ANNEX I
CONSULTATIVE MEETING WITH INTERESTED GOVERNMENTS ON REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA
(Geneva, 11 12 December 1978)
SUMMING-UP BY UNHCR
1.
The consultations have underlined that the problem of refugees and displaced persons must be treated in a strictly humanitarian and
The Office must non-political way, in keeping with the nature of UNHCR. advocate and implement policies that reflect this fundamental position.
These policies must receive governmental understanding and greatly increased support.
2.
3.
UNHCR must be enabled to help refugees and displaced persons wherever
The inter- they are, in all parts of the region, not merely selectively. relationships in the region, as also their international dimensions, were fully elaborated.
4.
The consultations recognized that no comprehensive solutions can be attained unless such is the will and determination of governments within and beyond the region. UNHCR cannot substitute for this. Governments must, therefore, take the appropriate decisions, for only through their actions can existing problems be solved and new problems avoided.
In resolving these problems, various urgent measures are closely related, or inter-dependent.
5.
(i)
The consultations noted that there can be no humane or durable solutions unless governments grant at least temporary asylum in
The accordance with internationally accepted humanitarian principles.
in consultations also noted, as a corollary, that existing facilities countries of first asylum in South-East Asia were already over-loaded and that for such countries temporary asylum depended on commitments for resettlement in third countries and the avoidance of residual problems in
the area.
(ii)
The meeting considered a proposal whereby special centres would be established where refugees and displaced persons would be processed for resettlement in an orderly way, within a specific time scale, and against guarantees that there would be no residual problem.
It was felt
that this proposal should be further elaborated and studied by governments.
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Private notes are available after approval.