CONFIDENTIAL
RECORD OF MEETING BETWEEN HE AM THE
US REFUGEE COORDINATOR, FLAGSTAFF NOUSE
20 APRIL 1979 AT 3 PM
Present:
HE Sir Murray Machchose
Mr L M Davies, Secretary for Security
Dr D C Wilson, Political Adviser
Mr I C Orr, Assistant Political Adviser
Ambassador Dick Clark
Mr D Carpenter, Staff Member
Mr N Bellocchi, Acting U S
Consul-General
Ambassador Clark said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees felt that the US emphasised refugee problems in South-East Asia (where half the costs were met by the US) to the detriment of those in Africa (though the US still met one-third of the costs there), Hovever, most African refugees were expected to return to their home countries.
Resettlement Places
2.
Congressional sentiment was pressing for greater resettlement places to go to land refugees in Thailand, because many of the Lao tribesmen had in practice been on the US payroll. They had a closer association with the US than many boat refugees and yet had often spent three to four years in camps, He had persuaded Congress to allow him flexibility in allocating numbers but he had to report monthly numbers of land cases accepted: all else being equal, it was likely that 2,500 of the current US programme of 7,000 per month would go to land refugees.
3.
I E said that when current numbers for refugees going to the US from Hong Kong were assigned, the inflov had been much smaller than now. he hoped the rate of
CONFIDENTIAL
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