Situation of refugees in the Sudan

A/RES/35/181

35. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE THIRD COMMITTEE

181. Situation of refugees in the Sudan

The General Assembly,

Recalling Economic and Social Council resolutions 1980/10 of 28 April 1980 and 1980/45 of 23 July 1980, by which the Council requested the Secretary-General, in co-operation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to send an interagency mission to the Sudan to assess the needs and the magnitude of assistance required for the financing of the programmes for the relief and settlement of refugees and to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-fifth session,

Having heard the statement of the High Commissioner¹ concerning the report of the Secretary-General on the visit of the interagency mission to the Sudan from 12 to 22 June 1980,²

Noting with appreciation that the Government of the Sudan, with the help of the High Commissioner and the international community, held an important and well-attended conference at Khartoum from 20 to 22 June 1980, entitled "International Conference on Refugees in the Sudan",

Deeply concerned that the assistance rendered to the Sudan falls far short of today's needs required to set in motion the process of rehabilitation, settlement and community development, together with the strengthening of national services to cope with the significant addition to the population caused by the continuing massive influx of refugees,

Recognizing the need for continued financial and material support from the international community to the refugees in the Sudan,

Recognizing further that the presence of large numbers of refugees in the Sudan and the continued influx of more refugees put grave pressures and strains on that country's limited resources,

1. Commends the Secretary-General for sending an interagency mission to the Sudan and for the comprehensive report prepared by the mission on the needs and the magnitude of assistance required for refugees in the Sudan;³

2. Takes note with appreciation of the assistance that has been rendered for refugees in the Sudan by several Member States, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations;

3. Endorses the report of the interagency mission to the Sudan and the recommendations contained therein;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to circulate the report to Member States, international organizations and voluntary agencies and to appeal to them, in close co-ordination with the High Commissioner, to provide generous contributions to the refugees in the Sudan on the basis of the report of the mission;

5. Requests the Secretary-General, in co-operation with the High Commissioner, to send, as a matter of urgency, follow-up missions to carry out feasibility studies with a view to strengthening the capacity of the Government of the Sudan to pursue cost-effective strategies and to plan and locate new settlements as an integral part of over-all rural and urban development, on the basis of the recommendations of the mission;

6. Appeals to Member States, the High Commissioner, the United Nations organizations concerned and voluntary agencies to render maximum financial and material assistance to the Government of the Sudan in its efforts to provide shelter, food and other services to the growing number of refugees in that country;

7. Commends the initiative and endeavours of the Sudan in convening at Khartoum the International Conference on Refugees in the Sudan to draw the attention of the international community to the plight of 473,000 refugees and to the magnitude and complexity of their situation;

8. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Economic and Social Council at its first regular session of 1981 and to the General Assembly at its thirty-sixth session on the implementation of the present resolution.

96th plenary meeting
15 December 1980

1 Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-fifth Session, Third Committee, 51st meeting, paras, meeting, paras.1-8

2 A/35/410.

3 Ibid., annex.