UN General Assembly
1949

82. The General Assembly had already committed itself, in its resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948, to the principles on which the permanent settlement of .the problem must be based; namely, repatriation for those refugees who desired to return to their homes and live in peace with their neighbours, and compensation for those who chose not to return. There was also the implicit obligation that the General Assembly would guarantee to those who returned to their homes full observance of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. 83. But those principles had not so far been put into effect. It was therefore incumbent upon the General Assembly, at the current session, not only to reaffirm those principles, but also to give them concrete content and shape, and to set up adequate machinery for their implementation. To divert attention from those principles would serve only to prolong the agony of the refugees and to intensify the tension and potential struggle in the Near East. It would also bring about a serious deterioration in the social and psychological situation in that area.