TNAG-1800-FCO40-2560-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-principle-of-first-asylum-1988 — Page 215

A/AC 97/579 page 2

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Moreover, the granting of asylum merely on a temporary basis, a practice which some States in different parts of the world still feel compelled to follow, continues. to give rise to considerable problems. Efforts to find a country of resettlement for refugees who have received only temporary asylum may not always meet with success or may require an extended period during which the refugees may find themselves in a situation characterized by great anxiety and uncertainty as to the futuro. The fact that their presence in the country is regarded as purely temporary may also result in a number of disadvantages of a more tangible nature. The refugees may thus be required to reside in camps or reception centres under difficult conditions, in some cases for long periods of time.

5. A related problem concerns the practice, followed by a number of States, of generally regarding asylum-seekers as illegal immigrants. This practice frequently results in asylum-seekers being exposed to a number of difficulties including serious measures such as detention and expulsion.

6. These situations, which very often involve much human suffering, could be avoided if Governments could find it possible to grant durable rather than temporary asylum, and to ensure that refugees who have not been granted durable asylum are provided with satisfactory living conditions pending resettlement.

7. It should of course be stressed that a majority of States, in accordance with long-standing humanitarian traditions, continue to follow liberal practices in granting durable asylum to refugees.

Refoulement of refugees and asylum-seekers

8. At the Executive Committee's thirtieth session, attention was drawn to the measures taken in one area involving the large-scale forcible return of asylum-seekers to their country of origin in disregard of the principle of non-refoulement. It is gratifying to note that in the area in question there have been no further such instances and that great numbers of asylum-seekers arriving by land have been given at least temporary refuge.

9. The High Commissioner has, however, received disquieting reports conceming the refoulement of groups of asylum-seekers in another area. He has also continued to receive reports of measures of refoulement being taken in different areas against individual asylum-seekers and refugees. Such measures inevitably result in considerable human suffering and constitue a serious violation of the internationally- accepted principle of non-refoulement. The need for scrupulous observance of this principle has been repeatedly stressed by the Executive Committee and also by the United Nations General Assembly.

10. Measures of refoulement have also resulted from the absence of appropriate procedures for ensuring that refugees or asylum-seekers are identified as such. The importance of procedures for determining refugce status has been stressed repeatedly by the Executive Committee.

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