TNAG-0883-FCO40-1093-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 43

2.

ANOTHER ADMINISTRATION REQUEST WOULD INCREASE BY 87 MILLION DOLLARS THE FISCAL YEAR 1980 BUDGET FOR REFUGEE ASSISTANCE, BRINGING IT TO A TOTAL OF 223.9 MILLION DOL- LARG. THAT INCREASE IS EXPECTED TO FINANCE A TOTAL OF APPROXIMATFLY 120,000 REFUGEE RESETTLEMENTS IN THE UNITED

@4,000 FROM INDOCHINA AND 36,000 FROM THE SOVIET UNION AND EASTERN EUROPE. CLARK SAID THESE FIGURES ARE ESTIMATES FOR PLANNING PURPOSES AND THAT THE FINAL DETERMINATION ON THE NUMBER OF ADMISSIONS WILL BE MADE BY PRESIDENT CARTER AT A LATER DATE.

STATES

ALSO REQUESTED IS A SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION OF TEN MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE EMERGENCY REFUGEE AND MIGRATION ASSISTANCE FUND FOR THE BALANCE OF FISCAL YEAR 1979. THE FUND, ESTABLISHED IN 1976, SERVES TO RESPOND TO EMERGENCY REFUGEE SITUATIONS UNFORESEEN AT THE TIME BUDGET REQUESTS WERE DEVELOPED.

DISCUSSING THE OVER-ALL U.S. PROGRAM FOR MIGRATION AND REFUGEE AID, CLARK NOTED THAT THE "MOST SIGNIFICANT RESOURCE ALLOCATIONS" SUPPORT REFUGEES FROM THREE PRINCIPAL AREAS: AFRICA, INDOCHINA, AND THE SOVIET UNION AND EASTERN EUROPE.

HE SAID THE UNITED STATES PREFERS -- RATHER THAN

"TO OPERATING ITS OWN REFUGEE PROGRAMS OVERSEAS -- CONTRIBUTE GENEROUSLY TO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS (ICRC).'

THE RILATERAL U.S. PROGRAMS, HE SAID, VARY WIDELY IN SIZE AND COST. "IN AFRICA, FOR INSTANCE, A SERIES OF CONFLICTS HAS LED TO AN ENORMOUS INCREASE IN THE REFUGEE POPULATION...MOST OF THESE PEOPLE HOPE TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES EVENTUALLY, OR RESETTLE IN NEIGHBORING AFRICAN STATES. SINCE THERE HAS BEEN ALMOST NO DEMAND FOR RESETTLEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES, OUR POLICY HAS PRIMARILY BEEN TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF AFRICAN REFUGEES THROUGH SUPPORT FOR UNHCR AND ICRC PROGRAMS.

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HF NOTED THAT BEGINNING IN FISCAL YEAR 1980, THE U.S. GOAL IS TO REQUEST A U.S. CONTRIBUTION EQUAL TO ONE-THIRD OF THE COST OF MULTILATERAL AID IN AFRICA, "WHICH WE ESTIMATE TO BE 20 MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE UNHCR AND FIVE MILLION FOR THE ICRC.

IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, CLARK SAID, THERE HAVE BEEN "TREMENDOUS INCREASES" IN REFUGEE FLOWS OVER THE PAST NINE MONTHS. IN RESPONSE, THE UNITED STATES PLANS "TO CONTINUE OUR POLICY OF OFFERING BOTH CARE AND MAINTENANCE AND RESETTLEMENT OPPORTUNITIES TO INDOCHINESE REFUGEES."

CLARK SAID THE ADMINISTRATION IS SEEKING FUNDING TO CONTINUE THE PRACTICE OF PROVIDING 50 PERCENT OF THE UNHCR S ESTIMATED REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CARE AND MAINTENANCE OF REFUGEES IN CAMPS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA. "WE ARE AL SO REQUESTING FUNDING TO INCREASE OUR COMMITMENT TO RESETTLE

" HE SAID. INDOCHINESE REFUGEES IN THIS COUNTRY,

THE THIRD MAJOR ELEMENT OF THE U.S. REFUGEE PROGRAM, CLARK SAID, ASSISTS "PEOPLE FLEEING RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL PERSECUTION IN EASTERN EUROPE AND THE SOVIET UNION."