094/1
HKK 243/9
1
TRY
1 JUL 1986
Stephen Nash s
SEAD
FCO
Он
Dow Stephon
PA
REGISTRY
Achon Taken
/7/86
with earliê
KHAO I DANG REFUGEE CAMP
1.
RESTRICTED
At Walm
British Embassy,
BANGKOK
23 June 1986
Pam 506 :clopent Hestimony the dagers of Sceening, which woh must brain mit,
CR227/6
71
Please refer to my teleletter of June.
Capès:
нно)
Ms. Wyeth, OPA Mr. Seller, ODA
UND
From Walter, UKAIS
Peneva
hi
2016
2. I have now had a chance to discuss Squadron Leader Prasong's meeting last Friday with my Canadian colleague, Tom Ryan, who attended accompanying his Ambassador. He has told me that the meeting went well, due largely to Prasong having informally briefed involved Embassies ahead of time. Prasong was apparently quite forthright in advocating closure of the camp,
a position that was not queried by the resettlement countries' representatives. Ryan said that the general view of those present was that it was not for them to tell the Thais how to organise the accommodation of refugees in Thailand, and as long as there were no moves to repatriate these Khmer refugees, and that there was a guarantie that they would be moved only to safe places, they would have no objection to Khao I Dang closing.
3. Prasong had apparently begun the meeting by explaining that it was only the size of his office that had restricted the number of invitees. He would be speaking to other resettlement countries when suitable oppor- tunities arose, to encourage them to take more refugees. All five Heads of Mission took up this particular point, commenting that other countries should take more refugees.
4.
In the end, it was left that the situation in Khao I Dang be reviewed in six months' time, with the prospect of a similar meeting to be held in early January. If there are no dramatic improvements in resettlement figures by then it seems probable the camp will close, with the in- habitants being dispersed to appropriate encampments for displaced persons (most to Site 2?). They would still, technically, remain eligible for resettlement following any such move.
Lao refugees
5. Ryan also told me that Prasong had briefly referred to the Lao refugee problem during the meeting, specifically focussing on the now quite large number of Laotians who had been "screened out" (because they did not meet the criteria for refugee status, ie they were economic rather than political refugees), under the trial programme run by the Thais and UNHCR to process Lao immigrants. There are now over 900 such cases, all of whom are held by the Thais awaiting repatriation to Laos. But the Lao seem unwilling to have them back, and indeed it seems possible that in the light of reported Lao encouragement to immigrants heading for Thailand, there will be no early resolution to what is an expanding problem for the Thais.
RESTRICTED
/6.