TNAG-0897-FCO40-1107-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 236

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PROPOSED STRUCTURE FOR CO-ORDINATING THE RECEPTION AND RESETTLEMENT OF VIENESE REFUGEES

General

1.

It is proposed that this structure should take the form of a small Executive

Committee, serviced by a secretariat and advised periodically by a larger body

on which would sit representatives of agencies and bodies with a general interest

and involvement in the reception and resettlement of Vietnamese refugees who

need to be kept in touch with progress and developments. The proposed composition

and functions of the Executive Committee and secretariat and of the Advisory

Committee are set out below. In general terms, however, the objective of the

Executive Committee would be to co-ordinate the planning and implementation of the

arrangements for the reception and resettlement of the refugees from Vietnam

which this country has agreed to accept. The Executive Committee will need to

exercise certain specific functions (see paragraph 2 below). It would be

understood that the voluntary refugee organisations responsible for the operation

of the reception and resettlement arrangements would accept and implement the

decisions made by or under the authority of the Executive Committee in pursuance

of its agreed functions. However, questions relating to the financial assistance

afforded by Government to the voluntary refugee organisations would continue

to be dealt with direct between the Home Office and the voluntary body concerned.

Functions of proposed Executive Committee

2.

The title of the Committee would be the Executive Co-ordinating Committee

for the Reception and Resettlement of Refugees from Vietnam. The proposed

functions of the Committee are set out in Annex A.

Membership and procedure of Executive Co-ordinating Committee

3. The Committee would be composed of a Chairman and a maximum of two

representatives from each of the voluntary refugee organisations concerned viz

The British Council for Aid to Refugees; the Ockenden Venture; and the Save the

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