The 24th Triennial Congress of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, 14-25 July, 1989 in Sydney, Australia:

This century is a century of the refugees; worldwide are 17-20 million people forced to live as refugees – 75% of them are women and children. People have to leave their homes because of civil war, terror, cruel oppression and torture. People were pursued for political, racial, religious and gender reasons. Hunger poverty and misery force people to escape. People leave European countries because they are hindered to use all their human rights. Centuries of colonial politics have brought political and economical structures, foreign cultures and new borders, ecological crises and catastrophe to the “Third World”. We all are responsible for reasons and for the situation of refugees.

We therefore urge the International Congress in Sydney to adopt the following resolution:

1. To work for the improvement of the global situation of refugees – each section in their country and on all international levels.

2. To bring into public discussion the specific problem of female refugees and demand own women specific reasons for granting asylum.