TNAG-1066-FCO40-1316-Human-rights-in-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 207

E/CN.4/1503

Annex II page 24

70.

Subsequently, UNHCR also initiated a programme of assist- ance inside Kampuchea for the returnees.

Concentrated essen- tially in the border provinces of Kampuchea from where the majority of Kampucheans had fled to the border camps and inside Thailand, the programme had three objectives: to help the returning Kampucheans to speedily integrate and normalize life in their villages of origin; to promote a climate conducive to the return of others and to serve as a disincentive for those who might be tempted to leave essentially to benefit from intern- ational aid. By the end of 1981 the programme had benefited over 370 000 Kampuchean returnees. While continuing the efforts to promote voluntary repatriation, despite the complexities of the overall situation, UNHCR also intensified efforts to facili- tate expeditious resettlement in third countries of

of those Kampucheans who could qualify for it and were unable or unwilling to return home. Speedy and effective action by international agencies concerned susbtantially reduced the gravity of the situation. What could have been a major problem of well over half a million Kampucheans in Thailand and along the border had been reduced, within a short period

short period of time,

of time, to relatively manageable proportions as compared to the Lao refugees for whom similar action could not be initiated in time and whose numbers remained the high side (the number of new arrivals consist- ently cancelling out those for whom resettlement was found in a third country). Thus, although the international community made. considerable efforts to offer resettlement opportunities, the burden on the first country of asylum, Thailand, remained practi- cally as great for more than five years.

Lao People's Democratic Republic

71. The tensions and military realities of May 1975 in Laos, coming in the wake of the April events in Phnom Penh and Saigon, led to the flight of tens of thousands of people across the Mekong River. The majority at that time were Hmong (Meo) hillpeople leaving with

with their leader, General Vang Pao. Several thousand were Thai Dam, a group which had migrated from North Viet Nam in 1954. Others were some of the educated élite, members of the Lao bourgeoisie, former employees of the foreign mission and entrepreneurial elements mostly Viet- namese and ethnic Chinese.

72.

Since then, thousands of lowland Lao and hillpeople have attempted, month after month, to cross into Thailand, where new arrivals have been accommodated in 10 Ministry of the Interior camps run with the assistance of UNHCR and numerous voluntary bodies. Well over a quarter of a million people have left Laos out of a population of 3.3 million.

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