A3-0345/91

RESOLUTION

on aid to refugees and displaced persons in developing countries

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the motions for resolutions by:

(a)Mr Saby, Mr Tindemans, Mrs Ewing, Mr Pons Grau and Mr

McGowan, on the European Community policy on refugees and

displaced persons in developing countries (B3-2133/90),

(b)Mr Visser, on behalf of the Socialist Group, on special

aid to Asian developing countries affected by the Gulf

Crisis (B3-0039/91),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Development

and Cooperation (A3-0345/91),

A. profoundly alarmed by the dramatic increase in the numbers of

refugees and displaced persons in the world, the majority of

whom originate from, and find refuge in, developing

countries,

B. whereas many refugees have no future prospects, owing partly

to the lack of adequate financial resources and failure to

resolve the factors underlying the problem,

C. whereas a large number of refugees attempting to flee to a

neighbouring country are held up in the generally peripheral

border regions, and stressing the need to ensure that the

signatory states respect international conventions,

particularly the Convention on the Status of Refugees and

Stateless Persons (1951) and the Protocol concerning the

status of refugees (1967),

D. whereas a new approach to the concept of security is called

for, and the political, economic and ecological causes of

often forced population movements must be taken into

consideration so as to avoid still greater suffering being

inflicted on the world's most defenceless peoples and

guarantee their right to live in dignity in their own

regions,

1. Calls on the Community and the Member States to work out a

policy for dealing with the fundamental causes of the refugee

problem with a view to solving it;

2. Approves the emergency efforts made and the initiatives taken

by the Community to assist refugees, particularly those from

occupied Kuwait and the Kurdish refugees from Iraq following

the Gulf War;

3. Pays tribute to the work on behalf of refugees carried out by

the Commission and its delegations, specialized agencies such

as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and

the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in

the Near East, the International Red Cross and the numerous

non-governmental organizations taking part in the joint

effort;

4. Welcomes the establishment by the Commission of the European

Office for Emergency Humanitarian Aid for the purpose of

improving methods of intervention and operational management;

5. Notes and approves the efforts made by the Community with

regard to emergency food aid, but is concerned that the

logistical cost far exceeds the value of the aid itself;

proposes that, in consultation with the Member States,

adequate means be devised to cut the excessive logistical

cost, particularly in regions suffering from continuing

famine;

6. Stresses the importance and the multiplier effect of Budget

Article B7-302 intended for aid towards self-sufficiency for

refugees and displaced persons and draws attention, once

again, to the inadequacy of the appropriations available;

7. Calls on the Commission to set up a special task force with

the task of (a) undertaking a long-term analysis of the

situation in regions where a refugee problem may emerge and,

where necessary, working out an aid strategy, and (b)

together with the Council, in cases where financial resources

are made available by the Community, interceding through

diplomatic channels in order to find a solution to the

underlying problems, which are generally of a political

nature;

8. Notes that both needs and projects have grown, and believes

that financial and human resources must be increased

accordingly;

9. Notes with regret the slowness of payment procedures for

projects committed and points out that this is incompatible

with the urgency required by the situations concerned;

10.Recommends that, in its aid policy to refugees, the

Commission consult with aid and development organizations on

the ground, if the problem is economic, to establish viable

economic projects which would arrest this flight of refugees

while respecting the geographical diversity and the specific

nature of the situations in question;

11.Calls on the Commission to devote more attention to

reintegration projects for both external and internal

refugees, in order to expedite, where possible, a return to

the region of origin under conditions which respect human

dignity;

12.Draws attention to the situation of those sections of the

refugee population most at risk, namely women and children,

and stresses that particular attention should be devoted to

this group in current and future projects;

13.Expresses its concern at the growth in the number of refugees

fleeing from ecological and environmental disasters and asks

that their situation be considered as such, so that remedies

may be applied at source;

14.Calls on the Commission and the Member States to pay greater

attention, in implementing their refugee policy, to the

training, professional and otherwise, of refugees, making

allowance for their social structure, in order to foster

independence and facilitate a possible return;

15.Notes that aid to refugees and displaced and repatriated

persons, entered under Article B7-302, must be extended to

the local populations of the host countries where economic

conditions demand it;

16.Supports the aid programme for the re-establishment of the

Vietnamese boat people established by the Community, and

hopes to see it extended to situations where repatriation is

possible, provided it is voluntary;

17.Highlights the serious plight of the Gulf War refugees living

in highly precarious circumstances in Jordan and, noting that

no aid can be provided for them under existing budget

headings, considers that appropriate financial assistance

must be made available so that this exceptional situation may

be addressed without delay;

18.Stresses the importance of improved coordination amongst the

Member States of the Community and in the prospect of

European integration, believes that the untying of bilateral

aid in favour of a Community development policy is highly

desirable;

19.Considers that the international community should adopt all

the measures necessary to enable all refugees (political,

economic and those who are refugees as a result of natural or

ecological disasters) to be taken in first and foremost by

neighbouring regions and countries, which must be assisted to

this end by suitable programmes of cooperation and support;

stresses, at the same time, that the European Community, on

the basis of positions adopted by the European Parliament on

the matter, must draw up a Community asylum policy giving

priority to political refugees and adopt a definition of

refugees which takes into account the diversity of causes

and international upheavals underlying the phenomenon;

20.Welcomes the determination shown by the EEC delegations in

refugee host countries and by the officials of DG I and DG

VIII in helping to find solutions to the problems facing

refugees and displaced persons;

21.Instructs its President to forward this resolution and its

committee's report to the Council, the Commission, the UNHCR,

the UNRWA, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the

Liaison Bureau of the Community's non-governmental

organizations and the NGOs concerned.