13 March 1997       Doc. 7775

ADOC7775

MOTION FOR A RECOMMENDATION

on the situation of refugees and displaced persons

in Transcaucasia

presented by Mrs GUIRADO and others

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

1.       Outside the former Yugoslavia, Transcaucasia - comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia - is currently the European region worst affected by problems connected with refugees and displaced persons.

2.       Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in these three countries, of whom about 900 000 are in Azerbaijan, 350 000 in Armenia and 250 000 in Georgia.

3.       Most of these displacements took place at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s. Several years later, the number of refugees and displaced persons has not decreased. No significant return movement has been observed and the humanitarian situation remains very difficult. A whole generation of people growing up in refugee centres is emerging.

4.       The Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography has already presented two reports on the subject. However, it is now clear that these problems require continuous monitoring and discussion at regular intervals by the Assembly.

5.       The Assembly calls on the states in that region, currently represented in the Assembly as special guests, to agree on specific measures to solve the problems connected with refugees and displaced persons.

6.       The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers request member states to commit themselves more fully to facilitating dialogue between the parties concerned and, in particular, step up their humanitarian aid to the victims of these displacements.

Signed: 1

Guirado, Spain, SOC

Billing, Sweden, EDG

Diaz de Mera, Spain, EPP

Fehr, Switzerland, LDR

Fuhrmann, Austria, SOC

Garajová, Slovakia, EDG

Iwiński, Poland, SOC

Aguiar, Portugal, EPP

Mészáros, Hungary, LDR

Mitchell, Ireland, EPP

Vermot-Mangold, Switzerland, SOC

1 ¹       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

      NR: Not registered