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the monsoon season is ending in the Indo-China area more small boats may be setting out on a perilous journey during which it is estimated several thousands have lost their lives. The response in Europe to the appeals of the High Commissioner has been positive and during the first quarter of 1977, Austria, Belgium, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom have each accepted a number of families from among the "boat people". France again has displayed generosity in the acceptance of a large number of 'boat cases, followed by the Federal Republic of Germany whose overall intake of Indo-China refugees has been increasing during the first quarter of 1977. Australia sent special missions to Thailand and Malaysia, accepting some 432 persons in the former and 172 in the latter. Canada also accepted some 140 "boat people" during 1976 and in 1977 asked ICEM to assist in movement arrangements of such cases under the Canadian Government Assisted Passage Loan Scheme, a first group of 31 persons having left in March. Annex III shows the number of "boat people" who were identified in movements effected by ICEM during the period 1 January 1976 31 March 1977; the total of these was 2,212, of whom 724 were resettled in the first quarter of 1977.
7. The new United States programme mentioned in paragraph 2 above was initiated in Thailand when a first group of 40 persons departed from Bangkok on 23 March and subsequently from Hong Kong to the United States on 27 March. These cases were accepted under Section 7 of the United States Immigration Act which permits the entry of some 10,200 refugees per year under "conditional entry" provisions and without
requiring a work contract or sponsoring relative. At present Section 7 applies only to Hong Kong, and it is a tribute to the Hong Kong Government that it was willing to make available transit facilities for the programme so that the final processing of "boat cases" from various parts of Asia could be completed there. In Thailand, ICEM is responsible for arranging medical examinations and assisting in other areas of
processing, while in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore these are the
responsibility of a representative of the American Council of Voluntary Agencies (ACVA), assigned temporarily to these countries to act on behalf of all of the
sponsoring voluntary agencies. ICEM is also responsible for movement arrangements to and from Hong Kong and for the refugees during their transit staging there. UNHCR interviews "boat cases" on their original arrival in a particular country and
refers those interested in immigration to the United States to the United States
Embassy in that country.
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