Position on the Czechoslovak refugees
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 22 September 1970 (14th Sitting) (sec Doc. 2821, report of the Committee on Population and Refugees). Text adopted by the Assembly on 22 September 1970 (14th Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Noting that, since the invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968, a large number of Czechoslovak citizen s have settled down in Council of Europe member States or have emigrated to overseas countries ;
2. Grateful for the generous admission policies and assistance programmes applied to these refugees by the governments concerned ;
3. Noting with appreciation the considerable efforts made by the Government of Austria, as the country of first asylum for the majority of Czechoslovak refugees, in offering hospitality and assistance to them ;
4. Welcoming the efforts of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with vigorous support from non-governmental organisations, to relieve the situation in the countries of first asylum, by assisting the Czechoslovak refugees in their emigration and resettlement elsewhere in Europe or overseas ;
5. Considering that in many instances refugees from Czechoslovakia who are members of the professions, in particular doctors and lawyers, are unable to find employment equivalent to their qualifications as a resuit of legal restrictions or regulations imposed by professional associations in their new countries of residence ;
6. Recalling in this connection its
Recommendation 253 (1960) on the position of refugee doctors and dentists in the Council of Europe member countries ;
7. Considering that some Czechoslovak refugee students sometimes encounter difficulties in entering universities because of high admission fees or specific requirements affecting foreign students ;
8. Concerned by the fact that in many instances Czechoslovak refugees have difficulty in finding adequate accommodation, or have to pay rents beyond their financial means in the initial period after resettlement,
9. Calls on governments of Council of Europe member States and the other governments concerned :
9.1 to continue to facilitate immigration of refugees from Czechoslovakia, including those who have first sought temporary asylum in another country ;
9.2 to provide the Czechoslovak refugees after arrival in their new country of residence with such financial and material assistance as is necessary to enable them to find adequate accommodation ;
9.3 to ensure that Czechoslovak refugee students be given every facility to continue and to finish their studies ;
9.4 to ensure that refugees who belong to the professions obtain recognition of their qualifications and can freely exercise their professions, and to urge professional associations to liftany restrictive regulations or practices in this respect ;
9.5 to support the work of ICEM, the UNHCR and voluntary organisations with the financial contributions necessary for their work on behalf of the Czechoslovak refugees ;
10. Instructs its Committee on Parliamentary and Public Relations to follow up in national parliaments what action governments have taken or intend to take on the proposals contained in this resolution.
