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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
ANDEX
No.8
25 May 1979
SECRETARY GENERAL'S APPEAL
The Secretary-General, Dr. Kurt Waldheim, upon his return from a mission to South East Asia, has made a direct appeal to heads of government on the "urgent question of refugees and displaced persons from Indo-China". Reviewing the current situation, he stated that "this problem has now reached crisis proportions".
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The Secretary-General emphasized that "without a generous policy of at least temporary asylum there can be no basis for humanitarian action", and appealed to the countries of the region that "those who arrive should not be turned away". noted that more than a quarter-of-a-million persons in the region were awaiting resettlement offers, and that so far 108,000 resettlement places outside South East Asia had been offered by various countries. "The escalating influx", he said, "demonstrates dramatically the necessity for additional resettlement offers, and I would therefore urge that such offers be increased over and above those already announced, to match this acute and growing need."
The Secretary-General also referred to the Vietnamese decision to permit orderly departure, which he had discussed with the Vietnamese authorities in Hanoi, and to the question of island processing centres, the principal item on the agenda of last week's meeting of governments in Djakarta. The first such centre is expected to be established on the Indonesian island of Galang; a further site is possible following an offer by the Government of the Philippines.
"However, orderly departures from Viet Nam and the establishment of processing centres cannot, by themselves, solve the refugee crisis in South East Asia", the Secretary-General added. "Unfailing commitment and efforts by countries in and outside the region are needed........... I therefore appeal to governments to give the highest priority to measures which are necessary to meet this humanitarian crisis. I call on them in the most urgent terms to increase their financial contributions to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and to join in the search for lasting solutions by making available increased numbers of resettlement places, to enable those waiting in the camps of South East Asia to begin a new productive life."
ARUSHA CONFERENCE
The Pan African Conference on Refugees, held in Arusha, Tanzania, ended on 17 May. The Conference was attended by representatives of 38 African countries, as well as numerous participants from non-African governments, inter- governmental organizations, and non-governmental agencies. At the final session a number of recommendations relating to matters of protection and material assistance were adopted, and will now be referred to the OAU Council of Ministers which meets in Monrovia, Liberia in carly July.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO UNHCR PROGRAMMES
Food supplies worth 5,000,000 have been pledged by the European Economic Community (EEC) to various UNHCR Programmes for 1979.
The German non-governmental organization Brot für die Welt has pledged $526,000 to be used for the purchase of rice for the People's Democratic Republic of Lao.
UNHCR Public Information/Centre William Rappard/154, rue de Lausanne/CH 1202 Geneva Switzerland, Phone: (022) 310261/Telex 28 144