A/RES/52/103
Page 2
1. Endorses the report of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees on the work of its forty-eighth session;2
2. Strongly reaffirms the fundamental importance and the purely humanitarian and non-political
character of the function of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees of providing
international protection to refugees and seeking permanent solutions to the problem of refugees;
3. Deplores the immense human suffering and loss of life that have accompanied refugee flows and
other forced displacements, in particular the numerous serious threats to the security or well-being of
refugees, such as refoulement, unlawful expulsion, physical attacks and detention under unacceptable
conditions, and calls upon States to take all measures necessary to ensure respect for the principles of refugee
protection, including the humane treatment of asylum-seekers in accordance with internationally recognized
human rights and humanitarian norms;
4. Emphasizes that refugee protection is primarily the responsibility of States, whose full and effective
cooperation, action and political resolve are required to enable the Office of the High Commissioner to fulfil
its mandated functions;
5. Reaffirms that everyone is entitled to the right to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from
persecution, and, as asylum is an indispensable instrument for the international protection of refugees, calls
on all States to refrain from taking measures that jeopardize the institution of asylum, in particular by
returning or expelling refugees or asylum-seekers contrary to international human rights and to humanitarian
and refugee law;
6. Stresses the importance of international solidarity and burden-sharing in reinforcing the international
protection of refugees, and urges all States and relevant non-governmental and other organizations, in
conjunction with the Office of the High Commissioner, to cooperate in efforts to lighten the burden borne
by States that have received large numbers of asylum-seekers and refugees;
7. Condemns all acts that pose a threat to the personal security of refugees and asylum-seekers, and
calls upon States of refuge, in cooperation with international organizations where appropriate, to take all
necessary measures to ensure that the civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps and settlements
is maintained, as well as to abstain from any activity likely to undermine this, inter alia, through effective
measures to prevent the infiltration of armed elements, the identification and separation of any such armed
elements from refugee populations, the settlement of refugees in secure locations and by affording to the
Office of the High Commissioner and other appropriate humanitarian organizations prompt, unhindered and
safe access to them;
8. Calls upon States and all concerned parties to refrain from any actions that prevent the staff of the
Office of the High Commissioner and other humanitarian personnel from performing the functions required
under their mandates or obstruct them in so doing, to take all possible measures to safeguard their physical
security and property, to investigate fully any crime committed against them, to bring to justice persons
responsible for such crimes and to facilitate the discharge of the mandated functions of the Office of the High
Commissioner as well as of other humanitarian organizations;
9. Urges all States and relevant organizations to support the High Commissioner's search for durable
solutions to refugee problems, including voluntary repatriation, integration in the country of asylum and
resettlement in a third country, as appropriate, and welcomes in particular the ongoing efforts of her Office
to pursue, wherever possible, opportunities to promote conditions conducive to the preferred solution of
voluntary repatriation;
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