CONFERENCE ON POPULATION DISPLACEMENT IN CIS COUNTRIES HEARS NUMEROUS CALLS FOR COOPERATION, RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Press Release
REF/1143
CONFERENCE ON POPULATION DISPLACEMENT IN CIS COUNTRIES HEARS NUMEROUS CALLS FOR COOPERATION, RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
19960531 GENEVA, 30 May (UN Information Service) -- Several speakers called this afternoon for effective cooperation and respect for human rights in carrying out measures to cope with massive population movements in the region of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).The calls were made during the two-day Conference on Refugees and Migrants in the CIS, convened at Geneva. It aims to adopt a programme of action in response to widespread migration flows following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Conference is discussing population displacement in the CIS and refugee problems in a humanitarian and non-political way, while reviewing the population flows now taking place. It is sponsored by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
As the general debate continued this afternoon, countries from the CIS region described the difficulties they faced with huge and often unmanageable population flows over their borders. Countries from other parts of the world outlined policies they had established on migration and suggested steps for effective response.
The Vice-Prime Minister of Belarus, Syargei Ling, told the Conference that CIS countries, struggling as they were with economies in transition and other difficulties, could not cope in isolation with waves of illegal immigrants, populations fleeing armed conflict and ecological refugees. Belarus was located at a geographical crossroads where such groups were repeatedly in transit. The representatives of Japan, Canada, Denmark and Finland described steps already taken and financial aid provided to the CIS region to ease the effects of extensive shifts of people.
Statements were also made by the representatives Iran, Holy See, Lithuania, Sweden, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Hungary, Kazakstan, Latvia, Czech Republic, Tajikistan, France, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. A representative of the European Commission also spoke.
Statements
JEAN-PIERRE LENG, of the European Commission, said the draft programme of action represented a solid basis for dealing with the complex problems of refugees and other migrants in the CIS countries. The Commission was convinced that the spirit of dialogue and the will to achieve concrete results that had characterized the process until now would again be in evidence during the implementation of the programme's elements.
Over the last few years, the European Commission had provided significant assistance to refugees and displaced persons in the CIS countries, he went on. Action in that regard had been financed mainly by its Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States Programme and the European Commission Humanitarian Office. In cooperation with several international organizations and non-governmental organizations, the Office had provided humanitarian assistance worth $178 million to the countries of the region in 1995. For its part, the Technical Assistance Programme had devoted some $26 million to projects that directly addressed the causes of migrations, notably by favouring the integration of ethnic minorities and by supporting the democratic process. The European Commission expected to participate actively in the process to be undertaken on the basis of the conclusions of the Conference.
AGNES JAOUICH (Canada) said the Conference was the culmination of two years' work. It was only recently that the international community had begun to investigate the phenomenon of migration as a whole, on a global level. Detailed results were best seen at the regional level, and the CIS region was fertile territory for action, as many challenges faced the countries there.
Prevention was important and should be aimed at avoiding situations of involuntary migration, she said. Measures were best aimed at dealing with the root causes of such migrations. There was no universal panacea, but study and action in each individual case was well-advised. Human rights were important to Canadian policies related to migration, and the country believed that human rights should be at the centre of any discussion of those issues. The violation of human rights was often at the root of situations of forced migration. Canada also had provided bilateral and technical assistance to other countries, including a large programme being carried out jointly with the Russian Federation.
JAKOB ESPER LARSEN (Denmark) said his country was very satisfied with the achievements of the Conference. The preparatory process had produced a substantial draft programme of action. Enhanced cooperation with the countries of the CIS was one precondition for solving the problems being addressed by the Conference. Those were problems that went to the core of political, social and economic stability in the region. The Conference was
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part of a process of preventive diplomacy for ensuring stability in those countries.
