerous activities aimed at creating suitable conditions
for the peaceful settlement of such conflicts. Naturally, the Committee
is guided in these activities by the general principles of public
international law. The Committee of Ministers also ensures that
it is regularly informed about progress in the different negotiation
procedures.
4. Regarding the observance of international protection standards
referred to in paragraph 15.2, the Committee of Ministers once again
emphasises its commitment to the spirit and provisions of the United Nations
Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (the UN Guiding Principles)
and to the application of these principles, which enjoy international
recognition and authority in member states' national legislation
and policies. It recalls that its Recommendation Rec(2006)6 on internally
displaced persons, adopted on 5 April 2006, was particularly concerned
to place the UN Guiding Principles in a European context and to develop
some of these principles further on the basis of existing Council
of Europe standards. It strongly encourages member states affected
by unresolved conflicts to formulate internal legislation and practice
in accordance with all these standards.
5. Regarding the Assembly's recommendation that a new permanent
committee be established to replace the Ad hoc Committee of Experts
on the Legal Aspects of Territorial Asylum, Refugees and Stateless
Persons (CAHAR), and that it be responsible for the activities set
out in paragraph 15.2, the Committee of Ministers considers that
the current financial situation does not permit the establishment
of such a committee. It will nevertheless continue to monitor the
situation of IDPs in the member states and consider other options
and means of strengthening its activities in this field. Such new
activities might include exchanges of information and experience
between IDP representatives, as envisaged in paragraph 15.4 of the
recommendation. They might also be concerned with increasing awareness
of the positive impact that existing Council of Europe conventions
can have on the situation of IDPs.
6. In this context, the Committee recalls that, drawing on existing
Council of Europe standards, Recommendation Rec(2006)6 stresses
the importance, regarding IDPs, of certain obligations entered into
by Council of Europe member states and that it includes several
references to the European Convention on Human Rights, which is
an extremely effective tool for protecting displaced persons in
Europe.
7. With reference to the 15 recommendations in paragraph 15.3
for protecting the rights of IDPs, the Committee of Ministers notes
that, subject to differences of language and a greater degree of
detail, these essentially reflect the same principles as those set
out in Recommendation Rec(2006)6. It therefore encourages member
states affected by issues relating to internal displacement to use
these recommendations as a source of inspiration in their implementation
of Recommendation Rec(2006)6.
8. The Committee also wishes to draw attention to certain projects
concerned specifically with IDPs that have been implemented with
the financial support of member states. One example is a project
to protect the human rights and dignity of vulnerable migrants,
which aims to strengthen regional and bilateral co-operation in
south-eastern and eastern Europe, particularly through activities
concerned with advice on and assistance with improving the socio-economic
integration of IDPs, both those who remain in their new locations
and those who have returned home. Assistance, including training,
is offered, at the request of the member states concerned, throughout
the period of the project (2009-2012).
9. The Council of Europe has also launched a project in Georgia
to improve the integration of IDPs by developing cohesion at local
level and establishing lasting co-operation with the inhabitants
of the places where they have settled. The project includes a series
of training modules focussing on practical issues such as access
to employment, which will provide indications on how these matters
can be dealt with at local level.
10. As noted earlier, the Committee has forwarded the Parliamentary
Assembly recommendation to the European Union, in the firm belief
that the latter will give full attention to the recommendations
in paragraph 16, in the context of its relations with member states
affected by internal displacements.