TNAG-1021-FCO40-1271-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-international-organisations-1981 — Page 15

(b)

a long time (and have still not succeeded completely) in getting their files in sufficient order to prevent problems arising of inadequate information being available to Governments and voluntary agencies arranging resettlement etc. There also appeared a general tendency to have senior staff who were more adept at the political side of the problem than coping with the practical issues.

Prevention of crises

As you

One element of the Vietnamese refugee. problem here was the arrival of refugees previously settled in China who either found conditions in China disappointing and hoped to go to a third country or who hoped by coming to Hong Kong to improve their chances of joining other family members already settled overseas. know, we had a long and frustrating series of exchanges with UNHCR before solving the problem at the level of agreed

view a principles. From our point of major failing was that UNHCR put virtually no effort at an early stage into setting up family reunification direct from China in a way which could have helped prevent this aspect of the problem arising. that they are working on family reunifi- cation I am not certain that they are aware of the Pandora's Box which they could be opening. Sacha Casella of UNHCR told me recently that most of the applications for family reunification made by refugees resettled in China were genuine. From our own experience of family reunification from Vietnam, I would judge there is a strong likeli- hood that once the scheme gets underway and is publicised both officially and through the grapevine there could be a flood of applications, many of them giving false information.

I

Now

am certain that UNHCR are in no shape to cope with this problem should it arise; nor would embassies in Peking of resettlement countries have the staff to cope.

(c)

Disasters and Migration: attitudes

Knowledge of local

In some parts of the world - and ours is a prime example there are considerable and long-standing traditions of people

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/improving

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