TNAG-0975-FCO40-1194-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-in-other--1980 — Page 41

UNITED KINGDOM MISSION

37-39 RUE DE VERMONT

1211 GENEVA 20

TELEPHONE 34 38 00

33 23 85

OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR)

SUMMARY

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Although a temporary organisation, UNHCR will be 30 years old on 1 January 1981. Twenty years after World Refugee Year the number of refugees and displaced persons has increased from 1.2m to 16m. That the seven Heads of State and Governments meeting in Venice in June found it necessary to issue a Declaration on refugees is an indication that the international community is being forced to grapple with the problem at the highest level (paragraph 1

The definition of a refugee under the 1951 Convention. UNHCR was originally founded to provide legal protection for refugees, but today its assistance functions predominate. Including special appeals, total expenditure in 1980 is likely to be about $500 million (paragraphs 2-4).

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UNHCR's three basic solutions are voluntary repatriation, settlement in first asylum countries or resettlement elsewhere. Its mandate has been broadened over the years by the 1967 Protocol' and by General Assembly resolutions. Originally UNHCR dealt only with European refugees but its responsibilities are now worldwide and include a wide variety of humanitarian tasks entrusted to it by the Secretary-General. The 1970s opened with the movement of 10 million Bengalis to India, and closed with the mass exoduses from Vietnam, Cambodia, Afghanistan and Ethiopia. At our request UNHCR organised the repatriation of refugees to Zimbabwe, a delicate operation which they managed well. The exodus from Indo- China has been UNHCR's toughest crisis and led to the International Conference in Geneva last year called for by the Prime Minister. Since 1975 the West has resettled 370,000 Indo-Chinese refugees (paragraphs 5-15).

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The UK is traditionally a firm supporter of UNHCR.

Our own refugee procedures and the discharge of our obligations under the Convention are of concern to UNHCR. We have always been a major donor, but with our own economies, the enormous increase in UNHCR's budget, and greater burden-sharing by the international community

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CONFIDENTIAL