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6. UNHCR have chosen to send two hardliners to the meeting Dariush Bayandor, an Iranian, Head of the South East Asia district and Shamsul Bari, a Bangladeshi, Head of the General Legal Advice section. We can expect that they will make a strong case for amending the warning notice and may well resist our urging for UNHCR to send a team to Hong Kong to advise on screening arrangements. They may also seek to claw back some of the qualified support UNHCR have already given for the new policy.
7. The new policy is generally in line with the consensus reached at ICG in April in Ottawa, particularly on screening. A copy of the reporting telegrams and consensus paper of that meeting are
attached.
8.
UKMIS Geneva have advised that we should give them a polite hearing but give no hope that we are prepared to reverse our decisions. UKMIS Geneva have so far successfully defended our position in Geneva, and have secured the general understanding of the Australian, US and Canadian missions which they hope will be reflected in the informal Excom on 30 June. The Australians in particular have been supportive of the new policy and we understand they have instructed their Geneva Post to approach Hocke and influence him towards a more supportive line.
9. Given the likely hardline approach, we should be prepared to take a robust position on issues raised by Bayandor and Bari, and to press them on what action UNHCR is taking particularly on
repatriation to Vietnam.
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