Situation of gays and lesbians and their partners in respect of asylum and immigration in the member states of the Council of Europe

Doc. 8999

14 March 2001

Situation of gays and lesbians and their partners in respect of asylum and immigration in the member states of the Council of Europe

Recommendation 1470 (2000)

Reply from the Committee of Ministers

adopted at the 744^th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (7 March 2001)

1. The Committee of Ministers has given careful consideration to Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1470 (2000) on the situation of gays and lesbians and their partners in respect of asylum and immigration in the member states of the Council of Europe.

2. This Recommendation has been duly brought to the attention of the member Governments and the competent steering committees answerable to the Committee of Ministers.

3. The Ad hoc Committee of Experts on Legal Aspects of Territorial Asylum, Refugees and Stateless Persons (CAHAR) and the European Committee on Migration (CDMG) have taken steps to give effect to the Assembly’s request concerning the holding of exchanges of views and experience on this subject.

4. The CAHAR has included on its future agenda the question of “recognition of homosexuals as members of a particular social group [within the meaning] of the 1951 Geneva Convention with a view to ensuring that persecution on grounds of homosexuality is recognised as a ground for asylum”, as formulated by the Assembly. In the course of its future work it will also consider the possibility of “develop[ing] guidelines for the treatment of homosexuals who are refugees”, as proposed by the Assembly.

5. The CDMG has, for its part, asked the Committee of Experts on the Legal Status and other Rights of Immigrants to consider the right of homosexual couples to family reunion.

6. The establishment of a European system for data collection and documentation of abuses against homosexuals and co-operation with groups and associations defending the human rights of homosexuals in respect of immigration policies do not fall within the remit of these committees.