BRIEFING NOTES FOR RESETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS-
ON 21 JANUARY 1986
HKK 243/1
FRECEIVED IN REGISTRY
17 JAN1986
A. Indochinese Refugees
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
PA
2
REGISTRY Action Taken
General observations
1.
2.
The total number of Indochinese refugees in camps in Southeast Asia on 31 December 1985 was about 154,000, a reduction from some 162,000 on the same date in 1984.
Were arrival and departure rates to remain unchanged, it could take 26 years, at the current pace, to clear the camps through the process of resettlement. This simplistic observation should demonstrate that resettlement, as long as it is implemented as the main solution to the problem of Indochinese refugees, requires a long term commitment by all resettlement countries.
Hopefully, durable solutions other than resettlement will become available for many of the Laotians and Kampucheans now in camps in Thailand. However, it is difficult to see any other solution for the Vietnamese refugees, whose number stood at 34,458 on 30 November 1985 compared to 37,577 a year before. Using a similar simplistic formula as above, it could take another 8 to 9 years to clear the camps of Vietnamese refugees.
Since no other solution exists at present for the Vietnamese, and because it is evident that a waiting time of many more years is unacceptable from a humanitarian point of view (and likewise unacceptable to the countries in the region providing "temporary" asylum to refugees), UNHCR at present concentrates its resettlement efforts on the Vietnamese refugees.
Resettlement needs of the Vietnamese refugees
3.
4.
Split Vietnamese families in Southeast Asia (an estimated 12 families, some 30 individuals)
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Refugee women when abducted by pirates are invariably violated. If they survive, they are usually abandoned in southern Thailand. Their husbands, parents or other relatives, if allowed to continue their journey, usually head for Malaysia. Total numbers are small (at the moment there are a dozen such split cases) but it has proven impossible to reunite such families between camps. Because of the need to make separate submissions from more than one country, resettlement and family reunification is often delayed. We would request that such split families, even if they have no relatives in the resettlement country, be granted the most rapid consideration for resettlement.
Rescued refugees
(estimated places required in 1986, assuming carryover of 1985 quotas, 1,200)
UNHCR's continued attempts to promote the rescue of refugees in distress at sea, which have seen success in 1985, depend ultimately on the ready provision of resettlement guarantees. We therefore appeal to all countries in the DISERO and RASRO schemes to signal as soon as possible renewal of their contributions for the year ahead.