6. Refugee flows hit particularly severely the countries of
first asylum, which take the initial strain. These strains,
both economic and political, can be immense and in many cases
fall on countries of asylum which already have grave economic
problems. The presence of refugees can itself cause difficulties
between countries of asylum and countries of origin, as well as
within the country of asylum.
7. The international machinery for tackling refugee problems,
in particular the office of the UNHCR, is in good repair, but
has its own problems. Financial stringency world-wide makes it
an uphill struggle to collect resources for refugee relief.
Countries of resettlement also have grave economic and even
political problems, and much has been heard in the last year or
two of the phenomenon of "compassion fatigue". However much we
regret this we cannot ignore it. There are problems of integration
of refugees in new homelands, and enormous costs are involved.
We in Britain have had particular difficulties in integrating
some Vietnamese boat people, a problem we have not had with
immigrants from other parts of the world. Even where the ideal
solution of repatriation is available, there are acute political
and organisational problems, and financial difficulties, in
re-establishing refugees in their old homes. In short the
problems are daunting and not susceptible to easy solution.
SOLUTIONS
8. If solutions to these problems are to be found, they must
clearly be manifold, complex and applied flexibly over time.
My government considers that one of the High Commissioner's most
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/important