General Conclusion on International Protection

No. 11 (XXIX) - 1978

The Executive Committee,

(a) Reiterated the fundamental importance of international protection, welcomed the action taken by the High Commissioner and the progress achieved in this field since the Committee's twenty-eighth session and recognized the need for efforts to be continued and further intensified;

(b) Was seriously concerned that various problems arising in this field had not yet been resolved and that cases of non-observance of the basic human rights of refugees still continued to arise;

(c) Recalled the Conclusions adopted at the twenty-eighth session concerning the importance of the observance of the principle of non-refoulement and was gravely preoccupied that this principle had, in a number of cases, still been disregarded;

(d) Recalled the Conclusions adopted at the twenty-eighth session regarding asylum and expressed concern that refugees still encountered difficulties in obtaining permanent or even temporary asylum in certain areas;

(e) Reaffirmed the principle of international solidarity as a primary condition for the practice of liberal asylum policies and for the effective implementation of international protection in general;

(f) Welcomed the accession by additional States to the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees but noted with concern that a large number of States including States having sizeable refugee problems, had not acceded to either of these instruments;

(g) Recalled the Conclusions adopted in this matter at its twenty eighth session and expressed the hope that additional States would accede to the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol in the near future;

(h) Recognized the need for appropriate legislative or administrative measures on the national level with a view to the effective implementation of the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol and urged all States parties to these instruments which had not yet done so to, initiate necessary measures in this regard;

(i) Recalled in particular the Conclusions adopted at the twenty eighth session concerning procedures for the determination of refugee status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol, reiterated the importance of such procedures, welcomed their establishment by a number of states since the Committee's twenty-eighth session and expressed the hope that further States would give favourable consideration to the establishment of such procedures;

(j) Recognized the value of efforts to secure a wider dissemination of the principle of refugee law through closer relations with educational and scientific institutions and more generally with circles concerned with humanitarian and refugee questions, and recommended that the High Commissioner pursue such efforts;

(k) Welcomed the efforts made by the High Commissioner to make available additional staff members entrusted with protection duties both in UNHCR field offices and at UNHCR headquarters, and acknowledged with appreciation the support given to the High Commissioner in this respect by the Administrative Management Service;

(l) Noted with appreciation the work of the Sub-Committee of the Whole on International Protection and expressed its belief that the Sub-Committee had proved its value as an institution for the examination of specific problems arising in the field of international protection and for the recommendation of appropriate solutions.