CM/Res. 774 (XXXIV) RESOLUTION ON THE SITUATION OF REFUGEES IN AFRICA
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Thirty-fourth Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 6 to 15 February 1980,
Recalling its resolution CM/Res.727 (XXXIII) on the situation of Refugees in Africa and on Prospective Solutions to their problems in the 1980s,
Having carefully considered the steps already taken by the OAU Secretary-General by way of restructuring and reactivating the Bureau for the Placement and Education of African Refugees (BPEAR),
Deeply concerned with the large increase in the number of refugees in Africa and in particular the high concentrations of refugees in African countries having particularly limited economic resources:
REAFFIRMS all the principles enshrined in the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugees Problems in Africa;
REITERATES its call on all those Member States that have not done so to ratify the international texts on refugees, namely the 1951 UN Convention, the 1967 Protocol and the 1969 OAU Convention on Refugees;
ADOPTS the Report of the 12th Ordinary Session of the OAU Commission of Ten on Refugees in Africa held from October 29th to 2nd November, 1979, in Addis Ababa;
COMMENDS the OAU Secretary-General for the steps so far taken by way of restructuring and reactivating the BPEAR;
ACCEPTS the principle of sending a delegation of the OAU Commission of Ten on Refugees in Africa to those countries whose names will be identified by the OAU General Secretariat in consultation with Member States with a view to studying refugee problems;
INVITES countries not sheltering refugees or accommodating only a limited number of refugees to take necessary measures with a view to sharing the burden with countries sheltering refugees;
APPRECIATES the efforts of the Member States of the OAU, international organizations and voluntary agencies that have persistently supported the OAU/BPEAR;
REAFFIRMS its full support to the people of Zimbabwe in their struggle for the attainment of genuine independence;
REQUESTS the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to involve the OAU in the implementation of the repatriation program of Zimbabwe on refugees;
CALLS upon the British authority to take every measure to facilitate the return of Rhodesian refugees in conformity with the provisions of the Lancaster House Agreement;
REQUESTS Member States of the OAU to transmit to the OAU General Secretariat their plans regarding the implementation of the recommendation of the Arusha Conference on the situation of Refugees in Africa and hails, in this respect, the decision of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan to declare 1980 a National Year of African Refugees in Sudan and appeals to them so that they make further contributions to solve the heart rendering problems of African Refugees.