C Explanatory memorandum by Mr Dişli,
rapporteur for opinion
1. The situation of Syrian refugees has been on the
agenda of the Parliamentary Assembly since the beginning of the
conflict. The Assembly dealt with this issue in its
Resolution 1902 (2012) on the European response to the humanitarian crisis
in Syria, adopted in October 2012; in its current affairs debate,
held in April 2013, on “Syrian refugees in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon
and Iraq: how to organise and support international assistance?”;
in its
Resolution 1940
(2013) on the situation in the Middle East, adopted in June
2013; and in its
Recommendation
2026 (2013) on the situation in Syria, adopted in October 2013.
On 21 November 2013, the Bureau of the Assembly issued a statement
deploring the fact that the organisation of an international peace
conference on Syria (Geneva 2) had not yet been convened and that
no date had been fixed. This background should be recalled in the
present resolution.
2. In
Recommendation
2026 (2013), the Assembly underlined that the problems posed by
the dramatic situation of refugees and displaced persons in Syria
and in receiving countries can only be solved if there are prospects
for peace and a political solution to the conflict. The Assembly
therefore supported wholeheartedly the organisation in Geneva of
an international peace conference on Syria (Geneva 2) and recommended
that the Committee of Ministers urge the governments of Council
of Europe member States to make use of their bilateral relations
with Arab and other States in the region to secure their support
for a ceasefire in preparation of the peace conference.
3. It called on the Council of Europe member States to show solidarity
and share responsibility by taking the necessary measures to cater
for Syrian refugees as effectively as possible. In this respect,
it welcomed the Swedish authorities’ decision to grant permanent
residence permits and the right to family reunion to all Syrian refugees
currently in the country, as well as to those who would arrive and
obtain a resident permit. The Assembly encouraged other member States
to consider taking similar measures.
4. It also called on the Council of Europe member States, as
well as the international community as a whole, to respond urgently
to the calls for funds, including additional funds to the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near
East (UNRWA), to assist the Syrian refugees and also the neighbouring
countries receiving them, as well as the displaced persons within
Syria. Noting the recent sharp increase in the arrival of Syrian
refugees in European non-neighbouring countries, international solidarity
and assistance should also be extended to these countries.
5. The situation of refugees and displaced persons has continued
to deteriorate. In December 2013, Amnesty International issued a
briefing entitled “An international failure: The Syrian refugee
crisis”, where it states that “the international community has failed
miserably to support refugees from Syria or the main countries of
refuge”. European Union member States were also very strongly criticised.
Germany offered to take 10 000 Syrian refugees, nine other member
States offered to take 2 340 more and the remaining 18 European
Union member States offered no places at all. It should be noted
that my country, Turkey, hosts more than half a million Syrian refugees,
registered by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR).
Note
6. While waiting for the outcome of the Geneva 2 peace conference
on Syria, which was opened on 22 January in Montreux and continues
in Geneva, the international community, and the member States of
the Council of Europe in particular, should show more solidarity
and share responsibility by taking the necessary measures to cater
for Syrian refugees as effectively as possible, and in particular
the measures indicated by the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Displaced Persons in paragraph 12 of the draft resolution.
