RESTRICTED
Cning &
нки)
Mr. Lacks HKD)
Your reference
Our reference
then
243/1
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British Embassy Bangkok
Stephen Nash Esq
SEAD
FCO
fra Staphon,
US INDOCHINESE REFUGEE PANEL
25.
Date
20 December 1985
MKK 243/3. RECEIVED IN REGISTRY
2 1 JAN 1986
REGISTRY
Action Taken
DESK OFFICER
INDEX
PA
A
1 I copied to you a letter, dated 10 October, I had received from Lacy Wright in the US Embassy about the proposed visit of the above US panel to Thailand and Vietnam.
2. I had a chance to talk to him about this last week, and to ask his views on how their visit had gone. He told me that he thought the group had benefitted from their trip here, especially in seeing the refugee/displaced persons problem on the ground. However the visit to Vietnam did not appear to have been very useful. Mr Wright was cagey about making any predictions on how their report would turn out, but seemed satisfied that all the
and he points he wanted to make appeared to have registered, implied that he thought that maintenance of continued US commitment to taking refugees would feature amongst the panel's conclusions. I doubt that, from what Wright said, many new ideas will emerge from the panel's findings.
•
3. I should add that although Wright was complimentary about the qualities (and qualifications) of all the panel, this view was not borne out by UNBRO officials who had escorted the panel around the Khmer camps. They told me that about half the group (ie. three out of six?) seemed competent and
the others were, in the UNBRO officials' view,
knowledgeable:
make-weights who were poorly. informed.
4. Lacy Wright told me he does not expect the panel to finish writing their report for some months.
a copy when it becomes available.
He has promised me
Mary Xmas
Bust Wishan for 1986!
CC: Chancery, Hanoi
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Yous
67
PL Bean
100.
8
1