XN000022-1979-05-04 — Page 21

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Mr. Chairman, the stern reality of the bare statistics of the background against which Hong Kong must view the present influx of boat people from Vietnam, should obscure neither the drama and tragedy of the situation, nor the socio-political tensions that are bound to arise if recipient communities feel deprived, and if large numbers of people have to be maintained in camps indefinitely. We are not unmindful of the efforts of the UNHCR and the concern expressed by the government of countries of potential resettlement but, on a pessimistic view, we could have as many aa 70,000 refugees in camps in Hong Kong awaiting resettlement by the end of the summer season, and other countries in the region face a similar, though in relative terms a less serious, problem.

In my view, the Asian Development Bank should seriously and urgently consider how its resources could be mobilised to ease and spread the burden resulting from this exodus, And, to guard against the very real possibility that the prospects and, indeed, the human rights of the people in the countries receiving this large inflow are not seriously harmed, the Bank should use its good offices to encourage regional co- operation and to bring pressure on the international community for this is an international problem too to respond with adequate offers

of resettlement coupled with a speeding up of the resettlement process.

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