UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER
DESK OFFICER INDEX
PA
REPORT ON THE PROGRAMME FOR ORDERLY DEPARTURE FROM
THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
The programme for orderly departure was established following the signature, on 30 May 1979, of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees concerning the departure of persons from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The purpose of this Memorandum was to facilitate the legal and orderly departure of persons wishing to leave Vietnam for countries of new residence. The text of the Memorandum of Understanding is attached at Annexe I.
The Conference on Refugees and Displaced Persons in South East Asia, held at Geneva on 21-22 July 1979 paid special attention to the programme. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, in his concluding remarks at that Meeting, referred to the need to expand the programme, in co-operation with the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, while representatives of a substantial number of countries expressed strong support for this approach.
Periodic consultations have taken place between UNHCR and governments of interested countries of resettlement, both in Geneva and Hanoi, since the beginning of the Programme.
After conclusion of the Memorandum of Understanding, UNHCR and the Government of Vietnam established the necessary infrastructure to co-operate in organizing departures. As the attached statistics demonstrate (Annexe II), the rate of legal departures initially remained relatively low. By the end of September 1981, however, 12,133 Vietnamese had left Vietnam in a legal and orderly fashion for more than 30 countries of new residence. Recently, the number of orderly departures has increased significantly, and it is hoped that this trend will continue. 903 Vietnamese departed under the programme during September 1981, and the corresponding figure for October 1981 is 1,700 persons.
These figures do not include the departures of Kampuchean refugees, numbering some 2,992 since June 1979, whose resettlement costs are covered under UNHCR's General Programmes.
UNHCR staff in Vietnam are now organizing an average of two charter flights per week from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok, in addition to regular departures on the weekly commercial flight. A minimum monthly target figure of 1,000 departures is considered realistic for the remainder of 1981, and every effort will be made to sustain and increase this rate of departure.
At the invitation of the High Commissioner, a Vietnamese delegation, led by the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hoang Bich Son, visited Geneva from 5-9 October 1981 to hold detailed talks about legal and orderly departure with UNHCR as well as with representatives of interested receiving countries. UNHCR organized an informal meeting on 7 October 1981 between representatives of governments of 20 receiving countries and the Vietnamese delegation. This occasion for a constructive exchange of views on the implementation of the departure programme was welcomed by those attending.
Page 75Page 76