CONFIDENTIAL
18. Last year we offered an RN officer to join a technical advice
mission to the programme in Thailand. This was accepted by UNHCR in
principle but the officer was not needed for the 1984 mission. We
have indicated that an officer could still be made available later
this year.
Rescue at Sea Resettlement Offers (RASRO)
19. In 1984 we agreed to join RASRO (but not in respect of Hong
Kong-registered ships) on a trial basis for one year with a pledge of 150 places. The scheme is designed to encourage ship rescues. Our shipping companies expressed some concern that disembarkation
might be more difficult under RASRO. Last month a ship rescue by a
UK-registered Shell tanker resulted in a satisfactory disembarkation
at Singapore. The scheme appears to be functioning smoothly.
Thai/Cambodian Border
20. The population of some 250,000 Cambodians on the Thai/Cambodian
border is not the responsibility of UNHCR. They are not eligible
for resettlement. We continue to support (£850,000 last Financial
Year) the international relief effort coordinated by the UN Border
Relief Operation (UNBRO). UNHCR run one camp in the border area,
Khao-i-Dang, where there have been reports of security problems
since the influx into Thailand as a result of the recent Vietnamese
offensive.
Plans for Future Meetings or Conference
21.
In 1983 UNHCR joined with other resettlement countries in a
meeting held in Honolulu to discuss Indo-Chinese refugees.
We, and
the French, did not attend. Last year we accepted an invitation to a further meeting in this series which was to have been held in
Tokyo. This was cancelled. We have heard reports that a further
"Honolulu" meeting may be held in Geneva this autumn during UNHCR's Executive Committee meeting. It is likely that first asylum
countries and possibly China would be invited as well as all the
major resettlement countries including ourselves. We see value in such meetings provided they focus on all possible options for
Indo-Chinese refugees, not just resettlement in Western
industrialised countries such as the UK.
CONFIDENTIAL
/22.