15/09/2011 Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons
Strasbourg, 14.09.2011 - Internal displacement and its consequences, including housing issues, should be systematically included in the monitoring activities of the relevant bodies of the Council of Europe, experts participating in an exchange of views on the situation of IDPs and returnees in the North Caucasus, organised by the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population in Paris on 13 September, agreed.
Adequate housing, unemployment and access to documentation were the main outstanding issues facing IDPs in the North Caucasus, participants were told. Housing issues included sub-standard conditions, lack of security of tenure, ineffective property compensation mechanisms and limited choice of residence. Other important issues that should be dealt with more effectively were legal assistance and advising IDPs on their social rights and benefits, property rights, restoration of personal documents and access to government entitlements.
Nikolaos Dendias (Greece, EPP/CD), who is in charge of preparing a report on the situation of IDPs and returnees in the North Caucasus region, will be heading for talks to Moscow and the region from 19 to 24 September.