Report of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees – GA Third Cttee debate – Summary record (excerpts)

Third Committee

Summary record of the 41st meeting

Held at Headquarters, New York, on Friday, 9 November 2007, at 10 a.m. 

 Chairman:   Ms. Malinovska  ………………………………………………………………………………………… (Latvia)

 (Vice-Chairman)

Contents

Agenda item 42: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions ( continued)

In the absence of Mr. Wolfe (Jamaica), Ms. Malinovska (Latvia), Vice-Chairman, took the Chair.

The meeting was called to order at 10.10 a.m.

Agenda item 42: Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, questions relating to refugees, returnees and displaced persons and humanitarian questions (continued) (A/62/12 and Add.1, A/62/316)

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48.   Ms. Halabi (Syrian Arab Republic) said that the refugee problem might appear to be a humanitarian issue, but was in fact political. In the case of Iraq, the international community needed to support the political reconciliation process, work towards the pull-out of foreign forces, assist in the country’s reconstruction and unification and help the Government and people of Iraq achieve security and stability. That involved assisting Iraqi returnees and future generations of Iraqis in building a stable future in their country. In that regard, her delegation did not endorse attempts to naturalize Iraqi refugees outside their own country, but called for their return to it in order to avoid dispersal and loss of identity and cultural heritage. Her Government applied the same principle to Palestinian refugees: a just and comprehensive solution must be found that guaranteed the Palestinian people the full enjoyment of all their national rights, including the right of return as provided by international law, the Charter of the United Nations and General Assembly resolution 194 (1949), and the right to establish an independent and sovereign State with Jerusalem as its capital.

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51.   Mr. Al-Dekhail (Kuwait) … His Government provided assistance to refugees worldwide and had consistently provided humanitarian assistance and support to Palestinian refugees. It was also assisting the over 200,000 Lebanese nationals who had been internally displaced by the Israeli aggression against Lebanon in 2006 and whose return had been delayed by the need to rebuild infrastructure destroyed by Israel and to remove landmines in southern Lebanon. His Government also supported the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) through annual contributions to its regular budget. The active role of Kuwaiti charitable organizations and civil society organizations in that regard was also noteworthy.

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The meeting rose at 12.55 p.m.

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Corrections will be issued after the end of the session, in a separate corrigendum for each Committee.