TNAG-0894-FCO40-1104-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 74

CONFIDENTIAL

4.

veto does not occur. They have varied in length from two days

(establishment of UNIFIL) to two months (fifth emergency special

session on the Middle East).

10. The members of the General Assembly have usually called for

special sessions in a previous General Assembly session. But it is

open to the Secretary-General to draw the attention of Permanent

Missions to

to a proposal for a special session and to enquire whether

their governments concur. This was done in the case of the fifth

emergency special session.

11. The next Regular Session of the United Nations General Assembly

opens on 18 September. The week of 10 to 14 September is occupied by several important committee meetings and the preceding two weeks

by non-aligned preparatory and summit meetings in Havana. There will

also be meetings in New York throughout the latter part of July, the

whole of August and the first week of September. But conference

space in New York would doubtless be made available during this period

were a majority of the General Assembly to support a special session on Indo-China refugees.

General Assembly

12. The General Assembly meets in Regular Annual Session from the

third week of September to the third week of December. Indo-China refugees could be brought up under a number of existing items on the

provisional agenda, or the UK could seek the inscription of a new item. This would again be controversial and would need to be agreed by a majority of members of the General Assembly present and voting. As the Third World enjoys an overwhelming majority of votes in the Assembly, the attitude of the non-aligned is again very important.

13. General Assembly resolutions do not have mandatory force. I f there has been an unsuccessful approach to the security Council, it

would be better from the UK point of view that Assembly discussion should be directed principally towards aspects of the problem other than those relating to maintenance of international peace and security Not only do we wish in general to discourage any undercutting of the position of the Security Council (where our veto gives us control), but we particularly do not wish at present, with Southern African issues in mind, to encourage the Assembly to think that it could and

should take action which the Council has been unable to undertake

/because