19th report on the activities of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1 January 1972 - 31 December 1973)
Recommendation 743
(1974)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 30 September 1974 (15th Sitting) (see Doc. 3470, report of the Committee on Population and Refugees). Text adopted by the Assembly on 30 September 1974 (15th Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Having examined the 19th report on the activities of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (
Doc. 3451) ;
2. Recalling that the Office of the High Commissioner has been called upon to undertake substantial special assignments in addition to the continuing work of international protection and assistance, and paying tribute to the efforts of the Office of the High Commissioner to save lives, relieve suffering and strengthen peace ;
3. Thanking the member governments of the Council of Europe, which, by their contributions in cash and in kind, and by the admission of refugees, have supported the work of the High Commissioner ;
4. Considering that further substantial funds will be required to finance projects for the relief and resettlement of Chilean refugees, and that possibilities for entry to European countries will still be required for some of them ;
5. Noting with satisfaction that all member states of the Council of Europe are now parties to the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol on the Status of Refugees, and expressing the hope that those Contracting Parties which have made reservations in respect of certain clauses of those instruments will withdraw their reservations, particularly with regard to Article 17 of the convention, which concerns access to employment ;
6. Welcoming the entry into force of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and regretting that, of the member states of the Council of Europe, only Austria, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom have acceded to this instrument ;
7. Conscious of the often dramatic problems which arise in individual cases, particularly as regards asylum, non-refusal of entry and the reunion of refugees' families ;
8. Recalling its
Recommendation 434 (1965) on the granting of the right of asylum to European refugees, and its
Recommendation 700 (1973) on the 18th report on the activities of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, especially paragraph 9.c in which the Committee of Ministers is recommended to invite member governments "to support any move to elaborate a convention on territorial asylum" ;
9. Regretting that the Committee of Ministers in its reply to
Recommendation 700 (1973) decided to leave this essentially international question to the provisions of national legislations,
10. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :
invite member governments :
10.1.1 to lend full support to moves for the convening of a diplomatic conference under the auspices of the United Nations to establish a convention on territorial asylum ;
10.1.2 to make every effort to provide opportunities for refugees settled in their countries to find employment appropriate to their abilities and qualifications ;
10.1.3 to ratify, if they have not already done so, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness ;
instruct the competent committees of governmental experts :
to undertake consultations in order to work out a favourable common attitude of member governments of the Council of Europe towards the United Nations' initiative for a convention on territorial asylum ;
to examine once more, in the light of the progress of the United Nations' initiative, the possibility of drawing up a European legal instrument governing the right of asylum.
