sympathetic consideration to extending rights, as far as possible, to all refugees without regard to reciprocity, particularly where the rights have no relation to the requirements of 80 81 residence. This “hope” was transformed by the Refugee Conference into a special clause which was also incorporated in this Convention which must have more meaning than “hope”. It is a recommendation to the Contracting States. The Convention uses the word “shall” to indicate that it requires the states to consider favourably the possibility of according such rights. In other words, a state cannot be forced to accord these rights, but there must be a well-founded reason for refusing their accordance. The “stateless persons” to whom para. 4 refers are not only those residing in the Contracting States but also those 82 residing outside these states. 7. Paragraph 5 clarifies the rights to which the obligatory exemption from reciprocity should apply. These are rights whereby the Convention explicitly, or by reference to Article 7 (1), grants 83 stateless persons obligatorily only the same treatment as is accorded aliens in general. The only provision which was not included in this catalogue in the Refugee Convention, was freedom of movement, provided for in Article 26. The present Convention took over the wording of the Refugee Convention without a change. This could not have been an oversight because the same was done in the draft of the Ad Hoc Committee. The reason for not including this article was apparently that it was worded differently from those enumerated in para. 5, establishing as a rule, freedom of movement and sojourn. Article 8 Exemption from exceptional measures With regard to exceptional measures which may be taken against the person, property or interests of nations or former nationals of a foreign State, the Contracting States shall not apply such measures to a stateless person solely on account of his having previously possessed the nationality of the foreign State in question. Contracting States which, under their legislation, are prevented from applying the general principle expressed in this article shall, in appropriate cases, grant exemption in favour of such stateless persons. 1. This article reproduces, with certain changes, Article 8 of the Refugee Convention. There was serious opposition to the inclusion of this provision in the Convention. There was, first of all, a feeling (by the President) that the inclusion depends on whether the document would apply to de jure stateless persons only or its benefits would also accrue to de facto stateless persons. The British and Belgian representatives thought that the article could not be applied to de jure stateless persons; this view was apparently based on the wording of Article 8 of the Refugee Convention which spoke of “nationals of a foreign country” - a de jure stateless person was not a national of a foreign country, while a refugee and a de facto stateless person is or may be such a national. On the other hand, the Yugoslav representative was of the opinion that if it was to apply to de facto stateless persons, it would be better to exclude it altogether; if, on the other hand, it 80 E/1850, para. 22. 81 Upon an Israel/Netherlands amendment proposal (A/CONF.2/106). 82 Reference was made in the Ad Hoc Committee to war damage compensation in favour of refugees non-residents of the state where the property was located (SR.41, p. 6). 83 There was a certain confusion in the Ad Hoc Committee about the instances in which exemption from reciprocity was to be applied. The IRO representative thought at first that this provision should be invoked whenever an article did not contain specific provisions as to the treatment to be given to a refugee (such a possibility does not exist under Article 7 (1) any more), but later agreed that it refers to all instances where a refugee is treated as an alien generally. The representative of the Secretariat was of the same opinion and added that there would be no point in invoking the exemption when "most favourable treatment" was accorded while if "treatment accorded to foreigners generally" was granted, refugees could not claim special treatment enjoyed by some foreigners under the conditions of reciprocity (SR.11, paras. 19-23). The Refugee Conference correctly assumed (and this assumption is also valid here) that exemption is required when the latter treatment is accorded, to provide in certain cases broader rights than those enjoyed by the least favoured aliens (see comments to Article 7 (1) above).