Activities of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Recommendation 1729 (2005)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 25 November 2005 (see Doc. 10560, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, rapporteur : Mr Hancock).

Thesaurus

1. The Parliamentary Assembly refers to its Resolution 1474 (2005) on the activities of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

2. The Assembly considers that the Council of Europe could provide further support and impetus to intergovernmental discussions on the pressing issues pertaining to refugees’ protection within and outside Europe.

3. Therefore, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

3.1 encourage Council of Europe member states to support the UNCHR’s “Convention Plus” process, which aims to enhance the system of refugee protection and provide durable solutions for refugees and asylum seekers, by acknowledging the need for a series of special agreements to complement the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol in order to meet today’s challenges in managing refugee movements and internal displacement ;

3.2 further develop co-operation with the UNHCR on the legal interpretation of the status of refugees and asylum seekers ;

3.3 encourage further collaboration, based on the Memorandum of Understanding signed on 14 March 2005 between the Council of Europe Development Bank and the UNHCR, in order to continue to contribute to finding just and durable solutions to the problems of refugees in the Balkans.