Preparation of an agreement concerning the transfer of responsibility for refugees who move lawfully from one member state of the Council of Europe to another

Recommendation 775 (1976)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

See Doc. 3703Doc. 3703, report of the Committee on Population and Refugees. Text adopted by the Assembly by the tacit adoption procedure on 27 January 1976.

Thesaurus

The Assembly,

1. Considering that the question of the transfer of responsibility for refugees who move lawfully from one member state to another, in particular with regard to the issuing of travel documents to them, frequently creates difficulties ;

2. Considering that paragraphs 6 and 11 of the Schedule of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 28 July 1951 give rise to differing interpretations ;

3. Considering that several member states of the Council of Europe have concluded bilateral agreements on this subject ;

4. Considering, however, that these agreements differ considerably in substance, and are applicable between certain member states only ;

5. Considering that a uniform regulation of this problem by means of a multilateral agreement between the member states of the Council of Europe is highly desirable ;

6. Recalling also the importance of the European Agreement on the Abolition of Visas for Refugees adopted by the Council of Europe, and hoping that this instrument will be ratified in the near future by those member states which have not yet done so, namely Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Malta and Turkey,

7. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers instruct a committee of government experts to prepare an agreement on the transfer of responsibility for refugees who move legally from one member state to another.