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28.
The Deputy High Commissioner thanked participants for the foregoing information. He pledged UNHCR's full support in the carrying out of these and future programmes. Mr. Jacques Cuénod, Deputy Director of Assistance with responsibility for Asia, and Miss Brissimi, Director in charge of resettlement, would be leaving for South East Asia by the end of the week in connexion with the expanded programme for Indo-Chinese refugees and displaced persons."re
29. Mr. Lionel Rosenblatt. United States Embassy, Bangkok, made a plea for land cases in Thailand in view of the fact that the principle of first asylum had been eroded. One result of the mounting caseload in Thailand was that refugees from Laos were finding it increasingly difficult to be admitted into Thailand. There could be more serious repercussions if the refugees were not resettled. The Thai Government were, he said, sensitive to the fact that the emphasis of the 20/21 July Meeting had been on boat cases. He emphasized that the land cases resettled so far in the USA had made excellent progress in integrating into their new environment.
30. Mr. Cuénod, taking over the Chair, observed that, if extra flexibility were given to UNHCR to distribute resettlement offers more equitably, the needs could be covered more satisfactorily. In this respect UNHCR hoped that Govern- ments would consult with the Office before deciding how to distribute their quotas between groups and between countries of first asylum, since the situation was fluid and emergency needs and the needs of those waiting a long time in camps had to be reconciled.
SPEED
MEASURES TO INCREASE SPEED OF DEPARTURES
31. At the request of a delegatè, Mr. Cuénod gave a definition of "transit centre", "refugee processing centre" and "holding centre", as follows:
(a)
Transit centre: a place to which a refugee is moved when almost all the formalities have been completed and he is ready to embark on the journey to the resettlement country. He will normally spend only a few days there for medical examination, etc., prior to air travel, unless he or a member of his family have to remain for a longer period on "medical hold" (since refugees found to have infectious diseases cannot travel until their condition is stabilized).
(b) Refugee processing centre: a centre, such as those being established on Galang Island, Indonesia, and Tara Island, Philippines, where a refugee, having received an individual resettlement guarantee but having a low priority with regard to movement to the resettlement country, could proceed to await his date of departure.
(c)
Holding centre: the idea had been voiced, but not yet realized, whereby a Government providing a site for a "holding centre" would receive blanket guarantees (as distinct from the individual guarantees mentioned in (a) above) from resettlement countries that that caseload would be resettled within a reasonable time span.
32.
A
Representatives of UNHCR in Bangkok,.Kuala Lumpur and Manila gave information on transit capacity in these capitals. In Bangkok there was capacity for 2,000 persons at any one time, used recently for up to 2,800 persons at a time. By the end of September 1979, there would be properly- constructed transit facilities for 3,000 persons at a time, with the
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