1:
4.
refugees picked up by vessels registered in the United Kingdom would be accepted for resettlement in Britain if no other country
had accepted them within 90 days of the rescue. Over 3,000 boat people have been admitted for settlement in Britain on this basis.
On 1 May 1985, the UNHCR inaugurated a scheme known as Rescue at
Sea Resettlement Offers (RASRO). Its purpose was to encourage
ship rescues of boat people the rate having declined drastically by 1984 - and to spread the flow of refugees more evenly between
the most suitable resettlement countries ensuring, wherever possible, that they went to countries where they had family links. Fifteen Western countries agreed to participate in the scheme and
pledged over 2,000 resettlement places, including a quota of 150
for Britain during the first year of the scheme. As a further inducement to sea captains, the UNHCR has introduced a scheme to
reimburse expenditure accruing to ship owners as a direct result
of rescues at sea. In 1985 the number of boat people rescued at
sea increased to 2,818 compared with 2,172 in the previous year;
78 vessels were involved.
further
Alquota
of
150 places
hco den
pledged for
the propert year.
1. In response to international concern, a fund was established in 1982 under the auspices of the UNHCR to support the Thai Navy's
operations against pirates preying on refugee boats in the Gulf of Thailand. Twelve countries have contributed over US$4 million. In February 1986 a team of experts from Britain, Japan and America produced a report on the effectiveness of the Thai Navy's anti-piracy programme. The report concluded that it was
improving, albeit gradually, and that material resources now
available were sufficient for the purpose.
4. Nevertheless, the incidence of piracy is still distressingly
eight
high.
In the first months of 1986, per cent of refugee
Britain's latest contribution (for 1986-
87) ₤70,000.
boats in the southern waters of the Gulf of Thailand were attacked ? by pirates (as against per cent for the wire of 1985). There
Some period in
South coast
amuvalo
the
most
Vaticable
Britain's
concern; the SCORRI report
Tabur
Man?
whole,
group. attache on
boat. anivals have 77% Caller from
ho in 1981 15% in the hat eight months of 1986.
16. More than ,000 Vietnamese refugees have been resettled in Britain, including those leaving Vietnam under the ODP. Because of cultural and language offerences, the United Kingdom is not the
/"country