TNAG-0975-FCO40-1194-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-in-other--1980 — Page 55

what are known as de facto refugees who for one reason or another, have not requested or succeeded in having their status determined under the Convention, but although UNHCR can under its mandate provide assistance, they do not have the rights and protection the Convention affords.

The development of refugee law and the encouragement of regional instruments is an important function of UNHCR's Protection Division. The Council of Europe has adopted a number of instruments culminating with a Convention on the Transferability of Refugee Status which will shortly be opened for signature. The most liberal of all instruments is the 1969 Organisation of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (19 parties). It is the only instrument providing some kind of obligation for states to grant asylum. The UN Declaration on Territorial Asylum is merely exhortatory. It is significant that the problems of refoulement which have beset South East Asia have rarely affected Africa though there are many more refugees, nor are they resettled outside that continent. It is generally recognised that Africa protects its refugees very much better than any other continent. This was demonstrated at the Conference on the Situation of Refugees in Africa held in Arusha last year, taking place at the same time as the boat people were pouring out of Vietnam. In 1977 the UN Plenipotentiary Conference on Territorial Asylum held in Geneva failed to produce a Convention. Since then. certain elements of asylum have been under study by a Council of Europe Committee of Experts and it is clear that advances in refugee and asylum practice at the regional level can serve as examples for global application. The time, however, is not yet ripe for the reconvening of the Conference on Territorial Asylum. In 1977 a Sub-Committee on Protection was established which meets two days before the annual Executive Committee. It has produced

recommendations to governments on such matters as travel documents, the development of the concept of temporary asylum and methods of determining refugee status.