4
"We are also hopeful that TRACK II will be accompanied by an unequivocal statement from the US Administration that there will be no further concessions to VMs in camps, thus ending the current impasse in voluntary repatriation generated by false hopes of resettlement elsewhere," he said.
On the concern about the early repayment of the one billion dollars which the UNHCR owes the Hong Kong Government, Mr Lai said that was a contractual debt which the UNHCR had repeatedly assured the Government that they would discharge.
"They continue to repay annual sums which represent an increasing proportion of the amount spent, in light of the reduction of the VM population in our camps.
"Their ability to repay fully the obligated amount is, of course, dependant on the level of donations from the international community. In that connection, the attention of donor countries has been drawn to the debt at both the Fifth and the Sixth CPA Steering Committee meetings," he said.
Mr Lai said Legislative Councillors could rest assured that the Government would continue to remind the UNHCR and the international community of their obligations.
"In our efforts, we shall be assisted, as we have been in the past, by the Government of the United Kingdom, which have also contributed over one billion dollars towards the VM programme in Hong Kong and accepted more than 15,000 Vietnamese refugees from Hong Kong," he added.
End/Wednesday, November 29, 1995
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