abuse of the asylum procedure should not lead to the adoption of such measures. Another speaker expressed concern at the practice of some States of returning refugees and asylum-seekers to countries of first asylum or transit. He further considered that international co-operation should not be limited to providing financial assistance to refugees in those countries.
42. Referring to the High Commissioner's statement at the opening of the session, a number of speakers considered that the distinction between persons who are or who are not of concern to the international community as refugees was extremely complex, gave rise to a series of problems and should therefore be examined in greater detail. Other speakers indicated that the number of persons leaving their countries of origin for economic reasons and taking advantage of the asylum procedure for migration purposes and, as mentioned by one speaker, in order to avoid criminal prosecution had an adverse effect on the situation of real refugees.
43.
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Most speakers expressed deep concern at the continued occurrence of military and armed attacks on refugee camps and settlements and regretted that it had not yet been possible for the Executive Committee to arrive at a consensus on this matter.
44. Several delegations pointed out that the purpose of drawing up conclusions by the Executive Committee should be to condemn and prohibit military and armed attacks on refugee camps and settlements, to restrain attacking countries and to protect and provide support to those countries where the attacked refugee camps and settlements are situated and the innocent civilian refugees are located. In their view, any action taken by the Executive Committee in this regard should exclude the possibility of providing excuses to attacking countries. They believed that the views of countries having refugee camps and settlements facing military threat, should be fully respected because their security and interests were at stake.
45.
Several other delegations called for strong international action to eradicate military and armed attacks on refugee camps and settlements. These speakers underlined the need to ensure that such camps and settlements would never be used for military purposes and that their civilian and humanitarian character would always be maintained. They also felt that any set of conclusions should reflect both these concerns, namely respect for the right of refugees to live in peace and equal respect by refugees of their obligations towards peace. One speaker called for refugee camps and settlements to be situated well away from the border of the country of origin and for UNHCR to have permanent access to such camps and settlements in order to promote conditions which can ensure the safety of the refugees. Some speakers expressed concern for the stated intention of one country to relocate a refugee camp to the border with the country of origin.
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46. There was unanimous support for the Draft Conclusions recommended by the Sub-Committee on military and armed attacks on refugee camps and settlements calling for continued consultations under the leadership of the Chairman of the Executive Committee and the High Commissioner. Several speakers stressed the need for these consultations to be vigorously pursued so as to obtain rapid results. few speakers expressed the hope that the detailed reports to be submitted to the thirty-eighth session of the Executive Committee, in line with the present Draft Conclusions, would be an improvement on the report received on this matter in the note on international protection (A/AC.96/680). One speaker requested that the report strike a balance between the safeguarding of humanitarian principles and the obligations of States and refugees in respect of the maintenance of the civilian
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