Refugees, asylum-seekers and displaced persons in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Refugees, asylum-seekers and displaced persons in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Doc. 7497
1 March 1996

Motion for a Recommendation
presented by Mrs AGUIAR and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

            The Assembly,

1.         Having regard to Resolution 996 (1993) and Recommendation 1207 (1993) on population movements between the states of the former Soviet Union, Resolution 1049 (1994) on the situation of the German ethnic minority in the former Soviet Union, and Recommendation 1278 (1995) on refugees and asylum-seekers in central and eastern Europe;

2.         Stressing that observance of the human rights of refugees, asylum-seekers and displaced persons is an essential aspect of the human rights question in general;

3.         Concerned about the mass population movements that have followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, and about the serious difficulties facing the people involved in these movements;

4.         Concerned about the precarious humanitarian plight of the persons displaced by the fighting in the Caucasus;

5.         Concerned about the shortcomings of the asylum procedures in the CIS countries;

6.         Aware that the CIS countries have become major transit centres for asylum-seekers wishing to enter western Europe, and concerned at the fate of such people, who often fall foul of traffickers in refugees and migrants and are subjected to various forms of exploitation;

7.         Welcoming the forthcoming Regional Conference to address the problems of refugees, displaced persons, other forms of involuntary displacement and returnees in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and relevant neighbouring states, due to be held on the initiative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) during the first half of 1996, and considering that the Assembly should be represented at this conference;

8.         Convinced that the problems of refugees, asylum-seekers and displaced persons in the CIS can be solved only through the concerted efforts of all the countries in the region, with the assistance of the Council of Europe and its member states,

9.         Recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

i.          pay particular attention, when preparing and implementing co-operation programmes in favour of the CIS countries, to assistance to refugees, asylum-seekers and displaced persons;

ii.          invite the member states to lend their support, bilaterally or through the relevant international organisations, to the development and implementation of assistance programmes in favour of refugees, asylum-seekers and displaced persons;

iii.         invite the CIS states:

a.         to accede to the international legal instruments on the protection of human rights, humanitarian law and refugees, to adopt national legislation for the application of these texts and to ensure that they are properly respected and applied in practice;

b.         to co-operate in good faith with the international humanitarian organisations and facilitate their work in their countries.

Signed:
Aguiar, Portugal, LDR
Andres, Germany, SOC
Arnold, Denmark, LDR
Atkinson, United Kingdom, EDG
Fehr, Switzerland, LDR
Fuhrmann, Austria, SOC
Garajova, Slovakia, LDR
Gross, Switzerland, SOC
Hunt, United Kingdom, EDG
Iwinski, Poland, SOC
I.B. Johansson, Sweden, SOC
Junghanns, Germany, EPP
R. Karas, Poland, -
Kukk, Estonia, EPP
Trojan, Czech Republic, SOC

*          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