TNAG-0895-FCO40-1105-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 216

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DRAFT STATEMENT ON GENEVA MEETING ON REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS

IN SOUTH EAST ASIA, TO BE MADE BY MR PETER BLAKER, THE HON THE

MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS IN THE HOUSE

OF COMMONS ON TUESDAY 24 JULY

With your permission, Mr Speaker, I shall make a statement on

the Geneva meeting on refugees.

1. In response to the proposal that my rt hon Friend the

Prime Minister made to him on 31 May, and with the support of many

other Governments, the UN Secretary-General called an international

meeting in Geneva on 20/21 July to discuss the problem of refugees

and displaces persons in South-East Asia. Sixty-five countries

were represented. My rt hon and noble Friend the Foreign and

Commonwealth Secretary and I attended the meeting together with the

Governor of Hong Kong. Each Government stated its views. The

UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Dr Waldheim summed up.

noble Friend

2. As my rt hon and/said in his speech, and Dr Waldheim confirmed,

this meeting was unprecedented. It was also important and could

have even more important results. In concentrating international

attention on the plight of the refugees and on the urgent need to

help them and the countries in which they have sought refuge, the

conference was humanitarian. But it was widely agreed that the

problem could not be solved unless attention was also given to its

root causes and that these have been the inhumane policies of Vietnam.

13.