BRIEFING NOTES FOR RESETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS ON 21 JANUARY 1986
A. Indochinese Refugees
2
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
This simplistic observation should process of resettlement. demonstrate that resettlement, as long as it is implemented as the main solution to the problem of Indochinese refugees, raquires 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 campe 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 refugnað,
Resettlement needs of the Vietnamese refugees
3.
A.
Split Vietnamese families in Southeast Asia (an estimated 12 families, some 30 individuals)
Refugee women when abducted by pirates are invariably violated. If they survive, they are usually abandonad in southern Thailand. Their husbands, parents or other relatives, if allowed to continue
Total numbers are small (at their journey, wally head for Malaysia.
has proven Because of the need
resettlement
the moment thers aje a dozen such split cases) impossible to reunite such families between ca to make separate submissions from more than one country, and family reunification is often delayed. We would request that such split familias, even if they have no relatives in the resettlement country, be granted the most rapid consideration for resat·lament.
Rescued refugees
(astinated places required in 1986, assuming carryover of 1985 quotas, 1.200)
UNHCR's continued attempts to promota the rescue of refugees in distress at sea, which have seen success in 1985, depard ultimately on
We the Fors appeal to the ready provision of resettlement guarantaes. all countries in the DISERO and RASRO schemas to signal es soon as possible renewal of their contributions for the year shaad.