Preventive Action for Refugee Producing Situations

208 Chapter 5
for improving international cooperation to avert new massive flows of refugees
489
The Group conducted its study between April 1983 and May 1986, and was
able to achieve a consensus among its 25 members on the conclusions and
recommendations in its final report. With the submission of its report to the
Secretary-General, the Group had successfully fulfilled its mandate.
The Special Political Committee (SPC) of the General Assembly reviewed
the report. As a follow-up, 20 states 490 cosponsored and introduced a draft
resolution into the Special Political Committee, 491 which commended the
Group "for the work it has accomplished by consensus as reflected in its
report." 492 After the report was presented to the SPC and the draft resolution
introduced, 493 nine more countries joined in co-sponsoring the draft
resolution. 494 Without much further debate, the SPC adopted the resolution by
consensus and recommended its adoption to the General Assembly. 495
On 11 December 1986, the General Assembly considered and adopted the
Group's final report again by consensus. This was virtually the first time a UN
group had worked so persistently on such a sensitive issue and seen it through.
Therefore the emerged consensus has a particular significance in that it
reflects some political willingness on the part of the states to take the UN
Group's conclusions and recommendations seriously. This willingness, though
still tentative and in need of careful fostering, may be interpreted and invoked
as a legal basis for implementing the refugee-prevention responsibilities that
the General Assembly, through the endorsement of the Group's
recommendations assigned to the states, 496
__________________________
489 UN Doc A/41/324,13 May 1986.
490 Australia, Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, Czecholovakia, Denmark, Djibouti,
Federal Republic of Germany, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Norway, Pakistan,
Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Thailand, Togo, United Kingdom, and the United
States of America.
491 UN doc. A/SPC/41/L.5,9 October 1986.
492 UN doc. A/ SPC/41/L.5,9 October 1986, paragraph 1.
493 UN doc. A/SPC 41/L.5,9 October 1986.
494 Bangladesh, Cameroon, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, and Swaziland.
495 UN doc A/41/755,23 October 1986.
496 The main obligations that the report imposed on states were: To respect the principles
in the Charter, to use peaceful means for resolving international disputes,
and thus improve situations that suggest a danger of future flows of refugees; to
prevent new massive flows of refugees, to promote civil, political, economic, so-
Legal Justification 209
the main organs, 497 the Secretary-General, 49 « and other competent UN
bodies. 499
Moreover, this emerging consensus on the legitimacy of taking action in
the country of origin, so that people would not have to flee, opens the way
for new initiatives that could be tied in with programs of the UN bodies, as
mandated by the General Assembly. Therefore, our policy propositions
should not face objection from member states.
5.3.2. The erosion of domestic jurisdiction over human rights violations
Massive violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms are a major
cause of refugee flows. This section will briefly examine how the extension
of international and regional human rights law is contributing to a erosion of
domestic jurisdiction in this field.
Progress in the codification of international human rights instruments,
and strengthened practical application, are paving the way for international
preventive action in this field. The modern history of international human
rights codification may be grouped into the four following periods 500
cial and cultural rights, to cooperate with one another in order to prevent future
massive flows of refugees, and wherever new massive refugee flows occur, to
respect existing generally recognized norms and principles. See UN doc.
A/41/324,13 May 1986.
497 To make fuller use of their respective competencies under the Charter for the
prevention of new massive flows of refugee flows. See UN doc A/41/324, 13
May 1986, p. 17.
498 The consensus also provides the Secretary-General with the legal basis to give
continuing attention to the question of averting mew massive flows of
refugees, to ensure that timely and fuller information relevant to the matter is
available in the Secretariat, to improve the co-ordination within the Secretariat
for obtaining early assessments on situations that might give rise to new
massive flows of refugees; and to help improve the co-ordination of the efforts
of the United Nations organs and specialized agencies and of member states
concerned for timely and more effective action. See UN doc. A/41/324,13 May
1986, p. 18.
499 In the selection of projects, they should consider, in consultation with the
states directly concerned, giving greater support to those projects that directly
or indirectly could help avert new massive refugee flows. UN doc. A/ 41/324,
13 May 1986, p. 18.
500 This section draws from the lecture given by Bertram Ramcharam,
"Reflections on the Protection of Human Rights in the UN", at the Harvard
Law School/ Human Rights Program, 17 September 1988.