International Instruments

No. 4 (XXVIII) - 1977

The Executive Committee,

(a) Noted with disappointment that since the Committee's twenty seventh session only one further State had acceded to the 1951 Convention and to the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees;

(b) Noted further that a large number of States had still not become parties to these instruments and recommended that the High Commissioner undertake a concerted and determined initiative at the highest level to promote further accessions;

(c) Considered that such an initiative should also extend to promoting the withdrawal of the geographical limitation still maintained by certain States in respect of their obligations under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol;

(d) Reaffirmed the fundamental importance of the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as a basis for the international protection function of the High Commissioner, particularly in respect of States which had not yet acceded to the 1951 Convention or the 1967 Protocol or whose obligations under these instruments were restricted by the geographical limitation.