CONCLUSIONS ADOPTED BY THE EXECUTIVE ... - UNHCR

1987 (Executive Committee—38 th Session)
CONCLUSIONS ADOPTED
BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF REFUGEES 1
The Executive Committee,
No. 46 (XXXVIII) GENERAL (1987)
(a) Recognized that the increasing complexity of the present day refugee problems throughout the world
underlines the fundamental importance of the High Commissioner's protection function, his primary task;
(b) Recognized that the changing nature and elements of the contemporary refugee problem required
greater understanding on the part of the international community of the special needs and circumstances of
asylum-seekers and refugees and the full support of all States for the efforts of the High Commissioner on their
behalf;
(c) Noted with particular concern the continued violation of the principle of non-refoulement in various
parts of the world;
(d) Noted with serious concern the deteriorating situation of refugees and asylum-seekers in southern
Africa;
(e) Expressed concern about the lack of adequate international protection for various groups of refugees in
different parts of the world, including a large number of Palestinians, and hoped that efforts would be
undertaken within the United Nations system to address their protection needs;
(f) Reiterated the High Commissioner's leading role in respect of the protection of refugees and called on
him in particular to continue to take, alone or in co-operation with concerned States and agencies, all possible
measures to ensure their physical security, inter alia, with respect to physical violence, piracy, military and
armed attacks, and arbitrary detention;
(g) Took into account that refugee women have special protection and assistance needs as well as special
resources which can be utilized for the benefit of all refugees, reiterated the need to give particular attention to
their situation with a view to improving existing protection and assistance programmes and called on all States
and concerned agencies to support the High Commissioner's efforts in this regard;
(h) Recognized the need to collect reliable information and statistics about refugee women, to increase
awareness about their situation and to incorporate information about their needs in the Office's training
programmes and called upon the High Commissioner to report in detail at the thirty-ninth session of the
Executive Committee on the particular protection and assistance problems and needs of refugee women and on
the concrete measures taken to meet them;
(i) Noted with concern the growing phenomenon of refugees and asylum-seekers who, having found
protection in one country, move in an irregular manner to another country and called upon the High
Commissioner to implement paragraph (j) of Conclusion No. 36 (XXXVI);
(j) Called upon States that have adopted a number of measures aimed at discouraging abusive use of
asylum procedures to ensure that these measures have no detrimental effect on the fundamental principles of
international protection, including on the institution of asylum;
(k) Stressed the close link between durable solutions and root causes and called upon the international
community to do its utmost to address the causes of movements of refugees and asylum-seekers from countries
of origin as well as from countries of first asylum;
(l) Reaffirmed the importance of voluntary repatriation as the most desirable durable solution, particularly
in the context of many of today's mass-influx situations, emphasized the need for States to respect the
fundamental principles that must always guide action in this area and called upon the High Commissioner and
States to continue their efforts in achieving this solution whenever appropriate;
1 Contained in United Nations General Assembly Document No. 12A (A/42/12/Add.1)
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