46 Pledges 2011 - Ministerial Intergovernmental Event on Refugees and Stateless Persons ARGENTINA PLEDGE FORM 1. Statelessness As a point of departure, I would like to mention that the Argentine Republic understands that the right to nationality is a fundamental human right and, as such, is enshrined in the major international human rights instruments to which it is a party. Several of these instruments that enshrine the right to nationality have constitutional status. In this regard, the corresponding administrative procedures are being completed so that the National Executive Power can refer to the Honorable National Congress a Bill approving the International Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. On this point, I wish to clarify that the approval of international treaties by the National Congress is an essential requirement for the State to express its consent to be bound by them. Therefore, once the Bill is approved, the Executive shall accede to the Convention in the shortest possible delay. 2. Regulation of the General Law on Recognition of and Protection to Refugees For its part, the Argentine Republic wishes to announce that during the course of 2012 it will complete the task of promulgating regulations for the General Law on Recognition of and Protection to Refugees (Law 26.165) that was enacted in 2006. The said Law stipulates in its Article 1 that the protection of refugees will be governed by provisions of international human rights law applicable in the Argentine Republic, in addition to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. The provisions of this article imply, on the one hand, that the obligations assumed by Argentina with respect to the major international human rights instruments - which include promoting, respecting and guaranteeing the human rights of all persons within its jurisdiction, without discrimination on any grounds - also extend to asylum-seekers and refugees. On the other hand, the human rights treaties in force in our country also set standards governing the determination of refugee status. This protection standard established by our law goes beyond what is stipulated in the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Thus, while the Convention requires States to guarantee certain rights to refugees under the same conditions as aliens, the provisions of the National Constitution and the observance of international human rights instruments in the Argentine Republic recognize to asylum-seekers and refugees rights equal to nationals.