Human rights and mass exoduses.

1992/63.
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 o n International Cooperation to Avert New Flows of Refugees (A/41/324, annex), Recalling 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, and, in particular, the recommendation contained in its resolution 1985/40 of 13 March 1985 that special rapporteurs and special representatives studying situations of violations of human rights pay attention when appropriate to problems resulting in mass exoduses of populations, 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 cooperation aimed at averting new massive flows of refugees in parallel with the provision of durable solutions to actual refugee situations, Welcoming the endorsement by the General Assembly, in its resolution 41/70 of 3 December 1986, of the recommendations and conclusions contained in the report (A/41/324, annex) of the Group of Governmental Experts on International Cooperation to Avert New Flows of Refugees, including, inter alia, the call upon all States to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms and to refrain from denying these to individuals in their population because of nationality, ethnicity, race, religion or language, Recalling General Assembly resolution 44/164 of 15 December 1989, in which the Assembly reaffirmed its support for the recommendation of the Group of Governmental Experts that the principal organs of the United Nations should make fuller use of their respective competencies under the Charter of the United Nations for the prevention of new massive flows of refugees and displaced persons, Recalling also its resolution 1991/73 of 6 March 1991 and its previous relevant resolutions, as well as those of the General Assembly, Noting that the General Assembly, in its resolution 46/127 of 17 December 1991, especially encouraged the Secretary-General to implement the recommendations of the Joint Inspection Unit contained in its report on the coordination of activities related to early warning of possible refugee flows (A/45/649 and Corr. 1, annex) and invited bodies of the United Nations system to consider the most expedient ways and means of following up these recommendations, Welcoming 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, Bearing in mind the statement made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at the 36th meeting of its forty-sixth session on 22 February 1990, which drew attention to the complexity of the global refugee problem, the need for a comprehensive approach addressing the concerns of all the different groups involved and the important role to be played in this regard by human rights institutions, Recalling that the General Assembly, in its resolution 46/127, invited the Commission to keep the question of human rights and mass exoduses under review with a view to supporting the early-warning arrangement instituted by the Secretary-General to avert new massive flows of refugees and displaced persons,

1. Invites again all Governments and intergovernmental and humanitarian organizations concerned to intensify their cooperation and assistance in worldwide efforts to address the serious problems resulting from mass exoduses of refugees and displaced persons, and also the causes of such exoduses;

2. 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;

3. Calls upon all States to refrain from measures which are seriously detrimental to the enjoyment by citizens of their basic rights and which cause nationals to flee their countries for their own protection, or cause them to be unable or unwilling for well-founded reasons to return there;

4. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on human rights and mass exoduses (A/46/542);

5. Invites again the Secretary-General, all intergovernmental agencies and offices, as well as international agencies concerned, speedily to implement the recommendations contained in the report of the Joint Inspection Unit on the coordination of activities related to early warning of possible refugee flows;

6. Encourages the Secretary-General to continue to take the necessary steps to discharge the function and responsibilities described in the report of the Group of Governmental Experts on International Cooperation to Avert New Flows of Refugees, including the continuous monitoring of all potential outflows, keeping in mind the recommendations of the Joint Inspection Unit;

7. Notes that the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has specifically acknowledged the direct relationship between observance of human rights standards, refugee movements and problems of protection;

8. Also notes that at its forty-second session, from 7 to 11 October 1991, the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called upon the High Commissioner to continue to contribute as appropriate to the deliberations of international human rights bodies;

9. Welcomes the statement made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at its 35th meeting on 20 February 1992, in which she indicated that human rights violations were a major cause of refugee flows and drew attention to the importance of strengthened multilateral cooperation and an effective early-warning system to respond to the challenge posed by mass movements of people;

10. Invites the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to address it at its forty-ninth session on the subject of human rights and mass exoduses;

11. Invites States which have not already done so to consider acceding to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Protocol thereto of 1967;

12. Requests the Secretary-General to intensify his efforts to develop the role of the Secretariat to strengthen the coordination of information gathering and analysis with international organizations so as to provide early warning of developing situations requiring the attention of the Secretary-General, as well as to provide a focal point within the United Nations system for policy response, including identification of the policy options for the Secretary-General;

13. Also requests the Secretary-General to make the necessary information available to the competent United Nations organs bearing in mind the recommendations of the Joint Inspection Unit;

14. Takes note of General Assembly resolution 46/127 , in which the Assembly noted that mass movements of populations were caused by multiple and complex factors, either man-made or natural, ranging from wars and armed conflicts, invasions and aggressions, violations of human rights, forcible expulsions, economic and social factors, natural disasters, to degradation in the environment, which indicates that early warning requires an intersectoral and multidisciplinary approach;

15. Welcomes the establishment of the position of Emergency Relief Coordinator (see General Assembly resolution 46/182 , annex);

16. Urges the Secretary-General to attach a high priority and allocate the necessary resources to the consolidation and strengthening of the system for undertaking early-warning activities in the humanitarian area by, inter alia, strengthened coordination among relevant offices of the Secretariat concerned with early warning, including the office of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, and organizations of the United Nations system, and, in particular, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the Centre for Human Rights and the relevant specialized agencies, for the purpose of ensuring, inter alia, that effective action is taken to identify human rights abuses which contribute to mass outflows of persons;

17. Welcomes the establishment by the Administrative Committee on Coordination of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Early Warning regarding New Flows of Refugees and Displaced Persons with a mandate to develop an effective early-warning system related to possible flows of refugees and displaced persons, and the request of the General Assembly, in its resolution 46/127, that the Ad Hoc Working Group submit to the Administrative Committee on Coordination in 1992 its report on the early-warning mechanism to be established;

18. Looks forward to the report of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly at its forty-seventh session on the strengthened role that the Secretary-General is playing in undertaking early-warning activities, especially in the humanitarian area, as well as on any further developments relating to the recommendations contained in the report of the Group of Governmental Experts on International Cooperation to Avert New Flows of Refugees;

19. Decides to continue its consideration of the question at its forty-ninth session.

52nd meeting
3 March 1992
[Adopted without a vote. See chap. XII.]