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202. The problem of providing temporary accommodation for these persons in the urban environment of Hong Kong became acute as the rate of arrivals rose in the course of the year.
Accommodation had to be provided in hotels initially until more suitable arrangements could be made by UNHCR in co-operation with the Hong Kong authorities. In November 1973 an agreement was signed with the Hong Kong Christian Association to provide temporary accommodation and basic services at the Sham Sui Po Centre with an initial capacity of 3,000 persons.
203. UNHCR assistance in Hong Kong during 1978, provided under the Special Programmes, consisted of care and maintenance including food, shelter and medical care. Expenditures for these measures totalled $5.5 million.
204. UNHCR also provided assistance to European refugees in transit in Hong Kong while they were awaiting resettlement abroad. An amount of $107,527 was expended from the overall allocation for this purpose.
Indonesia
205. A total of 2,932 Indo-Chinese refugees and displaced persons arrived by boat in Indonesia during 1970, compared to 679 in 1977. 1,190 persons departed during the year to countries of permanent resettlement, and the total caseload in the country at the end of 1973 stood at 2,218. Pending their departure abroad for resettlement, UNHCR financed assistance programmes for care and maintenance under an agreement concluded with the Government of Indonesia. In order to provide accommodation to some 3,000 refugees and displaced persons, a new camp was built in Tanjung Pinang on Bintan Island in the Riau Archipelago. Total UNHCR expenditures under the Special Programme for Indo-Chinese refugees and displaced persons in Indonesia for these measures of assistance during 1978 amounted to almost $1,210,000.
Japan
206. A total of 722 Indo-Chinese refugees and displaced persons arrived in Japan by boat during 1970, compared to 851 in 1977. Departures from Japan for permanent resettlement abroad during 1978 totalled 595 persons, leaving a caseload of 597 at the end of the year. Through its office in Tokyo, UNHCR concluded agreements with five local voluntary agencies to provide for care and maintenance.
Expenditures
for this purpose from Special Programmes in 1978 totalled $1,315,186. The Japanese Government provided funds to the Japanese Red Cross Society to finance the provision of accommodation for some 500 persons, and additional facilities were made available free of charge by several local voluntary agencies.
Lao People's Democratic Republic
207. Since 1974, when the Government requested assistance for the rehabilitation of displaced and uprooted persons, UNHCR has implemented a programme aimed at resettling these displaced persons and reinstating them in productive activities. Of 411,000 uprooted people who returned to their villages of origin during the period 1974-78, an estimated 240,000 benefited from UNHCR assistance which, including food aid, amounted to some $12.4 million for that period.