TNAG-1275-FCO40-1625-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 42

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Official

Despite the suspension of martial law in Poland last December, political settlement still seems remote. restrictions have however reduced the number of Poles able

to travel outside the country. Generous resettlement programs

and the liberal asylum policies adopted by Western European Governments, especially Austria, have greatly reduced the number of East Europeans seeking resettlement.

We accept, however, that Australia should remain involved at a significant level.

Latin (including Central) America

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In view of the unacceptable human rights situation in a number of Latin American countries (including Central America) the Government believes that refugees in this region should receive adequate representations in Australia's programs.

The Government has specified 750 places for this sub-program as part of its objective of achieving a greater diversification

of refugee sources. This is an expansion of an existing initiative since a formal designated program for Latin Americans

was established in 1981.

We recognise that the optimal durable solution for the great majority is probably not resettlement, but will be looking to increase and improve our response capability and intake for

those individuals requiring resettlement outside the region.

Others (for any applicant world-wide with special emphasis on

the Middle East)

•

The intention here is to provide an increased response capacity

for individual refugees, outside designated programs, who

need and claim resettlement. It is expected that a significant proportion of these places will be allocated to refugees from

the Middle Eastern countries.

Special Humanitarian Program (SHP)

In addition to refugee entry, there have in the past been

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