While the CIS countries had the primary responsibility for dealing with population movements within their borders, the international community had a clear interest in contributing to solutions, he said. Strengthening civil society should form part of those efforts. The draft programme recognized that in the role it accorded to the involvement of non-governmental organizations. The strengthening of respect for human rights, democratic institutions and good governance was also very important. He stressed the importance of concluding bilateral and multilateral agreements for dealing with the return and readmission of illegal migrants. He also emphasized the need to provide financial assistance for the implementation of the measures foreseen in the draft programme.
SYARGEI LING (Belarus) said the need to hold the Conference had been made clear by the alarming forecasts about migration situations in the CIS region. To solve the problems involved, effective regional and international cooperation and assistance were critical. The CIS countries, struggling as they were with economies in transition and other difficulties, could not cope in isolation. The spirit of international solidarity that characterized the Conference was encouraging. Forced displacement had increased in recent years and had greatly affected Belarus, which had become a crossroads for migration flows in different directions.
Illegal immigration was a serious challenge, he said. Many of those people were trying to cross Belarus on their way to the United States or Canada. Ecological migration was another acute problem, caused by the Chernobyl disaster. Over 120,000 people in Belarus had had to leave the area of that nuclear accident. The country was in the process of improving its migratory legislation and working to set up multilateral and bilateral agreements with other countries. He stressed that the problem was regional and international in nature, and needed to be tackled on such a basis. He proposed that another meeting should be held in Minsk, as it was at such a crossroads of migratory flows.
JAVAD ZARIF (Iran) said that while intolerance, violations of human rights, social injustice and political instability had traditionally been recognized as main contributors to various forms of displacement, a major challenge, which had not received due attention, continued to be that of development. General Assembly resolutions 48/113 and 49/173 laid out suitable basis for a comprehensive approach to the problem of refugees, returnees, displaced persons and related migratory movements in the CIS countries. Preparatory meetings in Geneva, Tbilisi and Ashkabad had paid particular attention to the underlying economic, social and environmental root causes,
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together with those traditionally acknowledged. That was a significant improvement.
Accordingly, he continued, a new approach should contain all factual root causes, examine the critical consequences of various forms of displacement on the economic, social and political life of the host communities, contemplate preventive measures and ultimately seek solutions which were beneficial to host countries, countries of origin and the concerned person themselves. Iran's experience with displaced persons from the CIS dated back to the period between September 1993 to October 1994 when it cared for more than 55,000 Azeri displaced persons in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan with the consent of its Government. That case provided an illustration of a preventive initiative which succeeded in preventing thousands of internally displaced persons from crossing international borders and becoming refugees.
SILVANO TOMASI (Holy See) said the principles on which the whole programme of action was based clearly articulated the achievements in the field of the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms embodied in international instruments and in humanitarian law. Thus, there was no ambiguity in supporting the principle of non-refoulement and that of the freedom to profess and practice one's religion, as contained in the draft programme. The recognition of the importance of the family and of the need for States to support its indispensable role even in the context of human mobility also strengthened in a realistic way the draft programme. The sensibility shown for the human rights of all categories of migrants set the appropriate framework for the enactment and implementation of measures of control and management of those population flows. In that context, the agreed priorities regarding national migration policies of CIS countries underlined with remarkable convergence the need to systematize in law the handling of the various categories of population movements and not leave them to exclusively administrative discretion.
KESTUTIS SADAUSKAS (Lithuania) said the world was becoming more and more a world without frontiers. Movements of peoples were intensifying in number and rapidity, and an international response was necessary. The dimensions of such movements in the CIS region had assumed a size previously unheard of. Lithuania was at a crossroads of such flows, and furthermore the country's citizens were still suffering from crimes committed against them half a century ago, and rooted, to great extent, in migration matters.
Illegal migration was a major threat, and had to be faced in practical and dedicated fashion, he said. The best method of doing that was for countries to work together. Legal norms and definitions must be established, but primacy should be given to internationally recognized norms in issues of migrations and human rights. The programme of action showed respect for those
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norms and for human rights, and the Conference itself was a good counterargument to those who said the United Nations system was inefficient.
