the second Geneva Conference on Indo-Chinese Refugees (ICIR) in June 1989, the international community adopted the CPA, the major components of which are
measures to deter clandestine departures;
(a)
(b)
improvements
to
the Orderly Departure Programme
(ODP);
(c)
(d)
(e)
first asylum for all VBP;
screening of all VBP to establish status;
resettlement of those
determined to be refugees;
and
(£)
repatriation refugees.
of
those
determined not to be
4
Government has
supported the CPA on the grounds that it applies well-established international procedures to the VBP problem, and thereby offers the best prospect of bringing the problem under control. In a number of areas, progress has been made. For example, departures from Vietnam under the ODP have increased dramatically during 1989 to more than 45,000, and in
80,000 are expected to leave
this under Similarly, programme.
the resettlement
is package
being implemented ahead of schedule. Progress with repatriation has, however, been slow.
1990
5
than more
A total of 1101 people have returned from Hong Kong to Vietnam since March 1989 under the voluntary repatriation programme operated by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). A further 1275 applications are pending. The voluntary repatriation programme is a most important element of the CPA, and we are committed to encouraging its further development. But all indications to date are that it cannot offer a solution on its own for the increasing numbers now being screened out as non-refugees. Only 32 of the 1275 outstanding applications have come from people who have been definitively screened out (i.e. having completed all stages of the screening and review procedures). Progress with mandatory
There is repatriation consensus on this issue in the Steering Committee established to implement the CPA and some countries are unwilling to support mandatory repatriation as the
outcome logical
has been
even
slower.
lack a
of
of
Y