TNAG-1184-FCO40-1486-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-into-the--1982 — Page 138

FOLLOWING PRESS RLEASE REF/1514 ISSUED IN GENEV A TODAY, MONDAY 11 OCTOBER.

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PARpt done Aft5/10 {14 OCT 190

THE THIRTY-THIRD SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF TH HIGH COMMISSIONER'S PROGRAMME OPENED TODAY IN GENEVA'S PALAIS DES NATIONS. COMPRISING 41 MEMBERS, THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE WILL REVIEW UNHCR'S ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELDS OF INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION AND MATERIAL ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES. IT WILL CONSIDER REPORTS ON PROGRESS ACHIEVED IN 1982 AND ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR 1983. EXPENDITURES FOR GENERAL AND SPECIAL PROGRAMMES IN 1982, REVISED SINCE THE LAST SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AS A RESULT OF INTERVENING DEVELOPMENTS TOTAL US DOLLARS 430 MILLION. FOR 1983, EXPENDITURES OF US DOLLARS 425 MILLION ARE PROJECTED.

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ELECTED MR 1.M. KHARMA, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF LEBANON TO THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS IN GENEVA, AS CHAIRMAN OF THE THIRTY-THIRD SESSION, MR H.V. EWERLOF, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF SWEDEN AS VICE-CHAIRMAN AND MR I LEJRI, COUNSELLOR OF THE PERMANENT MISSION OF TUNISIA AS RAPPORTEUR.

IN A BREAK WITH TRADITION, MR POUL HARTLING, HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES, DID NOT MAKE OF HIS OPENING STATEMENT A TOUR DE HORIZON' OF THE SITUATION OF REFUGEES AROUND THE WORLD. SUCH INFORMATION, HE POINTED OUT, COULD BE EXTRACTED FROM THE DOCUMENTS PUT AT THE DISPOSAL OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SESSION AND THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. INSTEAD, THE HIGH COMMISSIONER CHOSE TO SHARE WITH COMMITTEE MEMBERS HIS THOUGHTS AND CONCERNS ON SOME OF THE ISSUES FACING HIS OFFICE. THE REFUGEE SITUATION IN THE WORLD TODAY IS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IT WAS 20 OR THIRTY YEARS AGO. IT IS DIFFERENT GEOGAPHICALLY IN AS MUCH AS REFUGEES AFTER WORLD WAR 11 WERE MAINLY OF EUROPEAN ORIGIN WHILE TODAY, EMPHASIZED THE HIGH COMMISSIONER, THEY ARE SPREAD ALL OVER ALL CONTINENTS. IT IS DIFFERENT IN THE APPROACH REQUIRED BY EACH CASELOAD - LARGE GROUPS TODAY, INDIVIDUALS OR SMALL GROUPS SOME YEARS AGO. IT IS DIFFERENT ALSO IN THAT EUROPEAN COUNTRIES OF ASYLUM WERE USUALLY ABLE TO COPE WITH ONLY SMALL-SCALE ASSISTANCE FROM TE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. TODAY, THE MAJORITY OF REFUGEES ARE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, OFTEN THE LEAST DEVELOPED AMONG THEM. THE RECEIVING COUNTRIES CANNOT CARRY THE INHERENT BURDEN ALONE. HENCE A SET OF COMPLEX ISSUES.

WHEN YOU LOOK INTO THE EVOLUTION OF REFUGEE WORK, THE

HIGH COMMISSIONER SUGGESTED, YOU OFTEN FIND YOURSELF CAUGHT IN A SET OF BORDERLINE SITUATIONS. WHERE IS THE DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN A REFUGEE AND A NON-REFUGEE? WHAT IS THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN

THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS POSED BY A REFUGEE SITUATION, AND THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF THE RECEIVING COUNTRY AS A WHOLE? WHERE IS THE FRONTIER BETWEEN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES, AND DEVELOPMENT? BETWEEN POLITICAL AND HUMANITARIAN WORK?

PERHAPS THE MOST COMMON QUESTION IS: WHO IS A PERSON OF CONCERN TO UNHCR? ANSWERS ARE GIVEN IN THE UNHCR STATUTE, THE 1951 CONVENTION AND OTHER LEGAL INSTRUMENTS AS WELL AS IN RESOLUTIONS IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. IN ADDITION TO REFUGEES WITHIN THE TERMS OF THE STATUTE, UNHCR CONCERNS ITSELF WITH UPROOTED PERSONS IN REFUGEE-LIKE SITUATIONS ANOTHER QUESTION, SAID MR HARTLING, CONCERNS THE FRONTIER BETWEEN HUMANITARIAN WORK FOR REFUGEES AND DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE TO A COUNTRY. IT IS ABSOLUTELY CLEAR THAT UNHCR IS NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS. JUST AS THE HIGH COMMISSIONER IS NOT THE WORLD'S MINISTER FOR SOCIAL AFFAIRS, FOR EDUCATION, FOR HEALTH, HE IS NOT THE MINISTER FOR DEVELOPMENT. BUT FACED WITH A REFUGEE EMERGENCY IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY, HE MUST REACT.