CM/Res.939 (XL) RESOLUTION ON THE SITUATION OF REFUGEES IN AFRICA
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity meeting in its Fortieth Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 27 February to 5 March 1984,
Having considered the report of the Secretary-General a.i. in relation to refugees in Africa as well as the report of the Chairman of the OAU Commission of Fifteen on Refugees,
Considering the gravity of the refugee situation in Africa and the complex problems it causes for the countries of origin as well as for the host countries,
Deeply appreciating the positive responses of governments in Africa to the problem of refugees,
Convinced that adherence by all OAU Member States to the existing international conventions on refugees would contribute in alleviating the problem of refugees in Africa,
Reaffirming the need for the OAU Commission of Fifteen on Refugees to undertake missions from time to time to OAU Member States especially to those countries over-burdened by the refugee problem in order to enable it to keep abreast with the refugee situation on the continent, and to actively mobilize international assistance to the refugees and the host countries,
Cognizant of the fact that the living conditions of refugees in Africa, especially those of the aged, women, children and the disabled is steadily deteriorating every year:
COMMENDS the Commission of Fifteen on Refugees for its reports;
INVITES ONCE MORE all OAU Member States to observe June 20th of every year as Africa Refugee Day which commemorates the date of entry into force of the 1969 OAU Convention on Refugees;
APPEALS to those Member States of the OAU which have not yet done so to consider as a matter of priority, ratifying the 1951 UN Convention and its Protocol of 1967, the 1969 OAU Convention as well as the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and enacting amnesty laws that could ensure the safety of those who return from exile;
DECIDES to include a special item relating to the root-causes of refugees in Africa on the agenda of its Forty-first Ordinary Session, and requests the Secretary-General, in close collaboration with the OAU Commission of Fifteen on Refugees to present a report on the subject;
CALLS UPON countries constituting the Southern African Development Co- ordinating Conference (SADCC) to organize, in close collaboration with the OAU, UN, and UNHCR an international conference on all aspects of the refugee problem in Southern Africa, in order to co-ordinate and harmonize approaches to refugee matters.