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Thais that they might have to keep between 60-100,000 but so far they would not admit this possibility. Malaysia had settled 90,000 from the Philippines and a number of Muslim Kampucheans. The Governor stressed that if any hint that the Hong Kong Government were considering further resettlement were to leak then he would be in very deep trouble. Mr Hartling assured him that nothing would be said by UNHCR and that he had even refused to tell the Secretary General the indicative figures for each country. Only the UK had been told of Hong Kong's figure. The Governor said that he would find it useful to have some indication of the numbers which other South East Asian governments had been asked to accept. He stressed that in his view the refugee problem was not infinite; it could be solved.
5.
Mr Hartling then turned to the refugee situation in Hong Kong and said that UNHCR wished to register all the refugees as soon as possible. When he had joined UNHCR 18 months ago there was not even an office in Hong Kong but now there were three professionals, five general staff and five interviewers who were being doubled to ten shortly. Because of the demand by some governments, particularly the US and the ACABQ, for zero growth it was difficult for the High Commissioner to increase his staff in any one area without closing offices elsewhere.
Yet new demands were being made upon him all the time, for example the recent influx of refugees in Pakistan. When he became High Commissioner UNHCR had a staff of 600; now there were 1,000, the increase being paid for largely by voluntary contributions. The Governor pointed out that out of a refugee population of 57,000 in Hong Kong only 14,000 had been registered by UNHCR, of whom 7,000 had been processed. The rate of registration was only 200 per day which would mean six months for processing even the balance to date, during which time perhaps another 100,000 would arrive. The staff of the UNHCR should be trebled and a crash programme introduced. Mr Hartling agreed this was a very valid point and that Mr Rasanyagam should hire as many interviewers as possible to break the back log. The Governor added that if UNHCR did not get on top of the problem now it would never catch up. Dr Wilson commented that there ought to be a UNHCR representative in Macau to deter the latter from pushing refugees onto Hong Kong. Mr Hartling agreed to press on as fast as possible with registration. The Governor replied that he was delighted to hear that it was UNHCR's intention to register all 57,000 and all new arrivals.
6. The Governor said he would like to look at the UNHCR paper on Hong Kong again after the Conference. He was not keen that care and maintenance should become a charge to the Hong Kong government whilst accommodation was paid for by UNHCR. His understanding had been based on UNHCR's commitment last September as expressed in Mr Carpenter's letter. He fully appreciated the budgetary limitations imposed by governmental contributions. But he suggested that the costs of care and maintenance or the money provided to each refugee could be reduced and he proposed that UNHCR accept the principle of paying for care and maintenance up to their financial limitations whilst Hong Kong would pay the balance. Hong Kong could also continue to pay for the land, accommodation and buildings which in any case would revert to Hong Kong ultimately. He noted that the cost of land for one camp alone might equal the entire budget of UNHCR. There was also the /revenue
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