UNCLASSIFIED
Screening
A
to bear responsibility for failing to maintain its commitment to
resettlement and for failing to out enough pressure on the countries
of origin (ie Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos) which were the root cause of
the problem. Repatriation should only be voluntary.
should involve the UNHCR, should only take place in a safe location
(ie not on the beach) and be humane, fair and free of corruption.
Those arriving should be allowed to land without prescreening.
due process of law should be quaranteed, with an appeal procedure
under international supervision. Those conducting the screening
should have a geopolitical awareness of the country of origin.
Basic human rights and security should be available for all new
arrivals, who should also be informed of their rights. There should
be no inhumane detention for indefinite periods. Countries
intending to introduce screening should announce their new
procedures well in advance.
b)
Protection
The UNHCR should retain and enforce its mandate. North
Vietnamese arriving in Hong Kong should be protected from
discrimination (this reflected a perception that North Vietnamese
were received differently from South Vietnamese in both Hong Kong
and by the international community).
c)
Resettlement
There
Countries of resettlement should maintain their commitment.
The USA should maintain its leadershin. There should be a form of
humanitarian parole for longstavers in first asvlum camos.
should be a one-off effort, possibly through an international
conference which could be held in South East Asia, to clear the
backlog. (Several speakers, including the Thai Ambassador
to the UN, Nitva Pibulsonggram, had suggested that the
solutions agreed at the 1979 UN Conference were no longer
adecuate and that a new conference should be held, perhaps
in South East Asia). Countries of resettlement should make a
commitment to multi-annual cuotas. The orderly departures programme
should be strengthened and extended to Laos and Cambodia. Other
countries, principly the USA, should consider private sponsorshin
along the lines of the Canadian model. (Shen Lowman, Executive
Director of Refugees International and a former member of the State