Military and Armed Attacks on Refugee Camps and Settlements in Southern Africa and Elsewhere

EC/SCP/38

1. The serious problem of military attacks on refugee camps and settlements in southern Africa and elsewhere, which was first brought to the attention of the Executive Committee at its thirty-second session, has since been the subject of a report by Ambassador Felix Schnyder as well as several discussions in subsequent Executive Committee meetings and in the Sub-Committee of the Whole on International Protection.

2. During the deliberations of the ninth meeting of the Sub-Committee of the Whole on International Protection in 1984, a new set of draft conclusions had been prepared. These were the subject of further consultations amongst States in the course of the thirty-fifth session of the Executive Committee without, however, the Committee being able to reach an agreement before the end of that session.

3. In its conclusions, the Executive Committee therefore requested the Chairman to take appropriate action for the continuation of consultations regarding the prohibition of military or armed attack on refugee camps and settlements and to report on the results of these consultations to the Executive Committee at its thirty-sixth session (A/39/12/Add.1, para. 87 (1) (g). The Chairman established a working group headed by the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations Office at Geneva, Ambassador Anton Hegner, to explore the possibilities of reaching a consensus. These consultations were still in progress at the time of writing.