THE PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY OF THE COUNCIL OF
1. After the former Yugoslavia,
Transcaucasia is the region of Europe that is most affected at present by the
problems of refugees and displaced persons, of whom there are around 900 000 in
Azerbaijan, 300 000 in Armenia and 300 000 in Georgia. At the same time,
hundreds of thousands of people have left the region for other countries, in
particular
2. The Assembly recalls
Recommendation 1263 (1995) and Resolution 1059 (1995) on the humanitarian
situation of the refugees and displaced persons in Armenia and Azerbaijan and
Recommendation 1305 (1996) on the humanitarian situation of the displaced
persons in Georgia, and regrets the fact that most of the proposals contained
in these texts have not been followed up in practice.
3. Eight years after the start of
the mass forced population movements in the region, the number of refugees and
displaced persons is not diminishing, very few of them have been able to return
home and the humanitarian situation remains very difficult. We are beginning to
see a whole generation of young people growing up in refugee centres which will
become a lost generation. Furthermore, some persons are still deprived of their
freedom as prisoners or hostages, or are missing.
4. The Assembly is worried by the
reduction in humanitarian aid as a result of "donor fatigue". While
recognising that it is important to avoid creating dependence on international
aid, it believes that aid should only be reduced gradually and in line with
increases in the resources of the countries concerned.
5. The Assembly stresses that the
refugees and displaced persons will not be able to lead a normal life until
they are properly housed. Aid with the construction of housing should be a
priority, and the Council of Europe Social Development Fund should make a
contribution in this area.
6. Even though there is no longer a
direct threat of the refugees and displaced persons dying of hunger or cold,
they are facing another serious problem in the form of public health.
International aid for productive sectors, in the form, for example, of funding
for education and job-creation schemes, is thus crucially important as a means
of getting the refugees and displaced persons back into work.
7. The Assembly welcomes the
implementation of integration policies, which it believes to be the only
long-term solution for people who do not wish to return to their homes.
Nevertheless, integration should not lead the states in question to disengage
from efforts to solve the specific problems of the refugees and displaced
persons, who are in a more vulnerable position than the rest of the population,
in both legal and economic terms.
8. However, in the case of the 700
000 displaced persons in
9. The Assembly stresses that a
political settlement is a precondition for the success of repatriation, but not
the only one. If the social and economic conditions are not right, the
large-scale return of refugees and displaced persons is difficult, if not
impossible, to achieve. The member states and the entire international
community should contribute to the economic reconstruction of the regions to
which displaced persons and refugees are to return.
10. The Assembly therefore
recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
i. urge all the parties concerned to
intensify the negotiation process for the earliest possible political
settlement of the conflicts in Transcaucasia that would provide ground for a
comprehensive solution to the problem of refugees and displaced persons in
Transcaucasia;
ii. step up dialogue with the three
states concerned and the main organisations providing aid in the region, in
particular the European Union, the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for
Migration (IOM), with a view to making arrangements for increased involvement
by the Council of Europe in aid programmes in areas that fall within its
competence, as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for
questions related to the application of international humanitarian law in the
region;
iii. invite
the Social Development Fund to focus actively on this region and for this
purpose to set up a task force to consider what it can do in the region, in
particular in the housing sector;
iv. pay particular attention, when
considering the applications for membership by the three Transcaucasian
republics, to their track records in terms of respect for the human rights of
refugees and displaced persons and to their positions as regards creating the
conditions for the return of refugees and displaced persons, as well as to
their respect for international humanitarian law;
v. invite the European Community to
maintain - and, if possible, increase - its level of aid to the region, while
gradually moving from humanitarian aid to development aid;
vi. urge
the member states:
a. to contribute generously, at
bilateral or multilateral level, to humanitarian aid for the states in the
region, as well as housing construction schemes, education and job-creation
projects, paying special attention to the most vulnerable groups, in particular
women;
b. to contribute generously to the
funding of the programmes agreed for the states in the region at the regional
conference on refugees, displaced persons, other forms of involuntary
displacement and returnees in the countries of Commonwealth of Independent
States and relevant neighbouring states in Geneva in May 1996;
c. to give their technical and
financial backing to the implementation of vocational training schemes, in
particular for women and young people;
d. to take the initiative, at
international level, of beginning preparations for an international donor
conference for the economic and social reconstruction of the region;
vii. invite
a. to implement the principles set
out in Parliamentary Assembly Resolution 1119 (1997) to enable, inter alia, the
displaced persons in
b. to strictly respect international
humanitarian law and the human rights of the refugees and displaced persons
and, in particular, to respect their free choice as to their place of residence
and to refrain from forcibly recruiting them into the armed forces;
c. to take all necessary measures to
provide the refugees with travel documents;
d. in order to facilitate the safe
return of refugees and displaced persons, to take, as a matter of urgency, all
necessary measures to clear the region of anti-personnel landmines;
viii. invite
a. to make the return of the
displaced persons in Azerbaijan a priority in their negotiations so as to
enable these people to return in safety, even before an overall settlement;
b. to recognise the right of
refugees and displaced persons to return to their areas of origin and regain
their property, with proper compensation for any damage suffered, or, if
voluntary return cannot be implemented, to recognise the need to provide
compensation for property lost or abandoned by refugees and displaced persons
and to conclude an agreement enabling the persons concerned to receive
compensation as quickly as possible;
c. to take all necessary measures to
clarify the fate of missing persons and to give the International Committee of
the Red Cross unrestricted access to persons protected by the Geneva
Conventions, or covered by the ICRC’s extra-conventional mandate;
ix. invite Georgia:
a. to accede without delay to the
1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol;
b. to create favourable conditions
for the return of the Meshketian Turks;
x. invite
xi. invite
the
xii. recalling
its Resolution 1047 (1994) on the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, urge the states
bordering on the Transcaucasian countries not to hinder the passage of
humanitarian aid across their territory.
Text adopted by the Assembly on 24 June 1997 (19th Sitting).
(www.coe.int)