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YLUM AREA AND THE TIME THEY HAD BEEN WAITING. IN MALAYSIA TWO-
THIRDS HAD BEEN WAITING MORE THAN THREE MONTHS. IN HONG KONG ONE-
QUARTER AND IN INDONESIA ONE-FIFTH. AFTER THE MEETING A UNHCR
OFFICIAL TELEPHONED TO SAY THAT OUR EMPHASIS ON HONG KONG'S
RIGHT TO A FAIR SHARE WAS WELL UNDERSTOOD. THE MAJOR
RESETTLEMENT COUNTRIES TOOK THEIR OWN DECISIONS BUT THE SMALLER
ONES WHO COULD NOT AFFORD TO SEND OUT SELECTION OFFICERS RELIED ON
UNHCR GUIDANCE. UNHCR HAD RECENTLY ASKED THEIR UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE IN HONG KONG TO SEND PARTICULARS TO MEET THE IRISH AND GREEK (150) OFFERS AND ALSO THE 80, 200 AND 330 CASES TO GO TOWARDS THE SWISS, AUSTRIAN AND BELGIAN OFFERS RESPECTEIVELY.
8.
THE MEETING ALSO DISCUSSED TRANSIT AND PROCESSING CENTRES.
CUENCD DEFINED THE FORMER AS PLACES FOR REFUGEES FOR WHOM ALMOST ALL
FORMALITIES HAD BEEN COMPLETED AND EARLY TRANSHIPMENT WAS EXPECTED:
WHEREAS THE LATTER (FOR EXAMPLE, GALANG) WERE FOR INDIVIDUALS.
WHO HAD RESETTLEMENT GUARANTEES BUT BECAUSE OF THEIR LOW PRIOIRTY
COULD NOT BE EXPECTED TO BE MOVED FOR SOME TIME. HE DEFINED A
**HOLDING CENTRE' AS A PLACE WHERE GROUPSGOF PEOPLE WITH
BLANKET RATHER THAN INDIVIDUAL GUARANTEES COULD BE HELD IN ORDER
TO ENSURE NO RESIDUE WAS LEFT BEHIND. THE US REPRESENTATIVE
SUGGESTED THIS DEFINITION WAS UNSATISFACTORY SINCE IN THE US
CASE ALL GUARANTEES RELATED TO INDIVIDUALS. WE LEARNT THAT A UNHCR
OFFICIAL IS TO GO TO THE PHIPIPPINES THIS WEEK TO
ESTABLISH WHAT EXACTLY THAT COUNTRY HAD IN MIND IN OFFERING A NEW
TRANSIT CENTRE FOR 50,000.
9. THERE WAS SOME DISCUSSION ON HOW LONG IT TOOK FROM THE
FIRST INTERVIEW OF A REFUGEE TO HIS FINALLY BOARDING A PLANE.
SWITZERLAND CLAIMED TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS IN TEN DAYS, DENMARK
IN THREE WEEKS, AUSTRALIA AND CANADA SIX WEEKS AND THE US
TWO MONTHS. NETHERLANDS AND NORWAY SAID THE ONLY DELAYS WERE
IN FINDING PLACES IN THEIR HOME COUNTRIES. NEW ZEALAND PROFESS-
ED TO HAVE FOUND A TIME-SAVING MECHANISM BY DISPENSING WITH
MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS SINCE IN PRACTICE NO-ONE WAS REJECTED.
A UNHCR OFFICIAL SAID THAT IN FACT ONE PER CENT OF ALL REFUGEES
WERE REJECTED ON MEDICAL GROUNDS BUT UP TO TEN PER CENT HAD
THEIR MOVEMENTS DELAYED FOR THIS REASON.
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/10.THERE