Withdrawal of a passport from Mr. Hans Johannes Beukes

XIV. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED ON THE REPORTS OF THE FOURTH COMMITTEE
1358. Withdrawal of a passport from Mr. Hans Johannes Beukes

The General Assembly, Having accepted the advisory opinion of 11 July 1950 of the International Court of Justice on the question of South West Africa, Having authorized the Committee on South West Africa, by resolution 749 A (VIII) of 28 November 1953, to examine petitions in accordance with the Mandates procedure of the League of Nations, Having received a report[1] from the Committee dealing with petitions from Mr. Hans Johannes Beukes, a South West African student, and from Mr. Neville Rubin, President of the National Union of South African Students, Noting that Mr. Beukes had been granted a scholarship by the Norwegian National Union of Students (Norsk Studentsamband) to study for three years at the University of Oslo, Noting further that Mr. Beukes, a second-year student at the University of Cape Town, had been selected for the scholarship by a committee consisting of the Head of the Department of History, a professor of Roman law at that University, and the President of the National Union of South African Students, Considering that the Government of the Union of South Africa granted Mr. Beukes a passport on 15 June 1959 to enable him to proceed to Norway, and withdrew that passport on 24 June, when Mr. Beukes arrived at the port of embarkation, subjecting Mr. Beukes to a search of his person, luggage and personal correspondence, Noting the protests made by the South African Press, students of the University of Cape Town, and the Teachers' Educational and Professional Association in the Union of South Africa, as well as other representatives of the public in the Union of South Africa, against the action taken by the Union Government, Taking into count that there are no facilities for university education in South West Africa and that "non-European" students from the Territory find it increasingly difficult to obtain adequate university education in the Union of South Africa,

1. Is of the opinion that the withholding or withdrawal from a qualified South West African student of a passport for the purpose of studying abroad is not only a direct interference in the educational and general advancement of an individual but a hindrance to the educational development of the Territory of South West Africa which was entrusted under the Covenant of the League of Nations to the administration of the Union of South Africa;

2. Considers the withdrawal by the Union of South Africa of the passport granted to Mr. Beukes to be an act of administration contrary to the Mandate for South West Africa;

3. Expresses the hope that the Government of the Union of South Africa will reconsider its decision so that Mr. Beukes may take advantage of the scholarship offered him to study at the University of Oslo in circumstances permitting him to maintain normal relations with his family and his country.

838th plenary meeting,
17 November 1959.


[1]1 Ibid., Fourteenth Session, Supplement No. 12 (A/4191), part I, section III; part II, section III, para 80, and section VI, paras. 226 and 227; see also annexes XXIX to XXXII.
Disclaimer:

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.