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United Kingdom Mission
37-39 rue de Vermont 1211 Geneva 20
Telex 22956
Telegrams Prodrome Geneva
Telephone 34 38 00 33 23 85
233
I C Orr Esq
Government Secretariat
Lower Albert Road
HONG KONG.
REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM
HKK 243
243/10
Your reference
Our reference
Date
RECEIVED IN RES STAY NO. 51 2 3 OCT 1978
INDEX
·SK OFFICER
PA
RETRY Action Ten
CL3
X
CR 2/4821/75 VI UN 618/1
19 October 1978
224
1. Please refer to your letter of 6 October (just received) addressed to Gordon Barrass who left this Mission in the summer. In fact, I am responsible for refugees, UNHCR and ICEM in this Mission.
2. You will of course now already know that the "Well Park" contingent were flown on 2 aircraft chartered by ICEM at FCO's request and paid for entirely by UNHCR. As for the "Avon Forest" refugees, I understand from Peter Jaørrell of ICEM that they have now almost all been brought to Hong Kong for processing by the Canadians. We expect UNHCR to pay for the transportation costs between Taiwan and Hong Kong, but in any case this will be worked out between UNHCR and ICEM and one or other of these organisations will pay. ICEM are naturally reluctant to use their funds if UNHCR can be persuaded to pay. There are, however, one
or two officials in the Finance Department of UNHCR who are trying hard to stick to the UN principle that UNHCR can have nothing to do with Taiwan. In the case of the "Well Park" we were be able to breach this by a direct approach to the Director of External Affairs who agreed to pay for the chartering of the aircraft even thought it was in excess of the normal commercial fares.
3. I am sorry that it was necessary for you to make formal request to the ICEM representative to make arrangements for the "Avon Forest" refugees to be flown to Hong Kong. From my convers- ations with UNHCR I had understood that they had requested ICEM, who often act as an executing agency for them, to make the arrangements.
ccs; P Morgan Esq, UND, FCO
J Thompson Esq, MBE, HK & G D, FCO J P Millington Esq, WASHINGTON
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DR Snoxell