Decision on the Situation of Refugees, Returneesand Displaced Persons

DECISION ON THE SITUATION OF REFUGEES, RETURNEESAND
DISPLACED PERSONS
DOC. EX.CL/254 (IX)

The Executive Council:

1. TAKES NOTE of the Report;

2. NOTES WITH SATISFACTION the positive developments that continued to take place in relieving forced displacement phenomenon and raised hopes for their return but still DEEPLY CONCERNED about the large number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Africa.;

3. EXPRESSES GREAT CONCERN that conflicts, disasters, insecurity and violations of human rights have resulted in the worsening of the situation of victims of forced displacement, and also hampered the implementation of humanitarian programmes and posed serious threats to the lives and physical safety of civilian populations including refugees, returnees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and aid workers;

4. FURTHER EXPRESSES CONCERN about the lack of adequate protection and assistance of victims of forced displacement in an environment where limited resources are at the disposal of Member States to meet their obligations under the 1969 OAU Convention governing the specific aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa;

5. EXPRESSES SERIOUS CONCERN about the insecurity in the refugee camps in Chad and ENCOURAGES any initiative aimed at ensuring the security of these refugees in collaboration with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR);

6. FURTHER NOTES WITH SATISFACTION the contributions made by the countries of asylum despite their socio-economic difficulties to host refugees and efforts being deployed by Member States to promote voluntary repatriation, resettlement, and rehabilitation of areas of return of refugees and internally displaced persons;

7. WELCOMES the coordination efforts of the United Nations in addressing the challenge of internal displacement in Africa, in particular its Mission in Liberia in conjunction with United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and World Food Programme (WFP), International Organization for Migration (IOM), African and Liberian, Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs) and other partners and donor countries in ensuring the successful return of over 321,000 Liberian IDPs to their countries of return over the last eighteen months;

8. APPEALS ONCE MORE to all donor countries to recognize the precarious refugee situation in Africa in view of the urgency, magnitude and complexity of the situation and make substantial and generous contributions to meet the protection and assistance needs of victims of forced displacement, including through supporting African Union efforts to make provision for increased access to post-primary education;

9. NOTES the progress made by the Commission of the African Union in developing a legal framework for the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons in Africa in accordance with the decision EX.CL/Dec.127 (V) and REQUESTS the Commission to expedite such efforts in collaboration with the PRC Sub-Committee on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons and with the participation of relevant partners at the appropriate instance;

10. CALLS UPON the Commission to explore new avenues for raising extra-budgetary resources to supplement Member States efforts and the international community’s contributions to assisting refugees, returnees and internally displaced persons in Africa;

11. WELCOMES the efforts of the PRC Sub-Committee on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons, the Commission and cooperating partners such as UNHCR, WFP and IOM among others in furthering the protection of refugees through guiding the process of preparation of the Ministerial Conference on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons, which was successfully concluded in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on 2 June, 2006 and STRESSES the need for the Sub-Committee partners and African NGOs and civil society to remain engaged in monitoring the implementation of the outcome of the Ministerial Conference.