A/52/471 English Page 7 "The Vienna and Copenhagen summits produced declarations of great significance, but much remains to be done to act on their findings." 15. The Ligue des droits de l'homme (Belgium, Francophone section) sent the Special Rapporteur information claiming that the Belgian Government has unburdened itself of the task of expelling foreigners by using a private firm. In support of its communication, the Ligue transmitted to the Special Rapporteur excerpts from a recent publication dealing with such "subcontracting" of the expulsion of undocumented aliens:1 "Since 1994, Belgium has been sending hundreds of deported Africans, no longer to their countries of origin, but to Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), where they are received and dispersed by the firm Budd. The local office of the firm, which has branches throughout the world, is managed by a man called Faustin who is universally believed to have the most surprising contacts in Abidjan's immigration department but also in various African embassies and government offices [...]. "The transport of deportees has become a lucrative market since Europe began expulsions on a very large scale; suddenly, entrepreneurs are also trying to gain a foothold in this market. The French firm Budd has existed since 1850. It was originally the 'agent' of Club P & I, a specialized insurance company for shipowners which insured them against anything that could possibly go wrong on board ship. Having stowaways on board is one particular kind of 'damage' and these agents have long been in charge of their repatriation. For James T. Budd, the director, it was not such a big change when he went into the deportee business. He has an office on the Champs-Elysées, where his colleagues in the Wiggins firm of security consultants are also located [...]. "The Netherlands police had also received offers from Budd via the Côte d'Ivoire immigration department suggesting a certain overlapping between these different bodies. Commander Jaco Oussoren is extremely critical of the Belgian system. The Belgian Government would order a person to be escorted to a certain country, but did the Belgian police have the right to summarily subcontract a deportation order issued by the Ministry? No one would check what Budd did with the deportees, let alone their final destination. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, the police commander would immediately have been inundated with parliamentary questions." 2. United Nations seminar on immigration, racism and racial discrimination (Geneva, 5 to 9 May 1997) 16. In the context of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (General Assembly resolution 49/146, annex, para. 7 (e)), the Office of the High Commissioner/ Centre for Human Rights organized a seminar on immigration, racism and racial discrimination in Geneva from 5 to 9 May 1997. The purpose of the seminar was to examine the contemporary forms and manifestations of racism and racial discrimination which immigrants must face. The Special Rapporteur was invited /...