FM Alert, Vol III, No. 2
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Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 09:05:51 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: FM Alert, Vol III, No. 2
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Paulette Layton <[email protected]>
FM Alert, Vol III, No. 2
FM Alert, Vol III, No. 2
January 15, 1999
DUAL CITIZENSHIP AGREEMENT REMAINS ELUSIVE IN BOSNIA
A meeting of the Peace Implementation Council (PIC), held in December
1998, called on Bosnia and Herzegovina to address the issue of dual
citizenship concerning other states of the former Yugoslavia. Bosnia
should "conclude bilateral citizenship agreements particularly with
neighboring countries, which shall address, inter alia, voting
rights," the PIC said in a summary of its meeting. Under Bosnia's
Citizenship Law, Bosnian government officials should have concluded
bilateral citizenship agreements with neighboring Croatia and the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by July 1998. The PIC met set a new
deadline of June 30, 1999. An international official familiar with the
citizenship debate noted the complexity of the issue and stressed the
need for follow-up dialogue on citizenship issues. The Forced
Migration Projects (FMP) have sought to establish a comprehensive
framework that addresses citizenship issues in the former Yugoslavia.
A FMP-sponsored meeting December 10-12, 1998, provided a forum for
substantive discussion of property rights and citizenship issues,
involving local NGO and international organization representatives, as
well as government officials. "We believe that a regional framework,
perhaps under the auspices of UNHCR or OSCE, will be necessary to
harmonize approaches to citizenship/statelessness issues in the
region. This could promote the additional voluntary repatriation of
refugees and displaced persons in Bosnia," FMP Director Arthur C.
Helton said.
(For additional information see FM Alerts of January 8, 1999, and
December 10 and October 23, 1998).
JOINT MISSION EXAMINES CONDITIONS OF MESKHETIAN TURKS IN KRASNODAR
Representatives of nongovernmental and international organizations,
including the Forced Migration Projects and the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, along with Russian government officials,
have conducted a mission of inquiry to examine the conditions of
Meskhetian Turks in the Krasnodar Krai region of Russia. The mission,
which visited Krasnodar from December 15-21, 1998, found that the
estimated 15,000 to 17,000 Meskhetian Turks in the region are
systematically denied basic civil and political rights. Meskhetian
Turks are a formerly deported people who were uprooted from their
homeland in Georgia in 1944. The mission also found that local
officials in Krasnodar are actively encouraging Meskhetian Turks to
leave the region, with many choosing to go to Turkey. The main
Meskhetian Turk advocacy group, Vatan, advocates the rehabilitation of
Meskhetian Turks, and the right to return to their homeland in
Georgia. Recommendations concerning Meskhetian Turks in Krasnodar will
be prepared for discussion at a March meeting in Vienna - sponsored by
the FMP, UNHCR and the OSCE's High Commissioner on National Minorities
- that is designed to stimulate the formulation of durable solutions
for the formerly deported people.
(For additional information see December 10, September 25 and
September 18, 1998).
REFUGEE FAMILIES IN MOSCOW VICTORIOUS IN FIGHT FOR RIGHTS
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including the Forced Migration
Projects, are celebrating a successful effort to uphold the rights of
refugees and displaced persons in Russia. After a prolonged struggle
to prevent their eviction from a resettlement facility outside Moscow,
known as Vatutinki, eight ethnic Armenian families are implementing a
settlement with Russia's Federal Migration Service (FMS). Under terms
of the deal, agreed to in mid-1998, the families have received Russian
citizenship and have been resettled in temporary housing. This year,
they are expected to move in to permanent housing provided by the
state. "This is a significant victory," said Svetlana Gannushkina, an
NGO activist who has advocated on behalf of the Vatutinki families.
"Everything is going according to the plan." The refugees, who were
forced to flee their homes in Baku, Azerbaijan, during the
anti-Armenian pogroms of 1990, had been resisting FMS-backed eviction
proceedings for several years. A Moscow regional court summarily
ordered the eviction of two of the families in December of 1996, but
the Vatutinki families successfully resisted implementation of the
decision until the FMS agreed to the settlement.
(For background see the Forced Migration Monitor of January, 1997).
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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