12
-
}
J
(i)
Victims of violence and split families. (approximately 280 places)
Many hundreds of refugees men, women and children live with the trauma of violence. Refugee women when abducted by pirates are invariably violated. If they survive, they are usually abandoned by the pirates in southern Thailand. Their husbands, parents or other relatives, if allowed to continue their journey, usually head for Malaysia. Because of the need to make separate submissions from more than one country, resettlement and family reunification is often delayed. We would request that victims of violence and refugees in split family situations, even if they have no relatives in any resettlement country, be granted the most rapid consideration for resettlement.
(ii) Rescued refugees
(estimated places required in 1986, assuming carryover of 1985 quotas, 1,200)
(a) 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.
(b) New RASRO quotas will, unless a country requires otherwise, come into effect on 1 May 1986. Unused places under the 1985-86 quota will be automatically credited to the new quota year and countries will be notified in May 1986 of their commitment in terms of refugee places. Thus, if for instance a country renews its quota at the original level beginning
1 May 1986, at which time places still remain in its 1985-86 quota, it will be notified that only the balance of places are required. Maritime sources and rescue at sea statistics indicate that over the past year a large number of ships have switched from national flags to flags of convenience and that more rescues now take place by "DISERO-type" vessels than by national flag vessels. Countries are therefore requested to increase their involvement in the DISERO scheme.
(iii) Longstaying refugees in Hong Kong (estimated need: 4,800 places)
(a) More Vietnamese refugees stay longer in Hong Kong than in any other country in the region. More than 5,000 refugees have remained in camps in Hong Kong for more than 3 years.
(b) During their protracted stay in Hong Kong many refugees have developed linguistic and technical skills which could assist their integration in third countries. A significant minority also have some type of family link in an overseas resettlement country, although few qualify for resettlement within current criteria.