FW 4AAA
DSR 11C
ANNEX C
POLICY EVALUATION : AID TO INDO-CHINESE REFUGEES IN
THAILAND
Background
1.
Since the Communist take-overs in Vietnam, Cambodia
and Laos in 1975, some 1.7m Indo-Chinese have fled those
The exodus reached its peak in 1978, when
countries.
200,000 refugees arrived in Thailand alone.
No!
2.
In response to the crisis, a conference was held in
Geneva in 1979 at which the international community
resolved that there should be a world-wide sharing of the
burden, covering both resettlement and support within the
region. At that conference, the UK pledged £5 million,
together with resettlement places for 10,000 Indo-Chinese
refugees. Besides the UK's general commitment to the
principles affirmed at the conference, British interests
were directly involved through the burden placed on Hong
Kong as
by boat.
place
country of first asylum for Vietnamese fleeing
Since 1979, the UK, in common with others, has
kept up its efforts to help solve the problem of
Indo-Chinese refugees through:
(a) financial support for international and voluntary
organisations (total aid to date £12.5 million);
(b) help with the resettlement of refugees (20,000 up to
1986, with a further 14,500 integrated into Hong
Kong); and
/(c)