Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

A/RES/32/67

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE THIRD COMMITTEE

Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

The General Assembly,

Having considered the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on the activities of his Office¹ and having heard his statement,²

Recalling its resolution 31/35 of 30 November 1976 and taking into account the additional responsibilities assumed by the High Commissioner in different parts of the world for the benefit of an increasing number of refugees and displaced persons,

Recognizing the eminently humanitarian character of the various activities of the High Commissioner and the importance of permanent solutions being promoted by his Office, including voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement in other countries,

Concerned by infringements of the basic human rights of refugees and the urgent need on the part of Governments to ensure their effective and continued protection,

Recognizing the need for further accessions to and effective implementation by Governments of the relevant international instruments, including in particular the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees³ and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees,⁴

Commending the increasing number of Governments contributing to the High Commissioner's programmes and emphasizing the need for a wider sharing of the financial burden to provide the vital humanitarian assistance required by refugees and displaced persons,

1. Expresses its deep satisfaction at the efficient manner in which the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and his staff continue to accomplish their humanitarian tasks;

2. Requests the High Commissioner to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced persons of concern to his Office, including those in urgent need of help in Africa, Asia and Latin America;

3. Further requests United Nations agencies and programmes to render the fullest possible support to the High Commissioner's humanitarian tasks;

4. Urges Governments to extend the necessary cooperation to the High Commissioner in promoting permanent and speedy solutions to the problems facing his Office through voluntary repatriation and assistance in rehabilitation of returnees, integration in countries of asylum or resettlement in other countries as needed;

5. Further urges Governments to facilitate the efforts of the High Commissioner in the field of international protection, inter alia:

(a) By considering accession to the relevant international and regional instruments established for the benefit of refugees;

(b) By elaborating appropriate procedures at the national level for the effective implementation of the provisions of these instruments;

(c) By following humanitarian principles with respect to the granting of asylum and ensuring that these are scrupulously observed, including the principle of non-refoulement of refugees;

6. Calls upon Governments to contribute generously towards the financing of the High Commissioner's humanitarian activities in view of the universal character of the problems facing his Office and the need for a wider financial support of the programmes being undertaken by him.

98th plenary meeting
8 December 1977

1 Ibid., Supplement No. 12 (A/32/12 and Corr.1) and Supplement No. 12A (A/32/Add.1).

2 Ibid., Thirty-second Session, Third Committee, 45th meeting, paras. 1-9; and ibid., Third Committee, Sessional Fascicle, corrigendum.

3 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 199, No. 2545, p. 150.

4 Ibid., vol. 606, No. 8791, p. 267.