The situation of refugee women in Europe
Doc. 7485
9 February 1996Motion for a Recommendation
presented by Mrs AGUIAR and othersThis motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it
1 With a seemingly never-ending flow of refugees requiring assistance from the international community, attention in the past few years has increasingly focused on the most vulnerable among them - refugee women.
2. While tragic events in the former Yugoslavia have sadly contributed to this situation, facts and figures also tell their own tale. Thus refugee women and their dependents make up the majority of refugees and displaced persons world-wide, yet their specific needs, concerns and resources are largely neglected.
3. Refugee women are often the sole providers for their families and need to be given recognition in their own right as well as the opportunity to gain financial independence.
4. Refugee women's claims to be persecuted on the basis of gender identity are only rarely recognised as grounds for refugee status.
5. Refugee women make an essential contribution to stability within the refugee community in general and to physical as well as psychological nurturing within refugee families.
6. Refugee women are prone to sexual violence before, during and after flight as well as to other forms of exploitation.
7. Refugee women are rarely provided equal access to assistance services in general and to food, health, education and training services in particular.
8. Refugee women can, if given proper guidance and training during their temporary stay in a given host country, be in a position to contribute towards reconstruction and reconciliation in their countries of origin once the time has come for their return.
9. The Assembly therefore recommends that the Committee of Ministers undertake an in-depth analysis of the situation of refugee women in Europe with a view to developing recommendations to member States aimed at promoting refugee women's contribution to reconstruction and reconciliation in their countries of origin when they return, in particular by means of proper guidance and training designed to improve:
- their professional skills, and
- their understanding of democratic values and human rights and the application of these rights in daily life.
Signed:
Aguiar, Portugal, LDR
Johnston, United Kingdom, LDR
Kalus, Czech Republic, EDG
Novak, Czech Republic, EDG
Pantelejevs, Latvia, LDR
Trojan, Czech Republic, SOC
Laakso, Finland, UEL
Ruffy, Switzerland, SOC
Brennan, Ireland, LDR
M�sz�ros, Hungary, LDR
Hunt, United Kingdom, EDG
* SOC : Socialist Group
EPP : Group of the European People's Party
EDG : European Democratic Group
LDR : Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group
UEL : Group of the Unified European Left