General Conclusion on International Protection

No. 29 (XXXIV) - 1983

The Executive Committee,

(a) Reaffirmed the fundamental importance of the High Commissioner's international protection function;

(b) Noted that the High Commissioner's international protection function includes, in addition to promoting the development and observance of basic standards for the treatment of refugees, promoting, by all means within his competence, measures to ensure the physical safety of refugees and asylum-seekers;

(c) Noted with satisfaction that many States in different areas of the world - and in particular in developing countries faced with serious economic problems - have continued to apply recognized international humanitarian standards for the treatment of refugees and to respect the principle of non-refoulement;

(d) Noted, however, with particular concern that in various regions the physical safety of refugees and asylum-seekers has been seriously violated through military or armed attacks, acts of piracy and other forms of brutality and the failure to rescue asylum-seekers in distress at sea;

(e) Noted also with concern that the exercise of the High Commissioner's international protection function has been rendered more difficult in many areas of the world by restrictive trends relating to the granting of asylum and the determination of refugee status;

(f) Stressed the importance for further States to accede to the 1951 United Nations Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees and welcomed the additional accessions to these important humanitarian instruments which had taken place since the Committee's thirty-third session;

(g) Called on all States to ensure the full and effective application of these and other instruments for the protection of refugees to which they are parties;

(h) Noted with satisfaction that further States have adopted national measures to ensure the effective implementation of the provisions of the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol, particularly as regards procedures for the determination of refugee status, and stressed the importance for States to establish such procedures to ensure fair and equitable decision-making in line with the conclusions adopted by the Executive Committee at its twenty-eighth [No. 8] and thirty-third sessions [No. 28];

(i) Reiterated the importance of determining the country which is responsible for examining an asylum request by the adoption of common criteria as identified in the Conclusion on Refugees without an Asylum Country adopted by the Executive Committee at its thirtieth session;

(j) Recognized the importance of developing standards of protection by maintaining a constant dialogue with Governments, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions and of filling lacunae in international refugee law, particularly as regards asylum-seekers whose status has not been determined and as regards the physical protection of refugees and asylum-seekers;

(k) Recognized the value of the High Commissioner's continuing activities in encouraging the teaching and further development of international refugee law and welcomed his intention to enlarge his Office's legal documentation centre in co-operation with the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo;

(l) Recognized the essential need for the exercise of the High Commissioner's international protection function to be facilitated by the co-operation of Governments in granting asylum, in providing the durable solutions of resettlement and local integration and in creating conditions favourable to and promoting voluntary repatriation, which, whenever appropriate and feasible, is the most desirable durable solution for refugee problems; such co-operation should also include fostering in public opinion a deeper understanding of the special needs of refugees and asylum-seekers;

(m) Noted with appreciation the work of the Sub-Committee of the Whole on International Protection which continued to fulfil an important function in defining and further developing standards for the treatment of refugees and asylum-seekers and in supporting the High Commissioner's action in the field of international protection.