63 The article was adopted by a vote of 12 to 2, with 4 abstentions. 2. The article consists of two parts which are not interrelated. It might even be said that para. 1 has nothing to do with reciprocity or exemption therefrom. The inclusion of para. 1 under “exemption from reciprocity” was taken over by the Refugee Conference from the draft of the second session of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Refugee Convention and thence into this Convention. 3. Paragraph 1 was included in the Refugee Convention because, after having considered the discussion in the Economic and Social Council and the observations of governments to the first draft, the Ad Hoc Committee decided to retain the pattern established in the first draft, viz., that refugees should enjoy at least the same treatment as aliens generally in regard to most provisions and that a preferred treatment - either that of nationals of the most favoured foreign 64 nation or that of nationals of the Contracting State - be established as regards certain rights. This argument is also valid here. The reference “to aliens generally” is that to foreigners who do not enjoy any specific privileges, either on the basis of the domestic law of the given country or on that of an international agreement between the home state of the foreigner and the state of his residence. In other words, the “treatment accorded to aliens generally” is the least favourable treatment which foreigners enjoy in the country of the residence of the stateless 65 66 person. Although para. 1 does not sound very impressive, it still represents a step forward in securing to stateless persons an acceptable legal status. As stated above, every alien possessing a nationality must be afforded protection for his person and property while it is generally recognized that a state may treat stateless persons at discretion, i.e., it need not afford them the rights which it grants aliens possessing a nationality, either on the basis of accepted international law or domestic legislation. In stipulating that stateless persons must be treated at least as favourably as aliens in general, the Convention confers upon them rights which, theoretically at least, they would not have enjoyed otherwise, although in practice these basic rights are hardly being denied them anywhere. But this provision is not intended to establish a uniform treatment of stateless persons in the various countries. On the contrary, it leaves it to the domestic law of the country, by legislating for aliens, to set the scope of the rights of stateless persons, except for more favourable provisions explicitly established in the Convention. Paragraph 1 prescribes that, except when more favourable treatment is explicitly provided for, stateless persons shall be treated in the same way as “aliens generally”. This paragraph does not contain any reference to stateless persons “lawfully staying” or “lawfully” in the country where the rights are to be accorded, nor does it refer to the stipulation of “in the same circumstances”. The reason is that the term “aliens generally” contains in itself all restrictions which could result from either of the aforementioned 67 requirements. If an “alien generally” is accorded certain rights without the requirement of residence (permanent or temporary) in the country concerned, a stateless person will enjoy these same rights; if, to be accorded a right, the “alien generally” must fulfil certain requirements which are contained in the expression “in the same circumstances”, a stateless person not fulfilling them cannot enjoy them under the treatment accorded by para. 1 because he is not supposed to be treated more favourably than the hypothetical 63 SR.5, pp. 11-15. 64 E/1850, para. 19. 65 It was pointed out in the Ad Hoc Committee (SR.34, pp. 13 ff) that the treatment of "aliens generally" is ambiguous because in many countries it was based less on law than on administrative practice. Nonetheless the expression was retained for lack of a better one. 66 The U.S. representative in the Ad Hoc Committee rightly stated that where the Convention granted refugees the same treatment as aliens generally it was not giving them too much (SR.37, p. 7). 67 See the concurring view of the British representative in the Ad Hoc Committee in SR.36, p. 20.