TNAG-1066-FCO40-1316-Human-rights-in-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 119

FCO40 Hong Kong Department Records 聯邦事務部香港部檔案 All

E/CN.4/1503 page 43

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93.

In discussing "push" and "pull" factors, we have alluded to

the economic disparities between countries even of the

of the same

region and continent, to discrepancies in the provision of aid

and even of humanitarian assistance from one area to another.

It seems increasingly important that standards of living should

not remain so low that people see no alternative but to move.

Economic distress ought to be capable of resolution if there no major political factors to prevent a solution being

arrived at.

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These considerations should be viewed against the fact

the South is now coping with many more refugees/migrants

than the North. Not only are the short-term effects often

serious for the receiving country in terms of sudden humani-

local markets of tarian need, impact on

of increased demand,

especially for food, job competition and so forth, but large

influxes can

divert attention, resources, energies and time away from development projects. They may set back years of effort aimed at changing conditions in some of the less developed countries, disrupt the fragile political base for many régimes and even alter the ethnic composition of the population.

95.

and do

No wonder that mass movements have become yet another

catalyst in the North-South polarization. The South feels that its refugees get less, certainly on a per capita basis,

than is the case in the North. One OAU observer at UNHCR's

Executive Committee once suggested that a whole village could be

settled in Africa for the cost of individual care and maintenance

a handicapped case in Europe or Latin America! This is also the subject of dissatisfaction between regions of the South:

Africa feels that it has been getting too little

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