General Conclusion on International Protection

No. 41 (XXXVII) - 1986

The Executive Committee,

(a) Recognized that the exercise of the High Commissioner's international protection function had become increasingly complex due to the growing number and changing composition of current movements of refugees and asylum-seekers;

(b) Recognized that in view of the nature of contemporary refugee problems, the provision of solutions must be considered as an important aspect of the High Commissioner's international protection function;

(c) Recognized the importance for Governments to provide their full support in making available durable solutions for refugee problems, whenever possible in regions of origin, in order to facilitate the effective exercise of the High Commissioner's international protection function; noted with appreciation the efforts undertaken by the High Commissioner since the Executive Committee's thirty-sixth session to arrange for consultations between concerned Governments in order to deal with problems relating to specific refugee groups and, in particular, the problem raised by the movement of refugees and asylum-seekers from one region to another;

(d) Reiterated the crucial importance of voluntary repatriation as a solution to present-day refugee problems and welcomed the continuing efforts of the High Commissioner to promote voluntary repatriation taking into account Conclusions Nos. 18 and 40 adopted by the Executive Committee at its thirty-first and thirty-sixth sessions respectively;

(e) Recognized that the search for durable solutions includes the need to address the causes of movements of refugees and asylum-seekers from countries of origin and the causes of onward movements from countries of first asylum;

(f) Welcomed the recent accessions of Equatorial Guinea, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea and Venezuela, to the 1951 United Nations Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, thereby bringing to over 100 the number of States parties to these basic humanitarian instruments and welcomed the efforts of the Office to promote further accessions to these instruments to which it was hoped that all members of the United Nations would in due course become parties;

(g) Reiterated the importance of national legislative and/or administrative measures to ensure the effective implementation of the standards defined in applicable international refugee instruments and welcomed the efforts of the High Commissioner to promote the further adoption of such measures;

(h) Reaffirmed the importance of the Office's efforts to promote the development and strengthening of international refugee law through the organization or support of round tables, seminars and discussion groups in different areas of the world and to ensure that the principles of international refugee law are as widely disseminated as possible;

(i) Recognized the value of international instruments defining standards for the treatment of refugees at the regional level and noted with appreciation the progress achieved in this field through the efforts of the Arab League, the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee, the Council of Europe, the Organization of African Unity, the Organization of American States, the Organization of the Islamic Conference;

(j) Noted with concern that in different areas of the world, the basic rights of refugees and asylum-seekers have been seriously violated and that refugees and asylum-seekers have been exposed to physical violence, acts of piracy and forcible return to their country of origin in disregard of the principle of non-refoulement;

(k) Noted with concern that since the Committee's thirty-sixth session refugee camps and settlements have continued to be the subject of military or armed attacks and expressed the hope that ongoing efforts to find a solution to this problem will lead to positive results in the near future;

(l) Recalled its Conclusion No. 39 on Refugee Women and International Protection and called upon the High Commissioner to continue to give due attention to the specific protection needs of refugee women and to continue to report to the Executive Committee on this matter;

(m) Noted that the situation of refugee children also required special consideration and called upon the High Commissioner to report regularly to the Executive Committee on the needs of refugee children, and on existing and proposed programmes for their benefit;

(n) Recognized the valuable contribution of the non-governmental organizations in supporting the High Commissioner's efforts in the field of international protection;

(o) Noted the importance of promoting a favourable climate of public opinion in order to facilitate the exercise of the High Commissioner's international protection function; stressed the necessity for the special situation and needs of refugees and asylum-seekers to be brought fully to the attention of the public; and welcomed UNHCR's efforts in this regard which should be fully supported by Governmental authorities and concerned non-governmental organizations.