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STATEMENT BY THE GOVERNOR OF HONG KONG FOLLOWING HIS MEETING_WITH_THE Kez
U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES
Mr. P. HARTLING
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It has been extremely useful to have the opportunity to discuss directly with Mr. Hartling the problems of administering and resettling Vietnamese refugees.
The UNHCR has done much good work in looking after and resettling refugees. om Vietnam throughout the region but the size of the problem has clearly far exceeded the funds and resettlement places made available to the UNHCR by the international community to deal with the proble offastivaly.
The position is only likely to be improved if the international community can together provide a credible resettlement programme and adequate funds for the UNHCR. I see this as a major task for the international conference as proposed by MS Thatcher.
I confidently expect Dr. Waldheim to convene this conference shortly.
In the meantime, Mr. Hartling agreed to increase further the UNHCR staff in Hong Kong so that the processing of Vietnamese refugees could be speeded up.
I put to Mr. Hartling that UNHCR should accept responsibility for the care and maintenance of all Vietnamese refugees arriving in Hong Kong. The UNHCR said that it would only be possible to consider this in the light of the outcome of the forthcoming conference on Vietnamese refugees.
Geneva, 25 June 1979