Human rights and mass exoduses.

 

RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Human rights and mass exoduses

  The General Assembly, Mindful of its general humanitarian mandate under the Charter of the United Nations and its mandate to promote and encourage respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, Deeply disturbed by the continuing scale and magnitude of exoduses and displacements of populations in many regions of the world and by the human suffering of millions of refugees and displaced persons in all regions of the world, Conscious that human rights violations are among the principal factors in the complex and multiple causes of mass exoduses of population, 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 and mass exoduses and displacements of population, Recalling its resolution 32/130 of 16 December 1977, and Commission on Human Rights resolution 4 (XXXIII) of 21 February 1977 on the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights, Recalling also its resolutions 35/124 of 11 December 1980, 36/148 of 16 December 1981 and 37/121 of 16 December 1982 on international co-operation to avert new flows of refugees, 35/196 of 15 December 1980 and 37/186 of 17 December 1982 on human rights and mass exoduses, and Commission on Human Rights resolutions 29 (XXXVII) of 11 March 1981, 1982/32 of 11 March 1982 and 1983/35 of 8 March 1983, Convinced that there is an urgent need to improve co-ordination within the existing international machinery to deal with mass exoduses and displacements of population, Recognizing that the study on human rights and massive exoduses by the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights can make an important contribution to the development of international thinking on the present problem of mass exoduses and their causes, and thus help in the prevention of further mass movements of population and the mitigation of their consequences,

1. Takes due note of the report of the Secretary-General on human rights and mass exoduses;

2. Invites Governments to intensify their co-operation and assistance in world-wide efforts to address the increasingly serious problem of mass exoduses;

3. Requests those Governments that have not yet done so to communicate to the Secretary-General their opinions on the study and the recommendations made therein with a view to the General Assembly taking a decision on those recommendations;

4. Notes the Secretary-General's request to the agencies and organs of the United Nations system to make recommendations and to take whatever steps possible, within their mandates and existing resources, to improve international co-operation in these fields;

5. Considers it desirable for the Secretary-General to utilize to the greatest extent possible relevant United Nations machinery to analyse promptly information on situations which might cause mass exoduses;

6. Notes with interest that the Secretary-General has on many occasions designated special representatives on humanitarian issues on an ad hoc basis, and his readiness to continue and expand this practice;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to follow closely developments on this question and to take into consideration all the further comments of Member States, including those expressed at the thirty-eighth session of the General Assembly and at the fortieth session of the Commission on Human Rights, and to keep under review the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur;

8. Recalls that, in its resolution 36/148 the General Assembly requested the Group of Governmental Experts on International Co-operation to Avert New Flows of Refugees to undertake a comprehensive review of the problem of massive flows of refugees and, in accordance with paragraph 7 of that resolution, invites the Group of Governmental Experts to consider the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur which fall within its mandate;

9. Decides to review the question of human rights and mass exoduses at its thirty-ninth session.