FM Alert, Vol II, No. 49
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Subject: FM Alert, Vol II, No. 49
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Paulette Layton <[email protected]>
FM Alert, Vol II, No. 49
FM Alert, Vol II, No. 49
December 11, 1998
FMP INTERNATIONAL ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSES CITZENSHIP AND PROPERTY RIGHTS
IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
Over 40 experts and policy actors from nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), international organizations and governments are engaging in
discussions on promoting the sustainable return of refugees and
displaced persons in the former Yugoslavia at a Forced Migration
Projects co-sponsored meeting in Budapest. "The participants
recognized the difficulties in finding durable solutions for nearly 2
million refugees and displaced persons resulting from conflict in the
region," FMP Director Arthur C. Helton, said as Chairman of the
December 10-12 meeting. Helton identified citizenship and property
rights issues as two of the major obstacles in the search for return
solutions. The implementation of a "harmonized regional citizenship
regime, including an appropriate provision for dual/multiple
citizenship" for the countries comprising the former Yugoslavia would
greatly ease statelessness and facilitate the resolution of other
citizenship-related issues, Helton said. Greater regulation in the
sphere of property rights would foster an atmosphere of greater
certainty, thus providing an additional stimulus for the return of
displaced persons. "Problems associated with property and citizenship
rights require the establishment of an effective regional framework to
address these issues," Helton said. In addition to the discussions on
citizenship and property rights, a side meeting examined current
conditions in Kosovo. Participants have expressed "concern with the
adequacy of the humanitarian response," and stressed the importance of
greater capacity building efforts for local NGOs. The event is being
co-sponsored by Commission for Real Property Claims, International
Organization for Migration, Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Non-governmental co-sponsors are the Croatian Law Center, Humanitarian
Law Center (Belgrade), Institute on Southeast European Studies of the
Central European University, International Crisis group and Law Center
(Sarajevo). The Mayor of the City of Osijek, Croatia, also is serving
as a co-sponsor. Experts have been provided by UN High Commissioner
for Refugees, the Office of the High Representative and the Council of
Europe.
(For additional information see FM Alerts of December 4 and October
30).
FMP DIRECTOR ADVOCATES MESKHETIAN TURK SOLUTIONS
Forced Migration Projects (FMP) Director Arthur C. Helton said a
"concerted international strategy" is needed to reduce the chances of
inter-ethnic tension sparking new forced migration emergencies in the
former Soviet Union. "Russia's economic crisis will exacerbate
intolerance and inter-ethnic tensions, which could spill over into
broader conflicts in the region," Helton wrote in a
letter-to-the-editor, published by the International Herald Tribune on
December 3. Helton cited the example of the Meskhetian Turks as an
example in which directed international action could play a pivotal
role in preserving stability and encouraging tolerance. Meskhetian
Turks are a formerly deported people, banished from their homeland in
Georgia in 1944, and who are now seeking official rehabilitation and
the right to return. Significant Meskhetian Turk populations live
throughout Central Asia, as well as in Azerbaijan and the Krasnodar
Territory in southern Russia. Georgian officials have been reluctant
to address the issue of Meskhetian return, asserting that the
government lacks the resources to establish a stable return mechanism.
A framework document, adopted at a September meeting in The Hague, The
Netherlands, of which the FMP was a co-sponsor, is designed to solve
existing dilemmas connected with Meskhetian return. A donor nation
conference is planned for 1999 to attract resources "for an
international effort to manage the potential crisis humanely," Helton
wrote.
ARMENIAN NGOS DISCUSS CISCONF FOLLOW-UP
Local migration-related nongovernmental organization (NGO) leaders met
on December 3 in the Armenian capital Yerevan to examine the response
to the 1996 CIS conference on migration-related issues. Also
participating were representatives of international organizations -
including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) - and Armenian
government officials. Participants examined the work of the five
working groups established to promote implementation of the Program of
Action, adopted by the 1996 CIS Conference on migration-related
issues. NGO leaders discussed ways to establish mechanisms for the
regular exchange of information, which would facilitate an improved
response to CIS Conference follow-up activities. The meeting was
organized by the Armenian Sociological Association, whose leader,
Gevork Pogosian, is a consultant with the Forced Migration Projects.
Pogosian is one of the principal actors in the endeavor to foster the
creation of an NGO network in the former Soviet Union. The first stage
of the process involves the compilation of a report on CIS Conference
activities, based on the results of an extensive NGO survey.
(For additional information see FM Alert of November 5, June 26 and
June 12).
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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