FM Alert, Vol III, No. 19
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Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 20:08:55 +0300 (EET DST)
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Subject: FM Alert, Vol III, No. 19
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Paulette Layton <[email protected]>
FM Alert, Vol III, No. 19
FM Alert, Vol III, No. 19
May 14, 1999
OSCE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR NATIONAL MINORITIES MAKES MESKHETIAN TURK
APPEAL
Max van der Stoel, the OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities,
has appealed to the US government for support of pilot projects
designed to facilitate the repatriation and the protection of
Meskhetian Turks. "We are at a critical stage of the process, a point
at which the support of donor governments, including the United
States, could make an important difference," Mr. Van der Stoel wrote
in a May 7 letter. "Solutions to Meskhetian Turk issues ... are
within reach." The High Commissioner's office, along with the Forced
Migration Projects (FMP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) are sponsoring a dialogue involving the governments
of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia, as well as Meskhetian Turk civic
organizations and international experts. Discussions held in
September 1998 in The Hague, and in March 1999 in Vienna, have
succeeded in laying the groundwork for resolution of outstanding
issues that would allow for the rehabilitation and repatriation of
Meskhetian Turks. The nationality was forcibly deported en masse from
Georgia in 1944. A pilot project initiative, organized by the
dialogue's sponsors, aims to be functioning by late June. "Donor
government support for the pilot project mechanism would help maintain
momentum for the process," van der Stoel wrote.
(For background information see FM Alerts of April 30 and March 19).
FMP WARNS OF IDENTITY CLEANSING OF KOSOVO REFUGEES
The Forced Migration Projects (FMP) are calling for measures to
protect Kosovo refugees from "identity cleansing." Reports indicate
that many refugees have fled the conflict-ravaged region without
taking important documents, some of which have been reportedly
confiscated and destroyed by Serbian forces. For example, only about 5
percent of the up to 300,000 refugees arriving in neighboring
Macedonia possess all their vital documents, including papers relating
to citizenship and property and tenancy rights, according to an FMP
consultant based in Skopje. Such individuals may face obstacles to
return without documents confirming their citizenship and property
rights. If such records are destroyed, lost, or otherwise disappear,
hundreds of thousands of refugees could face a prolonged and
burdensome process of reestablishing their identity and regaining
access to their rightful property, complicating voluntary repatriation
and rehabilitation efforts. FMP Director Arthur C. Helton, who met
with US government officials this week, urged that immediate steps be
undertaken to neutralize the impact of possible identity cleansing,
and thus ensure that a early voluntary return of refugees remains
feasible. Helton said; "Information should be assembled and databases
created to protect personal identity and property rights in order to
ensure that the early voluntary return of refugees remains feasible."
(For additional information see FM Alert of April 30).
UNHCR TARGETS PROPOSIKA ISSUES IN NEW REPORT
A new publication by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) examines residency permit issues in CIS states, saying
tangible results in addressing problems "cannot be achieved in a short
time span." Refugees and displaced persons are among the groups most
vulnerable to the vagaries of the residency permit system,
colloquially known as the propiska. Discrimination relating to
propiska gerrymandering often prevents newcomers from obtaining
status, therefore cutting them off from educational and employment
opportunities, as well as closing access to state-funded health care.
The UNHCR publication is designed to function as a reference work. In
the preface, UNHCR's Director for the Bureau for Europe Anne Willem
Bijleveld lauded the success of the agency's efforts to increase the
profile of propiska-related problems. "The [UNHCR] initiative
contributed particularly to raising awareness among the CIS States of
the necessity to reform the [propiska] system and apply international
norms." Some human rights advocates based in the region are more muted
in their optimism for a breakthrough on propiska issues. Moscow
Helsinki group head Lyudmila Alexeeva, speaking at a Forced Migration
Projects roundtable on May 7, indicated that even if legislative
modifications are made, enforcement difficulties could arise. "We have
no tradition to respect the law throughout society," Alexeeva said.
"This is a big problem."
For more information contact:
The Forced Migration Projects
400 West 59th Street, 4th floor
New York, NY 10019
tel: (212)548-0655
fax: (212) 548-4676
e-mail: [email protected]
website: www.soros.org/migrate.html
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