YE
CONFIDENTIAL
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES : THE UNHCR
134/2
Mr Sampatkumar, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is calling on you at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 11 August. He is incidentally an Indian national from Madras.
2.
Mr Sampatkumar's normal base of operations is Kuala Lumpur. His area covers the eastern part of South-East Asia. This means it excludes Japan. There is however a permanent office of the UNHCR in Bangkok to deal with the special problems of Thailand.
3.
Mr Sampatkumar came to Hong Kong on Friday, 30 July following the assumption of responsibility for the AVA' refugees by the UNHCR. He has arranged for their accommodation in the singapore Hotel, and with the help of voluntary agencies, for the interested Consulates-General to interview them with a view to permanent resettlement in the United States, Canada and France. He intends to leave Hong Kong for Kuala Lumpur on the afternoon of Wednesday, 11 August. However, he is willing to return to Hong Kong if we require him, e.g. in the event of some fresh emergency involving a substantial arrival of more Vietnamese refugees.
4.
The original number of Vietnamese refugees from the 'AVA' was 99. To this have been added 19 refugees who arrived on a Panamanian-registered ship last week.
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5.
of the total of 118, four have already departed for France and two vill leave soon. (These are the mother and the premature baby who was born on board the 'AVA'.) 16 of the refugees are expected to leave between the middle and the end of this month for Canada. The Americans are processing all the rest of the 'AVA' group. The US Consul-General is optimistic that the United States will be able in the end to accept them all (i.e. 77). There are two parts to the American programme; one of these can be administered at the discretion of the consular side of the US Consulate-General; the other requires the authority of the immigration people in the United States. Mr Cross, however, hopes that through both means the whole group will have left by about the end of september. This is satisfactory since the Director of Immigration has given permission for the 'AVA' group to land temporarily for three months. But "there's many a slip................".
6.
The 19 who came from the Panamanian vessel are being intervieved by the Canadian Commission, They are a relatively easy group to deal with since most of them are skilled, and the hopes are good that they will all go to Canada.
7.
As part of the broader background, a significant number of boats containing Vietnamese refugees have arrived in the past few months at various ports in East Asia. We know
CONFIDENTIAL
/contd......
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