Refugees from countries of Central and Eastern Europe

Recommendation 1120 (1990)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 1 February 1990 (27th Sitting) (see Doc. 6167, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, Rapporteur : Mr Fuhrmann). Text adopted by the Assembly on 1 February 1990 (27th Sitting).

Thesaurus

The Assembly :

1. Notes that developments in Central and Eastern Europe have resulted in a massive movement of persons, often referred to as refugees, to member states of the Council of Europe ;

2. Observes that the Federal Republic of Germany, Austria, Hungary and, to a lesser extent, Italy are bearing the main burden of this movement ;

3. Considers that the effects of this movement will not remain confined to neighbouring countries, but will soon be felt in all Council of Europe member countries, thus calling for greater solidarity and burden-sharing ;

4. Considers that solidarity with persons coming from Central and Eastern Europe should not be at the expense of asylum-seekers from other parts of the world ;

5. Welcomes the end of the dictatorship in Romania, but notes that the stream of refugees to Hungary still continues ;

6. Welcomes the recent decision of the Bulgarian Government to put an end to the policy of forced assimilation which had pushed many members of the ethnic and Muslim minority to seek refuge in Turkey ;

7. Observes that, after decades of oppression of national minorities in the various countries of Central and Eastern Europe, their recovery of freedom of expression and movement may, in an initial phase, result in a desire to join their communities of origin and an increase in transborder migrations ;

8. Regrets that the modest request for assistance to refugees in Hungary, made by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has so far met with little response from traditional donor countries ;

9. Affirms that political and economic reforms, including a scrupulous respect for the rights of national minorities in each country, can, to a large extent, avoid mass movements of people ;

10. Considers that, because development assistance is the most effective means of reducing migration from countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Council of Europe's Social Development Fund should play an important role in assisting these countries, thus complementing the work to be carried out by the recently created European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) ;

11. Welcomes the recent loan granted by the Council of Europe's Social Development Fund to the Federal Republic of Germany to part-finance a housing programme for refugees of German origin ;

12. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

12.1 organise, as soon as possible, a ministerial conference on problems relating to refugees in Europe, with a view to taking concrete measures on standards and policies, as well as on assistance to countries bearing the main burden, having regard, among other things, to paragraph 6.i of Recommendation 1016 (1985) on living and working conditions of refugees and asylum-seekers, adopted by the Assembly on 26 September 1985 ;

12.2 invite Central and East European non-member states to participate on an equal basis in such a conference ;

12.3 invite Hungary to become a member of the Council of Europe's Social Development Fund ;

12.4 invite other Central and East European states, which have not yet applied for membership of the Council of Europe, to consider the possibility of becoming associated members of the Social Development Fund ;

12.5 invite the governments of member states of the fund to increase its capital, in order to undertake activities in Central and Eastern Europe ;

12.6 call upon member states to give a positive reply to UNHCR's request for assistance to refugees in Hungary.