Human rights and mass exoduses.

1988/70. Human rights and mass exoduses

The Commission on Human Rights, Mindful of its general humanitarian mandate under the Charter of the United Nations to promote and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, Deeply disturbed by the continuing scale and magnitude of exoduses of refugees and displacements of population in many regions of the world and by the human suffering of millions of refugees and displaced persons, Conscious of the fact that human rights violations are one of the multiple and complex factors causing mass exoduses of refugees and displaced persons, as indicated in the study of the Special Rapporteur on this subject (E/CN.4/1503) and also in the report of the Group of Governmental Experts on International Co-operation to Avert New Flows of Refugees (A/41/324, annex), Aware of the recommendations concerning mass exoduses which it has made to the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and to special rapporteurs when studying violations of human rights in any part of the world, Deeply preoccupied by the increasingly heavy burden being imposed, particularly upon developing countries with limited resources of their own, and upon the international community as a whole, by these sudden mass exoduses and displacements of population, Stressing the need for international co-operation aimed at averting new massive flows of refugees in parallel with the provision of durable solutions to actual refugee situations, Taking note once again of the report of the Secretary-General on human rights and mass exoduses (A/38/538), Welcoming the endorsement by the General Assembly at its forty-first session of the recommendations and conclusions contained in the report of the Group of Governmental Experts on International Co-operation to Avert New Flows of Refugees, Recalling the General Assembly resolutions 35/196 of 15 December 1980, 37/186 of 17 December 1982, 38/103 of 16 December 1983, 39/117 of 14 December 1984, 40/149 of 13 December 1985, 41/70 of 3 December 1986, 41/148 of 4 December 1986, and 42/144 of 7 December 1987, and its own resolutions 30 (XXXVI) of 11 March 1980, 29 (XXXVII) of 11 March 1981, 1982/32 of 11 March 1982, 1983/35 of 8 March 1983, 1984/49 of 14 March 1984, 1985/40 of 13 March 1985, 1986/45 of 12 March 1986 and 1987/56 of 11 March 19871 Welcoming the steps taken by the Secretary-General to establish an early warning system, as mentioned in his report on the work of the organization to the General Assembly at its forty-first session (A/41/1),

1. Welcomes the steps taken so far by the United Nations to examine the problem of massive outflows of refugees and displaced persons in all its aspects, including its root causes;

2. Recalls the recommendation of the Group of Governmental Experts on International Co-operation to Avert New Flows of Refugees that the main organs of the United Nations should make fuller use of their respective competences under the Charter for the prevention of new massive flows of refugees, with a view to considering at the earliest possible stage situations and problems which could give rise to massive flows of refugees;

3. Invites all Governments and concerned international organizations to intensify their co-operation and assistance in world-wide efforts to address the serious problems resulting from mass exoduses of refugees and displaced persons, and also the causes of such exoduses;

4. Requests all Governments to ensure the effective implementation of the relevant international instruments, in particular in the field of human rights, as this would contribute to averting new massive flows of refugees and displaced persons;

5. Renews its request to the Secretary-General to inform the General Assembly at its forty-third session of action taken pursuant to the recommendations in paragraph 70 of the report of the Group of Governmental Experts on International Co-operation to Avert New Flows of Refugees (A/41/324, annex);

6. Further requests the Secretary-General to inform The Commission on Human Rights at its forty-fifth session of any developments concerning the efforts being made to enable the United Nations to anticipate and react more adequately and speedily to cases requiring humanitarian assistance, as mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization to the General Assembly at the thirty-ninth session (A/39/1);

7. Decides to continue consideration of the question of human rights and mass exoduses at its forty-fifth session.

55th meeting
10 March 1988
[Adopted without a vote. See chap. XII.]