GUN-BRITT ANDERSON (Sweden) said her delegation fully associated itself with the statement of the European Union. The concept of security must be broadened to included the security of people. The strengthening of human rights and of democratic institutions were ways of ensuring that. Displaced persons and refugees were especially vulnerable to social and economic distress, and they were easily drawn into different forms of exploitation. That was one of the issues to be considered when Sweden hosted in August the Conference against the Sexual Exploitation of Children. She invited all participants to attend the August Conference.
She said the programme of action before the Conference was an innovative guideline for future work in the protection of human rights and humanitarian law. It was important that those rules would now form the basis for work in the field of migration in CIS countries. She underlined the importance of entering into readmission agreements with CIS countries. She also highlighted that external contributions were essential for the implementation of the programme of action.
KIRSTI LINTONEN (Finland) said the fact that the Conference was taking place more than two years after the initiative had first been launched was an indication of the many complexities of the subject. The meeting was not an end in itself, but rather the beginning of wide-scale activities not only for CIS countries but also the international community. Implementation and follow-up would be extremely important; clearly the bulk of the responsibility for action lay with the CIS countries, but help from other sources obviously was needed.
Finland had engaged in extensive bilateral and multilateral cooperation with a number of CIS countries over the past few years, she said. The purpose of those efforts was to assist and contribute to creating well-functioning administrative structures to address refugee and migration problems there. What was innovative in the draft programme of action was that the international community was for the first time establishing such a programme for all CIS countries. Finland would continue to support such cooperation and hoped the Conference would provide a good set of priorities for such efforts.
MINORU ENDO (Japan) said the country had supported the secretariat of the Conference with a contribution of around $200,000, and had participated actively in meetings leading to the draft programme of action. That document covered a wide range of categories of population movements, taking into account several types of displacement peculiar to the region, and dealt with all relevant areas, including human rights, the protection of persons belonging to minorities, the peaceful solution of conflicts and response to
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ecological disasters. It also gave an in-depth review of all ways of overcoming such problems.
If adopted, the draft programme would provide a useful and practical framework for addressing the difficulties in the region. However, it had to be emphasized that only effective implementation could bring out the programme's positive value. It was to be hoped that international cooperation, not only between countries of the region but with the participation of other countries and international actors, would contribute to increased confidence and thus create momentum for finding durable solutions.
HEINO AINSO (Estonia) said the support of the international community and the readiness of CIS countries themselves to meet the challenges posed by the difficulties being considered at the Conference was encouraging. However, Estonia still felt that the special definitions devised for the Conference did not meet international criteria for neutral, descriptive, non-political terms, as had been suggested by the legal experts of UNHCR. When people fled real or perceived threats to life they were more commonly called refugees or displaced persons than "involuntarily relocated persons". The Conference should have included discussion of illegal population transfers and the issue of deported persons or "partially deported" peoples. There were still a few thousand deported Estonians in the Russian Federation, and Estonia was interested in having iron-clad assurances that all deported peoples would have the opportunity to return to their home countries.
ROSA ISAKOVANA OTOUNBAYEVA (Kyrgyzstan) said the holding of the Conference showed that countries understood the interdependence and complexity of the problems facing the CIS region, and that it was possible to take joint action and reach mutual understanding on such difficult issues. Kyrgyzstan was committed to facing those problems and felt it could not ignore the sorry state of refugees within its own borders. The population of the country was 4.5 million and there were 20,000 refugees present. The influx of those refugees had been detrimental to the country and could lead to destabilization and create an emergency situation at any moment.
Her Government had set up an interdepartmental commission to prepare a national plan of action on the matter and provide humanitarian assistance to refugees, she said, adding that the country needed international assistance. One of its problems was the lack of a legal framework in matters of refugees. Kyrgyzstan needed extensive advice and help from international agencies. The country also had seen a massive outflow of ethnic Russians. Recently, the exodus had lessened after steps to ensure respect for such people and for the right to use their language.
