26/11/2008 Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
“The international community bears the responsibility to find political solutions to protracted conflicts, as protracted internal displacement is most often a result of the still unresolved conflicts on our continent”, said Corien Jonker, (Netherlands, EPP/CD), Chair of the PACE Migration Committee, at a seminar on this subject organised by the committee in Geneva.
“I believe that our future efforts should be focused on preventing wars, and I welcome the decision of the Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee last week to set up an ad hoc committee on early warning systems and the prevention of crises in Europe,” Ms Jonker stressed. She gave the example of Georgia, which she visited last week, where almost 200 000 people were displaced in one week last August, of whom an estimated 20-30 000 will not to be able to return in the foreseeable future.
“The responsibility for protecting the rights of IDP’s lies also with national governments and local authorities, which should engage in finding durable solutions for them, in line with the human rights’ obligations of Council of Europe member states, while applying international humanitarian law,” she added.