CM/Res.1489 (LIX)
RESOLUTION ON REFUGEES, RETURNEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS IN AFRICA
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity, meeting in its Fifty-ninth Ordinary Session, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 31 January to 4 February, 1994,
Having considered the Report of the OAU Commission of Fifteen on Refugees on the situation of refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa,
Recalling the Resolution CM/Res.1448 (LVIII) on refugees, returnees and displaced persons adopted during its Fifty-eighth Ordinary Session held in Cairo, Egypt in June 1993, which cited human and peoples’ rights abuses, ethnic and inter -state conflicts as the main root-causes of the problem of refugees and displaced persons in Africa,
Deeply Concerned with the persistent problem of refugees and displaced persons in Africa and the alarming deterioration of the living conditions of the refugees, particularly among women, children, the disabled and the aged,
Expressing with appreciation the generous contribution of the asylum countries in receiving and assisting refugees,
Aware that the serious situation arising from Africa’s problem of refugees and displaced persons, places a heavy social and economic burden on the asylum countries,
Reaffirming the continuing importance in the search for durable solutions for refugee problems in Africa, of the relevant legal instruments such as the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of the Refugee Problems in Africa whose 20th anniversary since coming into force and the 25th anniversary since the signature will fall due in June and September 1994 respectively,
Recognizing the continued efforts of the UNHCR, ICRC, Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations together with other members of the international community in giving assistance to African refugees and displaced persons:
TAKES NOTE WITH APPRECIATION the report presented by the Committee on the situation of refugees, returnees and displaced persons in Africa;
COMMENDS the governments and local communities of the countries of asylum for the assistance they have continued to render to the refugees and displaced persons, despite the severe economic and social problems that these countries are experiencing;
FURTHER COMMENDS the international community in particular the UNHCR, ICRC and the Voluntary Agencies for the humanitarian assistance that they have continued to render to the refugees and displaced persons as well as to the countries of asylum, and APPEALS to the donor community
to increase its resources towards assisting refugees in Africa to cope with the magnitude of the problem;
REQUESTS the Bureau of the Commission of Fifteen on Refugees to associate itself with the process of granting scholarship to refugees;
STRESSES the need to provide the necessary financial and material assistance to the asylum countries in order to enable them to provide the required assistance to the refugees and displaced persons;
REQUESTS Member States to address seriously the root-causes of the problem of refugees and displaced persons and create conducive political conditions which would allow refugees to be voluntarily repatriated back to their countries of origin;
FURTHER REQUESTS the Commission of Fifteen on Refugees, in close collaboration with the General Secretariat to sensitize the international community to the magnitude of the problem of refugees and displaced persons in Africa and request them to provide additional resources;
TAKES NOTE WITH SATISFACTION of the initiatives and efforts of the High Commissioner for Refugees aimed at strengthening cooperation and partnership with Member States, OAU and NGOs;
INVITES UNHCR to promote in particular, capacity building with local African NGOs with a view to enabling them to contribute more effectively to the humanitarian protection of an assistance to African refugees and displaced persons;
REQUESTS the Secretary-General to consider in cooperation with the relevant organizations, most particularly the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, ORGANIZING appropriate activities to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the adoption of the 1969 OAU Convention relating to the specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa, and the 20th Anniversary of its coming into force, both of which fall due in 1994. In particular, stock should be taken of the contribution that the Convention has made to the protection of refugees and finding durable solutions to refugee problems in Africa. Measures should also be promoted for the more effective implementation of the Convention by Member States and for finding lasting solutions to the continuing crises of displacement and forced migration on the African Continent;
RECOMMENDS to Member States to consider establishing within their respective Government structures focal points to provide to the OAU Commission of Fifteen on Refugees updated information on the refugee situation in their respective countries;
DIRECTS the Commission of Fifteen to fully implement provisions of Resolution CM/Res.1448 (LVIII) regarding review of its composition and reconstitution;
APPEALS ONCE AGAIN to those Member States that have not yet ratified the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 OAU Convention on Refugees, the 1981 African Charter on Human
and People’s Rights as well as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child to consider ratifying these humanitarian instruments.