Abolition of visas for refugees

Recommendation 375 (1963)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 21st September 1963 (14th Sitting) (see Doc. 1630, report of the Committee on Population and Refugees). Text adopted by the Assembly on 23rd September 1963 (15th Sitting), as amended.

The Assembly,

Recalling Resolution (58) 5 of the Committee of Ministers, dated 27th March 1958, by which the Committee recommended that visas be issued to refugees free of charge and that procedure for the issue of such visas be speeded up ;

Recalling that so far only eight member countries are parties to the European Agreement on the abolition of visas for refugees, which was signed on 20th April 1959 and which entered into force on 3rd September 1960,

Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

1 invite the Governments of such member countries as are not yet parties to the European Agreement on the abolition of visas for refugees, signed at Strasbourg on 20th April 1959, to accede to that Agreement ;

2 invite the said Governments to apply provisionally the measures recommended in its Resolution (58) 5 ; that is to say, to issue entry visas free of charge to refugees lawfully residing in the territory of member States and to speed up procedure for the sue of such visas ;

3 invite the Governments of Council of Europe member countries to ensure that refugees are exempted from any special frontier formalities to which nationals of other member countries are not subjected.