E.R.
associations for financial assistance towards permanent
resettlement. We will clearly consider this request as a matter
of urgency, but I cannot say more than that at this stage.
Refugee matters cenerally
I want to turn now to some matters of more general concern. You will
be aware, Fr. Chairman, that there has been considerable debate,
both inside and outside Parliament, in recent months on the
revision of the Immigration Rules and I would like to point to
one change which, while it has attracted comparatively little
attention, is to my mind a significant one in the refugee field.
Following extended discussions with the local representative of
U.N.H.C.R. - Mr. Jean Heidler - and with Sir Leslie Kirkley,
Chairman of the Standing Conference and Vice Chairman of B.C.A.R.,
we have produced a revision of the Rules relating to asylum and
refugee status claims. There can be no doubt that such claims
take precedence over any other headings of the Rules and that all
potential asylum cases must be referred to the Immigration
Department Refugee Unit for decision. This was, in practice, the
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