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It is axiomatic that the refugee must not be expelled or returned against his will to a country where he would be in danger of persecution.
It would seen from a literal reading of the 1951 UN Convention that the country of refuge would have an absolute discretion to refuse indefinitely to legitimise the presence of a person who is not lawfully in the country.
It cannot be denied that this situation presents
humanitarian problems, While substantial restrictions en movement and other conditions of residence may be justifiable for a reasonablo period of time, it is hardly satisfactory that a refugee may have to spend the rest of his natural life in a refugee camp because he is unable to find another country willing to grant hin normal. Rawful. residence.
We acknowledge that this is an awkward problem. The view has been expressed that if another durable solution cannot be found within a reasonable period of time, the country of first refuge should be willing to "legitimise" the refugee's presence and grant him all the rights of normal lawful residence. The difficulty of such an unqualified view is that it could undermine the exqually important consideration that other States must be prepared, it necessary, to share equitably the burden of resettlement. It would be undesirable to upset a delicate balance between these two) considerations by establishing an ultimate responsibility in such a way on the country of first refuce. Such a solution would certainly be open to criticism, particularly in situations of large- scale influx. To say this is not to dismiss the humanitarian problems of a situation where a refugee may face a long and indefinite period in a refugee holding centre; it is to place an the international community the anus of finding solutions to such humanitarian problems. It may be possible to devise unproved mechanisms for international consultation to facilitate equitable burden-sharing by the intemational community.
International Solidarity
At the institutional level, international solidarity is embodied in the United Nations, and, in particular, in the United Nations body specifically charged with the task of securing the international protection of refugees, the Office of the High Camissioner for Refugees.
As a principle, international solidarity has a number of aspects, all of which need to be examined in a comprehensive and balanced way.. Basically, it relates to protection and to assistance protection to individuals by joint or individual action, and assistance to States who receive large numbers of refugees in their territories.
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