CONFIDENTIAL
ECORD OF A MEETING BETWEEN MR MURRAY, ASSISTANT UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE, AND MR HEIDLER, UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE IN THE UK, HELD AT THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE AT 4.30 PM ON 6 JUNE
Present:
Mr D F Murray CMG Mr P Morgan UND
INDO-CHINA REFUGEES
International Conference
1.
Mr J Heidler
HKK 243/1
243/1410
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. S
14 JUN1979
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Mr Heidler said he had called to discuss the matter of the International Conference which the Prime Minister had proposed in her recent message to Dr Waldheim to find solutions to the Indo-China refugee problem.
problem. He pointed out that, within the UNHCR, Mr de Haan, the Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, had overall responsibility for the whole Indo-China refugee problem. Mr Heidler added that, in both Geneva and New York, there was not a great deal of enthusiasm for the proposed conference One could easily understand the feelings in the UK, particularly bearing in mind the platform on which the British Government had been elected. However, Mr Heidler felt that a conference such as that which the UK was proposing, if held, could easily degenerate into political fighting. The work of the UNHCR, he added, was non-political in character and must remain that way; otherwise there would be very little chance to be effective.
2. Referring to the last conference held in December in Geneva under the auspices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr Heidler said that the intervention at that Conference by the Vietnamese delegate was remarkable. It was clear that one could speak with a degree of openness in a small gathering. The same would be very difficult to achieve at a much wider international conference. Mr Heidler showed Mr Murray a passage from the Vietnamese delegate's speech which, he said, demonstrated a considerable understanding of the refugee problem. Mr Murray thought the passage in question was more designed to be all things to all men.
3.
E
Returning to the matter of the proposed International Conference, Mr Heidler said that if there were to be a meeting with the whole or most of the Soviet Bloc invited, he did not see how it could reach practical solutions. If it were to be productive at all, and he assumed that was the desire of the United Kingdom, there would not only need to be very careful preparation in advance, but question of which UN member states were to be invited would have to be handled particularly carefully. If the Conference were held under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-General, Dr Waldheim would find it difficult not to invite the whole membership. On the other hand, the High Commissioner for Refugees had much more freedom of manoeuvre. This, and the non-politicisation of the work of UNHCR, was the whole idea of setting up the UNHCR outside the UN Secretariat and not under the responsibility of the Secretary-General himself. Invitations to a conference should go to all countries that might be able to help; this did not necessarily mean all UN member-states. Dr Waldheim's recent appeal (which was drafted by the UNHCR) to heads of governments was exceptional and was made following his own recent visit to South East Asia. Mr Murray asked whether what Mr Heidler was saying reflected Mr Hartling's own views and what the latter was himself saying to Dr Waldheim. Mr Heidler said he was speaking on instructions from Mr Hartling. He then handed over a statistical
CONFIDENTIAL