Human rights and mass exoduses : resolution / adopted by the General Assembly.

Human rights and mass exoduses

Strongly deplores ethnic and other forms of intolerance as one of the major causes of forced migratory movements, and urges States to take all necessary steps to ensure respect for human rights, especially the rights of persons belonging to minorities; calls on Governments and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to respond to the assistance needs of countries hosting large numbers of refugees until durable solutions are found; invites the special rapporteurs, special representatives and working groups of the Commission on Human Rights and the UN human rights treaty bodies to seek information on human rights problems which may result in mass exoduses of populations or impede their voluntary return home, to include such information, together with recommendations thereon, in their reports and to bring such information to the attention of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for appropriate action in fulfilment of her mandate; requests the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to coordinate human rights activities in cooperation with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, to pay particular attention to situations which cause or threaten to cause mass exoduses and to address such situations effectively through protection measures, emergency preparedness and response mechanisms; urges the Secretary-General to give high priority and to allocate the necessary resources within the regular budget of UN for the consolidation and strengthening of emergency preparedness and response mechanisms.

Adopted without vote, 70th meeting

5 p.

Adopted at the 70th plenary meeting, 12 Dec. 1997.