Conclusion No. 28 (XXXIII): Follow-up on Earlier Conclusions of the Sub-Committee of the Whole on International Protection on the Determination of Refugee Status, Inter Alia, with Reference to the Role of UNHCR in National Refugee Status Determination Procedures - Adopted by the Executive Committee (1982)

The Executive Committee,

(a)      Considered the report of the High Commissioner on the progress made in regard to the determination of refugee status (EC/SCP/22/Rev.1);

(b)      Noted with satisfaction that since the twenty-eighth session of the Executive Committee procedures for the determination of refugee status have been established by a further significant number of States Parties to the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol and that these procedures conform to the basic requirements recommended by the Executive Committee at its twenty-eighth session;

(c)      Reiterated the importance of the establishment of procedures for determining refugee status and urged those States Parties to the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol which had not yet done so to establish such procedures in the near future;

(d)      Recognized the need for measures to meet the problem of manifestly unfounded or abusive applications for refugee status. A decision that an application is manifestly unfounded or abusive should only be taken by or after reference to the authority competent to determine refugee status. Consideration should be given to the establishment of procedural safeguards to ensure that such decisions are taken only if the application is fraudulent or not related to the criteria for the granting of refugee status laid down in the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. In view of its importance, the question of manifestly unfounded or abusive applications for refugee status should be further examined by the Sub-Committee at its next meeting, as a separate item on its agenda and on the basis of a study to be prepared by UNHCR;

(e)      Noted with satisfaction the participation in various forms of UNHCR in procedures for determining refugee status in a large number of countries and recognized the value of UNHCR thus being given a meaningful role in such procedures.