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UNITED NATIONS
137
HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES
pa
говый
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 GENÈVE 10
9 August 1976
Dear Mr. Ambassador,
In the absence of the High Commissioner from Geneva I should like to thank you for your letter of 2 August 1976 concerning persons leaving the Indochinese Peninsula on small boats.
I trust that you have by now received my letter of 28 July 1976 and the attached Note concerning this problem which have been sent simultaneously to twenty seven other governments in addition to your own. We are also following up this appeal with the countries in South East Asia most directly affected by the arrivals of these persons, and asking them to continue to respond sympathetically to requests for temporary asylus.
May I thank you for the interest of the British authorities in this problem and assure you that we fully appreciate the concern which you express in your letter. Indeed a similar danger is always present with an appeal to find resettlement places for any particular group of persons who are not finite in number. For this reason we have decided to issue no publicity in connection with this appeal.
The fact remains, of course, that the situation of these persons for whom resettlement places are so urgently sought, is so precarious that it is inevitably news worthy. However, we believe that the interest of the media will subside rapidly as soon as a positive international response to this appeal is made resulting in the easier acceptance, for transit purposes, to ports bordering the South China sea of persons arriving on boats.
Thank you again for drawing this matter to our attention.
His Excellency Sir James Bottomley K.C.M.G.
Ambassador
Yours sincerely,
Charles At Mace
H
Charles H. Mace,
Deputy High Commissioner
Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom
to the United Nations Office at Geneva
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