DSF. 11C
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
countries
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The exodus reached its peak in 1978, when
200,000 refugees arrived in Thailand alone.
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 burdenplaced on Hong Kong as a country
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of first asylum for Vietnamese
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fleeing by boat.
Since
1979, the UK 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 £12.9 million);
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b) help with the resettlement of refugees (20,000 up to 1986
integrated into,
with a further 14,500 Hong Kong); and
c)
maintaining pressure in search of an overall solution
to the Indo-China problem, caused by Vietnam's oppressive
policies and the illegal occupation of Cambodia.
3.
Thailand has borne the brunt of the flood of refugees,
with over 600,000 arrivals since 1975.
Thailand is also
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