As for the use of Refugee Processing Centres, there is need
to use existing facilities and structures in the most economic and
sensible way in order to responsibly spend the funds given to my
Office for this purpose. cleared to allow refugees from the holding centres and camps to be processed speedily. The Refugee Processing Centres have proved their value in easing the situation of the first asylum camps.
We are
doing everything to encourage their use to full capacity, thus
obviating the need for further construction or additional facilities.
It is, therefore, with satisfaction that I note the use of the
Refugee Processing Centres by an increasing number of governments.
The transit centres in Thailand should be
You will note from the documents distributed to you certain
suggestions and proposals to deal in a more co-ordinated manner with
the problem of disabled refugees and emergency medical cases. We
are looking forward to discussing the modalities of these suggestions
with the countries interested in participating and thank them
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for their co-operation in helping these refugees. I should like to
mention that we would like to offer our assistance and advice to
overcome problems caused by situations in which refugees are placed
for one year or more on medical holds and we are confident that we
are able to offer solutions in a humanitarian manner which respects
both the concern of the receiving countries and the refugees.
Another problem is that of refugees who have relatives in one
country and are therefore ineligible for admission to any other country.
Some of these countries, who have only a very small refugee population,
can for a variety of reasons, select and admit the refugees to their
territory only once a year. This in turn means that those refugees
having relatives there may have to wait up to one year until their
turn comes to go to the country of their final destination. We would
like to suggest that family reunion cases may be dealt with by UNHCR,
in close co-operation with those countries. On other suggestions