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UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA
Press Release SG/S/379
SG/REF/5
21 July 1979
CLOSING REMARKS BY SECRETARY-GENERAL KURT HALDHEIM
AT THE MEETING ON REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA
Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
"As we conclude our discussion, I wish to sum up and evaluate the results of cur proceedings.
"This meeting has been an occasion without precedent in the history of the United Nations. Sixty-five countries concerned with the grave crisis existing in South-East Asia have participated with a view to relieving the plight of hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons.
When the idea of a conference was first launched, there were considerable doubts about its chances of achieving its purpose. There was even the fear that this gathering could stray into a sterile and acrimonious debate which would aggravate even further the political atmosphere surrounding the refugee crisis. I think we can say with gratification that this has not been the case. On the contrary, the very fact that the international community was about to focus its attention on the humanitarian issues in South-East Asia has created a momentum of its
Before the Conference started, several countries increased substantially the number of resettlement places for refugees and their financial commitments. In addition, intensive contacts took place on a bilateral and multilateral basis to find ways and means of alleviating the suffering of the refugees in the area.
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Les communiques sont destinés à l'information; ils ne constituent pas des documents officiels
For use of information media, not an official record
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