.ODE 18-77
Reference
HKB 2+3/42
Mr Edwards, Legal Advisers
VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE (VBP): LEGAL ASPECTS
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Miss Massen
19%
Mr FODEM N546 Mr Harpylen наруки W
We discussed whether the UN resolution on human rights and mass exoduses might help in constructing an argument to the effect that a State which allows large numbers of its nationals to leave its territory, knowing that their arrival in other countries will cause those countries serious problems, is acting improperly (Sir Arthur Watts' minute of 6 June to Mr McLaren).
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I have glanced at:
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the 1982 report of the Special Rapporteur (Sadruddin Aga Khan) on this subject;
the 1986 report of the Group of Governmental Experts on International Cooperation to Avert New Flows of Refugees;
the relevant resolutions at the Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly.
None of these documents provides much in the way of legal arguments which might be used with the Vietnamese. The Group of Governmental Experts' report cites violations of human rights as a principal cause of massive flows of refugees and, accordingly, stresses the need for States to implement effectively the provisions of international human rights instruments. For the reasons given in my minute of 8 June to Sir Arthur Watts we would be on shaky ground if we were to press Vietnam in terms of its human rights obligations.
4. The report does note that mass exoduses impose great political, economic and social burdens upon the international community as a whole and can affect the domestic order and stability of receiving States, sometimes exacting a heavy toll on their economic resources. Given these effects, the report states that massive flows of refugees are likely to have adverse consequences for relations between receiving States and countries of origin. Having placed the problem of mass exoduses in the arena of international peace and security, the report concludes inter alia that, in view of their responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations, States should do all within their means to prevent massive flows of refugees. Relevant articles of the Charter are given as 1.3, 2.3, 2.5, 33, 55 and 56. The Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations
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