Reference
1374
I of C
INDO-CHIESE RUT
Mr Willial
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: GVA CONFERENCE BRIEFING AF
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tion and F. for EE Finsions. Mr IK Linden"
resented. It mi rtion ten Är Michael willow. the OPA. A11 490 Liscione inve the French
counted, with the addition of the Greeks.
-In Linton-ever raid that ir Mackellar would end the Gneva Conference on 19-20 July,
no ran the по
his cretery, Mr Engledow, Mr Wilson The and Mr R Dean of the Department of the rime Minister and Cabinet. ie said Australia regarded the Conference as extremely important. There had been previous conferences on the refugee problem, other meetings (er the Tokyo Summit and ATZUE Council) which had consired the problem, und large sums of money had been disbursed, but demite all this effort, the problem was becoming increasingly worse. The ut flow of refurges vs increasing and the numbers to be resettled were now more than 350,000. Australia hoped the Gova Conference would troduce or would be a step to producing the elusive solution to the problem. Australia was also concerned by the constraints imposed by the UN Secretary-General's concentration at the Conference on the humanitarian aspect.
3.
a)
Australia saw the problem in three parts:
Infringement of human rights leading to the massive outflow of refugees from Vietnam.
The Geneva Conference must address itself to the humanitarian problem;
The accumulation of refurees in countries of first asylum was greater than the rate of resettlement;
b)
c)
The deprivation and squalor in the refugee camps.
4.
Mr Lindenmeyer said that the Conference must rive attention to obtaining more help for the countries of first asylum.
5. Mr Wilson reiterated Australia's concern about the human rights problem. He said that the full political aspects should be considered by Governments and the international community in other forums. He hoped Governments would take a positive approach to this side of the problem: too little attention had been paid to it previously. He rehearsed the Australian line on the number of refugees Australia
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