TNAG-0793-FCO40-997-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1978 — Page 162

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discretion over the acceptability of supporting evidence. hope this might satisfy the points raised by the distinguished representative of Nigeria.

On a totally different matter, the UK delegation has noted that the number of States Parties to the Convention on the

Reduction of Statelessness which the UK was the first country to ratify has risen but is still rather small in fact only

ten.

We hope that UNHCR will make further efforts with a view to accessions to this important Convention and its application

to de facto stateless persons.

As regards the question of the resumption of the Conference on Territorial Asylum we understand that the High Commissioner is consulting Governments on the matter. We consider that a new Conference should be carefully prepared and that the Conference should only be resumed if there is a reasonable chance that it will lead to progress in the protection of refugees and asylum-seekers.

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