A/HRC/31/21 by the Turkish authorities as well as the new authorizations providing the Committee with access to military zones, the Deputies invited the Turkish authorities to give the Committee access to a greater number of military zones, and to continue to provide it with all relevant information, including from military reports and archives. 8 19. On 24 September 2015, the Deputies once again deeply deplored the lack of payment of the just satisfaction awarded by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Varnava and Others v. Turkey and the Xenides-Arestis group of cases and firmly insisted on the unconditional obligation of Turkey to pay without further delay the sums awarded by the Court to the applicants, as well as the default interest due. They also recalled their invitation to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to raise the issue of payment of the just satisfaction in those cases in his contacts with the Turkish authorities, calling on them to take the measures necessary to pay it. Furthermore, the Deputies encouraged the authorities of the member States of the Council of Europe to do the same.9 B. Non-discrimination 20. According to article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. 10 Furthermore, all are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of the Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. 21. As of May 2015, there were as many as 212,400 internally displaced persons living in the part of the island controlled by the Government of Cyprus, including children born while their families were displaced, making up a fifth of the island’s population.11 When compared with previous years, the number of internally displaced persons remained unchanged, with no new displacements and no returns recorded in 2014.12 22. While welcoming the decision by Cyprus to recognize the status of children of women who had been internally displaced, the Human Rights Committee remained concerned that such recognition made the children eligible only to certain housing schemes and benefits and did not give them access to the same rights as children of internally displaced men, in particular the right to participate in elections in due course. Thus, in its concluding observations of 31 March 2015, the Committee recommended that Cyprus amend its legislation to ensure that children of women who had been internally displaced had the same benefits as children of internally displaced men, without any kind of distinction (CCPR/C/CYP/CO/4, para. 9).13 23. In the case of Vrountou v. Cyprus, the Government drew on the progressive expansion of the refugee assistance scheme since 1974 and on the budgetary implications 8 9 10 11 12 13 6 Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, decisions adopted at the 1230th meeting on 11 June 2015 (CM/Del/Dec(2015)1230/23+24) on the cases of Cyprus v. Turkey and Varnava and Others v. Turkey. Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, decisions adopted at the 1236th meeting on 24 September 2015 (CM/Del/Dec(2015)1236/22) on Varnava and Others v. Turkey and the Xenides-Arestis group of cases. See also the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 26. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Norwegian Refugee Council, Global Overview 2015: People internally displaced by conflict and violence (Geneva, May 2015), p. 8. Available from www.internal-displacement.org/assets/library/Media/201505-Global-Overview-2015/20150506global-overview-2015-en.pdf. Ibid., p. 83. See also A/HRC/25/21, para. 21; A/HRC/28/20, para. 24; and CEDAW/C/CYP/CO/6-7, paras. 33-34.