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8 MAR 1979
28 March 1979
Fit. February.
CR 2/4821/75
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UNITED NATIONS DEPARTME
SPARTME
F CO
LATIN AMERICA AND REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM
The Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States (0 A 3) Mr Alejadro Orfila has been here after a ten-day visit to China. He paid a courtesy call on the Governor on 26 February during which the Governor raised the possibility of Latin American countries accepting more refugees from Vietnam, against the background of the continuing rise in numbers which we expect. The Governor said that we were now making contingency plans for a refugee population of 50,000 by the end of this year. He paid tribute to the efforts made by the UNHCR and traditional resettlement countries in tackling the problems but added that it would be a major contribution if a number of Latin American countries, which might well profit from the adaptability and hard work characteristic of these refugees, could accept several thousand, Orfila said he thought there was some possibility of small numbers being resettled in Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela and possibly Bolivia. He did not mention Paraguay though we understand from the UNHCR that a resettlement programme there is already under vay. However, he was not encouraging about the prospects of large numbers being accepted.
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Angelo Rasanayagam told me recently that his HeadyLarters were now making more determined efforts to persuade Latin American countries to accept refugees from Indo-China. även if prospects for large numbers being accepted are not great, we would be grateful if every effort can be made to bring Latin American countries
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