186
Opinion of the Court
"At the first reading the representatives of Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden had supported the Swiss interpretation. From conversations he had since had with other representatives, he had gathered that the general consensus of opinion was in favour of the Swiss interpretation.
"In order to dispel any possible ambiguity and to reassure his Government, he wished to have it placed on record that the Conference was in agreement with the interpretation that the possibility of mass migrations across frontiers or of attempted mass migrations was not covered by article 33.
"There being no objection, the PRESIDENT ruled that the interpretation given by the Netherlands representative should be placed on record.
"Mr. HOARE (United Kingdom) remarked that the Style Committee had considered that the word 'return' was the nearest equivalent in English to the French term 'refoulement'. He assumed that the word 'return' as used in the English text had no wider meaning.
"The PRESIDENT suggested that in accordance with the practice followed in previous Conventions, the French word 'refoulement' ('refouler' in verbal uses) should be included in brackets and between inverted commas after the English word 'return' wherever the latter occurred in the text." (Emphasis added.) 43
Although the significance of the President's comment that the remarks should be "placed on record" is not entirely clear, this much cannot be denied: At one time there was a "general consensus," and in July 1951 several delegates understood the right of non-refoulement to apply only to
43 Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons, Summary Record of the Thirty-fifth Meeting, U. N. Doc. A/ CONF.2/SR.35, pp. 21-22 (July 25, 1951).
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