PETER NARAY (Hungary) said the principles laid down in the draft programme of action were relevant and showed sufficient respect for human
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rights and fundamental freedoms, the observance and protection of which were of basic importance to democracy, the rule of law and social stability. Observance of human rights, including minority rights, could not be considered as an exclusively internal affair of any given State, but as the legitimate right and responsibility of the international community. Prevention was the most effective form of protection for people in danger of becoming refugees, displaced persons or migrants, and prevention should be directed at root causes which went far beyond the scope of humanitarian concerns and eventually involved the whole human rights agenda.
The process of preparing for the Conference had offered a historic opportunity to address complex problems in the CIS region before they got out of control, he said. Adoption of the documents of the Conference would create a unique chance to develop a model of international understanding and cooperation which could create the confidence necessary to effectively treat other problems in the region as well.
VICTOR V. SOBOLEV (Kazakstan) said the Conference was a timely step for dealing with acute problems affecting the CIS region. A solid foundation hopefully could be laid down for dealing with massive population flows there. Financial and technical support was truly needed from the international community. That, combined with the willingness of the CIS States themselves, could lead to major progress. The collapse of the Soviet Union had cut social and economic links that had existed for decades, and in many cases standards of living had fallen significantly.
Kazakstan had seen major problems related to population movements, he said. Most emigrants from the country had gone to Germany, Israel and Russia. Also driving population flows was ecological catastrophe, such as the precipitous decline of the Aral Sea. Further, many who had roots in Kazakstan who had been dispersed elsewhere during the existence of the Soviet Union now wished to return. In addition, there had been flows of refugees into the country from areas undergoing ethnic or armed conflicts. It was hoped that it would be possible to fully implement the Conference's aims. Millions of people depended on it.
ILGVARS KLAVA (Latvia) said one of Latvia's serious concerns was problems related to deported persons and not only deported peoples. Sooner or later those problems would have to be addressed. It was necessary to emphasize the need to elaborate legal frameworks for readmission to various countries in the area. Such agreements already had been concluded between the Baltic States, and Latvia had initiated negotiations on the matter with Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Finland. Latvia also aimed to meet European standards in preventing illegal immigration. The proposed programme of action should lead to positive results, but the country wished to express the same reservation it had made during the preparatory process regarding the use of
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terms created for the specific purpose of the CIS Conference, such as "involuntarily relocated persons". Further use of that working definition should be avoided in international forums.
ZDENEK VENERA (Czech Republic) said the draft programme of action amounted to a generally acceptable declaration and principles relating to migratory movements in the CIS region, including a good outline of their characteristic features and a good strategy for their effective solution. Although the Czech Republic did not currently face any massive and uncontrollable migration waves, it was greatly concerned about monitoring migratory movements and about fostering international cooperation in coping with migratory movements. The Conference should not be seen as a culmination but rather as a first step towards establishing systematic, concerted action. The programme of action, though not legally binding on States, would prove to be an important tool and a much-respected way of implementing migration and refugee-related measures. It was necessary under that and other plans to establish conditions of peace and security, economic and social growth, human rights protection, and the rule of law.
KADRIDDIN Z. GIYASOV (Tajikistan) said the programme of action could help to resolve the complex problems of massive displacements of people affecting CIS countries. Those problems were more difficult as they occurred at a time of economic transition. Tajikistan was just starting out on the path of democracy, and had been afflicted by a civil war that had created 850,000 refugees and caused tens of thousands of deaths. Many countries and organizations had extended helping hands, and the government was grateful. The situation was now more stabilized, and many refugees and migrants had returned home; still, the majority came back to houses that had been burned and looted, and many lived in makeshift shelters in dire conditions including lack of food and clothing. More than 26,000 families had lost breadwinners, and more than 50,000 children had lost their fathers. Some 11,000 houses had to be rebuilt.
