CODE 18-77
RESTRICTED
HKK 243/1
EIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51
2 4 NOV 1978
Mr Stimson
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
PA
UNHCR CONSULTATIONS
IINA
RECOTRY Action Ten
CLE
Reference
Mr Thing
hu
A. 11-12 DECEMBER
1
(303)
1. Mr Neil Haffey of the Canadian High Commission called this afternoon to convey Canadian (official level) thoughts on the forthcoming UNHCR consultations in Geneva. He said that since the consultations were first envisaged the exodus of refugees from Vietnam has increased dramatically to about 10,000 a month. The Canadians believed the aim of the forthcoming conference should be three-fold; an opportunity for a serious exchange on:
a) root causes of the refugee problem,
2.
b) how to deal with those causes, and
c) to formulate an international plan to solve the
"boat refugee" problem.
The Canadians envisage the December conference as a fact finding meeting to be followed by another conference early in the New Year. The second conference should aim to seek a national response to the problem from as many governments as possible. Account would need to be taken of the exact responsibilities of those countries which generated the outflow of refugees. Aid could be considered as a means of encouraging those countries to reduce the exodus. And additional bilateral or multilateral assistance could be given to countries of first asylum. All this might form part of any international plan of action. The Canadians consider there would be political advantage in inviting all refugee producing countries to participate in the conference.
3. Canada's intention is to be represented at the conference either by an Assistant Under-Secretary from their External Affairs Department or by a Deputy Minister from another Department (such as Immigration).
4. I told Mr Haffey that I agreed there had been a new dimension to the "boat refugee" problem since this conference was envisaged and that I thought there would need to be serious discussion of the very large numbers who arrive on merchant vessels at various ports in the region. I said I understood that the High Commissioner for Refugees wished to have responses from Governments regarding their intake of Indo-Chinese refugees in the longer term at the December conference rather than at any future meeting, but I agreed it was likely that this one would need to be followed by at least one more meeting. I said I very much doubted that the High Commissioner himself would wish to see a discussion at this conference of the causes of the refugee problem. Rather he wanted practical proposals for finding resettlement places for the many thousands awaiting resettlement. In answer to his question about the provision of aid to countries such as Vietnam I said, speaking personally, that I doubted the British Government would wish to consider an aid programme (other than humanitarian relief) to Vietnam in the absence of a considerable improvement in Vietnam's human rights record, but I said we should certainly wish to join any international discussions in a constructive way which might help to produce solutions to the general problem.
15.