CONFIDENTIAL
UNITED KINGDOM MISSION
37-39 RUE DE VERMONT
The Rt Hon The Lord Carrington KCMG MC LONDON
1211 GENEVA, 20
TELEPHONE 34 38 00
33 23 85
15 August 1980
My Lord
OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR)
1 Although designed as a temporary organisation who se existence is renewed every five years by the General Assembly, the UNHCR will be thirty years old on the 1st of January 1981. At the outset the main problem was the aftermath of the Second World War. At the time of the largely British-inspired World Refugee Year in 1959/60, there were 1.2 million refugees in the world. The hope was that it would provide the impetus to clear up the refugee problem once and for all. Two decades later there are some 16 million refugees and dis- placed persons of whom 9.2 million are of direct interest to UNHCR. The international community has been forced to take much greater account of refugee problems, particularly in the "refugee" decade of the seventies, during which the conflicts and tensions causing individuals and groups to abandon their homes increased
dramatically.
So much so that at the seven-nation economic summit in Venice on 22 June 1980, the Heads of State and Governments issued a declaration on refugees, expressing their deep concern at the "plight of the ever-increasing number of refugees throughout
the world".
2 The time is therefore ripe for a survey of the role of UNHCR in facing the world's numerous man-made disasters. I address myself in this despatch to the basic principles underlying UNHCR's work; to the way in which its mandate has broadened; to the particular questions of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and Indo-China and Hong Kong; to UK relations more generally with UNHCR; and to future problems on the organisational, financial and political sides. Detailed notes on refugee law, on UNHCR's history and organisation, and on its financing and administration are contained in the annexes to the despatch.
/Basic Princples: