TNAG-0899-FCO40-1109-Refugees-from-Vietnam-in-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-boat-people-1979 — Page 251

INTRODUCTION

1.

Following the convening of a first technical meeting on resettlement on 23 July 1979 and within the framework of the Thirtieth Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme, a second technical meeting on resettlement was held at the Palais des Nations on Monday, 15 October 1979. Attached as Annex I is a list of participants.

2. Mr. D. de Haan (Deputy High Commissioner, UNHCR), welcoming the opportunity to discuss the Indo-China resettlement operation, said that the Office of the High Commissioner was extremely grateful to governments for the effective action they had been taking over recent months.

It was a time for assessment of the operation, for exchanging information and for tackling any difficulties which might exist in the resettling of refugees from the Indo-Chinese peninsula. He pointed out that the number of resettlement opportunities had increased from 260,000 over a one-year span to over 270,000 since the July meeting. However, the solution of the refugee problem in South East Asia required continuing commitments on the part of governments.

3.

The Deputy High Commissioner said that the target of 1,000 departures per day set in July was close to being reached. Progress had been made towards striking more of a balance between "land" and "boat" cases, and in allocating quotas between countries of first asylum. With regard to the refugee processing centres discussed at the previous meeting, progress had not been as rapid as it had been hoped. However, it was expected that an agreement would be signed with the Government of the Philippines within a week or so. In Indonesia, it was expected that work would soon begin on the creation of a refugee processing centre on the island of Galang. In both cases, it might be possible to begin moving refugees to the processing centres by the end of the year.

4. In mid-August, a meeting of experts from a limited number of countries had been convened to discuss rescue at sea. The idea of a pool of resettlement guarantees had been proposed to facilitate disembarkation of persons rescued by ships flying flags of convenience.

5.

On the programme of Orderly Departures from the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, the Deputy High Commissioner said that steady progress had been made in implementing the seven-point memorandum of understanding reached between the Government and UNH CK. The UNHCR had had a presence in Ho Chi Minh City for some time and an office would be opened there in the near future. It was hoped that the expansion of the programme, which had been one of the primary objectives of the July meeting in Geneva, would soon be carried out.

6. Speaking of particularly vulnerable groups in the caseload of Indo- Chinese needing durable solutions, the Deputy High Commissioner referred to the needs of the handicapped. While some countries were accepting handicapped refugees, this group required a little more sensitivity on the part of a larger number of countries, to prevent a situation in which a "hard-core" of cases difficult to resettle would be created. Unaccompanied minors were another group requiring special attention.

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