CONCLUSIONS ADOPTED BY THE EXECUTIVE ... - UNHCR

The Executive Committee,
1984 (Executive Committee—35 th Session)
No. 35 (XXXV) IDENTITY DOCUMENTS FOR REFUGEES ∗ (1984)
(a) Recognized the need for refugees to have documentation enabling them to establish their identity and
noted that Article 27 of the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention requires Contracting States to issue
identity papers to any refugee in their territory who does not have a valid travel document;
(b) Recalled that in a conclusion adopted at its twenty-eighth session (A/32/12/Add.1, para. 53 (6)(e)) the
Executive Committee recommended that recognized refugees should be issued documentation certifying their
refugee status;
(c) Noted with approval the general practice of States to provide refugees with documents, in the form
prescribed by their national legislation, enabling them to establish their identity and their refugee status, and
recommended that States which have not yet done so should ensure that refugees are provided with such
documentation;
(d) Recommended that asylum applicants whose applications cannot be decided without delay be provided
with provisional documentation sufficient to ensure that they are protected against expulsion or refoulement
until a decision has been taken by the competent authorities with regard to their application;
(e) Noted that in countries where there is no provision for the formal recognition of refugee status, it may
be necessary for UNHCR, with the consent of the authorities of the asylum country, to certify that a person is
considered a refugee within the UNHCR mandate; and
(f) Recognized the value of registering and issuing appropriate documentation to refugees in large-scale
influx situations, and recommended that States which have not yet done so should undertake such registration
and documentation programmes, where appropriate in cooperation with UNHCR.
∗ CONCLUSION ENDORSED BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER’S
PROGRAMME UPON THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE ON
INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF REFUGEES
45