assistance to such persons when it was requested. In South-East Asia, a programme for the voluntary repatriation of Laotian refugees in Thailand, which began in September 1980, gained a certain momentum during 1982 with some 1,800 persons having availed themselves of UNHCR assistance to date. The Governments of Kampuchea and Laos reached agreement on the voluntary return of a group of refugees to their home province in Kampuchea, while, from Viet Nam, return movements of sizeable numbers of Kampucheans to their country of origin were reported. Negotiations for the voluntary return of Kampuchean refugees in Thailand continued.
47.
In pursuance of its task of promoting voluntary repatriation UNHCR may act as an intermediary between the country of asylum and the country of origin. It was in this capacity that the Office participated in a Tripartite Commission, which was convened during the reporting period following an initiative of the High Commissioner to discuss measures for promoting the voluntary repatriation of Ethiopian refugees in Djibouti.
48.
The Executive Committee at its thirty-first session, in examining the various questions connected with the voluntary return of refugees, identified certain measures that could be be followed by states to facilitate voluntary repatriation 8/. One measure so identified was the provision by countries of origin of formal guarantees for the safety and non-penalization of returning refugees. During the reporting period measures of this kind in the form of amnesties were adopted in Bolivia, Colombia and Mozambique while the period of validity of earlier amnesties was extended in Chad and Ethiopia.
F. Family reunification
495
The circumstances in which refugees leave their country of origin frequently give rise to their separation from close family members which inevitably causes hardship and suffering, and may often delay the refugee's integration in his or her new country of settlement. A major component of UNHCR activity in many parts of the world is the reunification of separated refugee families. This task frequently involves démarches with the respective authorities in order to obtain the departure of the remaining family members from the country of origin and their admission into the refugee's country of permanent settlement. Requests of this nature are generally received and acted upon by the States concerned with sympathy and understanding for the situation of the persons involved. In one region, however, the restrictive approach which was reported in the High Commissioner's previous report to the General Assembly continued to prevail.
8/
Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-fifth session, Supplement No 12A (A/35/12/Add.1), para 48 (3)
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