CONFIDENTIAL
2
UNHCR
4.
At present the UNHCR accepts responsibility for refugees only
after they have disembarked. The proposal is that he should agree
to process them and to pay for subsistence and medical and
sanitary requirements immediately on rescue.
5.
sea,
It appears possible for the wording of item xviii in the
UNHCR's Programme of Action that he wishes to draw a distinction
between payment of care and maintenance for refugees rescued at
which he is prepared to finance, and expenses in relation to those
who arrive in small boats, which he may not be prepared to meet.
This distinction, if it is intended, would be undesirable and
illogical.
First Port of Call
Although
6. It would be highly desirable for the avoidance of shipowners'
losses that this principle should be fully adopted in its widest
acceptable form, ie including the ideas in paragraph 7(ii).
there would be scope for abuse by Masters falsely invoking the
latter provisions in order to disembark refugees, the UK should
nevertheless press for their acceptance.
7. As noted in paragraph 11 of the Paper, the prospects for
acceptance of the first port of call principle are not good.
Moreover with the present low level of off take irom Hong kong, and
with few other states in the region implementing the principle,
the Government of Hong Kong have said that they can no longer
automatically apply the principle but will consider each case
on
its merits. A possible alternative formulation, which would shift
the load from first port of call countries to flag states, would be
to amend paragraph 7(i) of the Paper to read as follows:-
"Participants could call for universal observance of the
principle that states at which a vessel makes its first
scheduled call after achieving rescue should permit
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