TNAG-1066-FCO40-1316-Human-rights-in-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 91

E/CN.4/1503 pages 15/16

"'De facto refugees' are persons not recognized as refugees within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention relating to the Status of Re- fugees of 28 July 1951 as amended by the Protocol of 31 January 1967 relating to the Status of Refugees and who are unable

for reasons recognized as valid, unwilling to return to the country of their nationality or, if they have no nationality, to the country of their habitual residence.

to

or,

32. In the case of asylum, neither the concept nor even the

term itself appears in the 1951 Convention. The General

Assembly in an attempt to overcome this lacuna in the framework of international humanitarian law adopted as an initial step

the "United Nations Declaration of Territorial Asylum" in its

Resolution 2312 (XXII) of 14 December 1967.

33. Subsequent efforts to codify the law of asylum did not

yield satisfactory results. On the contrary, when, at the intiative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations convened a Conference of Plenipotentiaries on Territorial Asylum in Geneva in early 1977, the tendency on

the part of States to safeguard their sovereign prerogatives appeared to be so marked that instead of making progress for

the benefit of the individual, the debates indicated that any tangible results might actually represent a step backwards.

The Conference adopted only two articles and adjourned sine die.