26.
G
the civil and
Whilst what I have said puts the case for the refugees,
we should. not lose sight of the fact that; in protecting the
human rights of one group of people. the refugees
human rights of the citizens of receiving countries may be -
detrimentally affected. Take as an example the situation in
Hong Kong.
If a massive influx of people relative to the total
land mass and present population were to so affect the resources
available to that population so that the standards of living and
prospects for the future were seriously jeopardised, then the
rights of the incumbent population surely should take precedence.
Let me pose another question. If the rate of influx
plus the cultural and ethnic differences were such as to markedly
change the nature and composition of a country's people, does this
absolve the government of that country from accepting refugees in
order to preserve the nature of the host society? What criteria,
what measurements, could be used to reach such a decision?
In the light of these sorts of dilemmas, I put forward
for consideration the possibility of taking a new approach to
refugee protection. Instead of having one omnibus Convention,
perhaps an effort could be made to deal with separate aspects of
protection and assistance in separate instruments.
There
There could be a hierarchy of obligations which would be
formally accepted by governments in toto or separately.
could also be Recommendations adopted as guidelines for action.
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