Strasbourg, 29/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - There are more than 921,000 displaced persons in Ukraine and more than 524,000 have fled to the Russian Federation following the annexation of Crimea, according to the report by UK Socialist Jim Sheridan, which was debated on Wednesday 28 January by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
This text on the “humanitarian situation of refugees and Ukrainian displaced persons” also underlines the fact that two million people remain in regions controlled by separatist forces, where they are exposed to insecurity and serious human rights violations.
Given the fact that one of the member states of the Council of Europe is facing this situation, PACE adopted, by 98 votes in favour, 8 against, with 8 abstentions, a resolution calling for a number of concrete points from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation.
The text calls on both parties to the conflict to “fully respect and implement the ceasefire provided by the Minsk agreements of 5 and 19 September 2014” and “refrain from the use of violence, particularly against civilians and civilian infrastructure”, whilst stressing that respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity was an essential precondition for improving the humanitarian situation.
It also calls on Ukraine and the Russian Federation to respect international humanitarian law by granting NGOs and investigators from international organisations such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) permanent access to all regions of conflict.
An appeal is also made to all parties to ensure that everything possible is done to allow displaced persons to return home in safety.
PACE also makes a specific call to the Russian authorities to “refrain from destabilising Ukraine and (…) militarily supporting” armed separatists, and to “use its influence on them to make them fully respect and implement the Minsk agreements”. (VL)