The country had to tackle those challenges primarily on its own, and legislative and legal measures were being put in place to aid refugees and displaced persons, he said. But because of the dire situation and lack of resources, further aid was needed. The UNHCR should restore its mandate for Tajikistan to its former scope, and the international community should provide additional cooperation.
DANIEL BERNARD (France) said it was remarkable that the Conference had come about. That was a testimony to the powers of cooperation and political will involved. France saw the contribution of the Conference as being one of coordinated and preventive measures. More than 100 peoples lived side by side in that region of the world, and that obviously was going to lead to tensions. New mechanisms and ideas were needed following the collapse of the Soviet
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Union, as there were complex patterns emerging involving, among other elements, the return of formerly deported peoples and the reactivation of long dormant ethnic tensions. Cooperation between the CIS nations could only be fruitful if it reflected an honest will to cooperate and if human rights and fundamental freedoms were respected.
The Conference would not iron out all difficulties, and its success ultimately would be measured on how energetically its programme of action was implemented, he said. Non-governmental organizations, particularly those based in CIS countries, also would be vital for any lasting progress. Moreover, prevention was critical. Future large disorderly population shifts must be avoided if possible, and so the causes that could lead to them must be assessed and effectively dealt with.
VALERIAN VASHAKIDZE (Georgia) said there were indeed many problems in the CIS region. In Georgia, as the result of the collapse of economic links, there had been difficult social and political situations, and there had been armed conflicts in the country. There was no doubt that those problems had deep-rooted historical reasons, but they were mistakenly called "ethnic conflicts". Two conflicts had grown considerably worse within the national borders since 1992. There had been many displaced people in Georgia, and even ethnic cleansing had been carried out in certain regions. Georgians were among the displaced, but so were Greeks, Jews and many others. Some 300,000 displaced persons were not registered, and for such a small country that was a catastrophically high figure. The conflicts had worsened an already difficult economic situation, while natural disasters such as floods, avalanches and earthquakes had added to the country's problems. Support from international organizations and other countries had helped in easing the situations of many involuntarily displaced persons. The Conference must focus on the root causes of problems which had occurred in a number of CIS countries.
GAGIK SHAHBAZIAN (Armenia) said the results of the Conference would be important for the consolidation of cooperation programmes among countries of the CIS. Armenia was particularly affected by the problems of refugee flows and massive displacement. Armenia was striving to improve the lot of all refugees by improving legislation and devoting part of its meagre resources to solving those problems. Last year, the National Assembly had adopted a law on citizenship easing requirements for refugees. Legislation on migration and freedom of movement was also being considered. Armenia's policy on refugees and displaced persons was in harmony with the relevant international instruments, including the 1951 refugee convention and its 1967 protocol.
Furthermore, on 27 October 1995, Armenia had become the first of the CIS countries to establish a Centre for Human Rights and Democracy with the assistance of the UNHCR and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), he said. There was also a State programme for shelter. By 1999, the
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Government expected to have solved the problems faced by returned refugees. This year the Government would concentrate on work for the naturalization of refugees and for the voluntary return of such persons to their former homes. The Government was currently returning refugees to Nagorny Karabakh and to Abkhazia. The Government was also cooperating with other countries regarding the prevention of migration.
IZZAT RUSTAMOV (Azerbaijan) said that after the adoption of the documents before the Conference, countries would have a clearly defined programme of action for dealing with the problems of refugees and displaced persons. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, some five million people had migrated within the borders of that State. Azerbaijan had been particularly hard hit by those population movements. Today, it was impossible to provide work for half of the refugees and displaced persons in the country. There was also the immediate danger of the spread of epidemics. In addition to some 1 million refugees and displaced, the Government had to provide for over 1 million Azeris who lived in precarious conditions. And the overall situation was expected to worsen in the coming years, given the deteriorating economic situation. Azerbaijan saluted the international cooperation it had received so far, but called for greater assistance in coping with the many problems associated with the presence of refugees and displaced in the country.
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