CONCLUSIONS ADOPTED BY THE EXECUTIVE ... - UNHCR

1976 (Executive Committee—27 th Session)
CONCLUSIONS ADOPTED
BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
ON INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF REFUGEES AND ON THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE
WHOLE 1
The Executive Committee,
No. 2 (XXVII) FUNCTIONING OF THE
SUB-COMMITTEE AND GENERAL (1976)
(a) Was gravely preoccupied by the serious recurring violations of human rights of refugees and of their
rights under legal instruments concerning them and was particularly concerned by the situation of several groups
of refugees whose safety was in danger;
(b) Welcomed new accessions to the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol and urged all Governments to
accede to these instruments and scrupulously to observe their provisions;
(c) Recommended that the High Commission should continue to follow up on the application and
implementation of the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol in various member States, including national practice
and procedures for the recognition of refugee status, and to submit a report to the Executive Committee on the
subject in due course;
(d) Noted with satisfaction the decision of the General Assembly to convene a Conference of
Plenipotentiaries to consider and adopt a Convention on Territorial Asylum;
(e) Recommended that non-governmental organizations concerned with problems relating to the protection
of refugees be invited to attend the forthcoming Conference of Plenipotentiaries in observer capacity;
(f) Was deeply concerned at the fate of asylum-seekers who had left their country in small boats and were
in need of rescue or admission to a country of first asylum and eventually of final settlement;
(g) Appealed to States scrupulously to observe the legal provisions relating to the rescue of persons at sea,
as contained in the Brussels Convention of 1910 and the United Nations Convention on the High Seas of 1958,
and urged States to make every possible effort to ensure that the provisions of these legal instruments be
respected by ship masters under all circumstances;
(h) Further appealed to States:
(i) To grant first asylum to refugees and displaced persons rescued at sea or who had come directly
by sea; and
(ii) To offer resettlement opportunities to those who had been unable to obtain permanent residence
in the State of first asylum;
(i) Reaffirmed the need to intensify its role in the field of protection and welcomed the establishment of a
Sub-Committee of the Whole on protection, designed to focus attention on protection issues with a view to
determining existing shortcomings in this field and to proposing appropriate remedies;
(j) Decided that the Sub-Committee of the whole would meet for one day before the twenty-eighth session
of the executive committee.
1 Contained in United Nations General Assembly Document No. 12A (A/10012/Add.1)
3