TNAG-1021-FCO40-1271-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-international-organisations-1981 — Page 14

BY BAG

40

布政司署

港下亞厘車道

GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT

LOWER ALBERT ROAD

HONG KONG

AXMW OUR REF. CR 1/4821/81

UNS 243/3.

3. YOUR REF.

I W Mackley Esq

UND FCO

& Regüter

1 April 1981 [fadio/4]

ク

JB.

C jee the khomany tritis NY

His horny, Dow teas mil of

ith Go!" or

-hwas grist for the

hill.

10

COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE

Please refer to your letter UNS 243/3 of 10 February to Christopher Long which was also copied to me.

2.

As it happens, I am now commenting while we have a local humanitarian emergency on our hands with the arrival of upwards of 3,000 people fleeing in boats from China as a result of unfounded rumours about an imminent earthquake. This is, of course, a purely local problem and not one involving international coordination through UN agencies.

3.

I had intended in any case to write with one two points which we noted in our dealings with UNHCR (and, to some extent, ICM) as the Vietnamese refugee crisis unfolded in 1978/79. This continuing problem, of course, only involved a relatively limited range of international agencies.

4.

or

I have not yet consulted others in the Hong Kong Government involved in the Vietnamese refugee problem who will be better placed to comment on certain aspects. However, the following points are ones which immediately. occur to me:

(a)

Reinforcing existing agencies

At the start of the Vietnamese refugee crisis UNHCR had farmed out their work here to the local ICM representative. He was hamstrung by having to refer for any significant policy decisions to a UNHCR official travelling throughout the region and already with far too much on his plate. After a local UNHCR office was set up there quickly emerged problems of staffing it with sufficient people with the right qualifications. UNHCR took

4

/a