TNAG-1277-FCO40-1627-Resettlement-of-Vietnamese-refugees-from-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 25

Sweden

Ms. Bohm informed the meeting that a team from the Swedish Parliament and the Swedish Immigration Board would be visiting refugee centres in South East Asia including Hong Kong at the end of this week.

commitments can be made.

no

U.S.A.

So far,

Mr. Kornbluth stated that so far departures to the U.S.A. either directly or via RPC total 1,652 persons. Of the 1,640 approved for refugee status in 1983, 270 were unaccompanied minors, a group which the U.S.A. have tried hard to resettle. The U.S.A. is now looking at all unaccompanied minors who arrived on or before 30 April 1983 as well as those who arrived after this date and who are eligible; those without relatives in the U.S.A. cannot be considered. Mr. Kornbluth appealed for other resettle- ment countries to consider this group, in addition to those refugees who have been in Hong Kong for a long time. Since August new guidelines for determining refugee status have now been established and the U.S.A. are currently reviewing all cases. A new ceiling of 50,000 has been given to South East Asia for the fiscal year of 1984.

Mr. Kornbluth also proposed that the United Kingdom should be represented in resettlement meetings. Mrs. Lasan noted this point for implementation.

Mr. Kornbluth also proposed that a press release be made on resettlement meetings.

Mr. Wheen sought clarification on the purpose of such publicity as he recalled that one of the important features of these resettlement meetings is the air of informality by which each one freely shares and comments on each other's views. Mr. Kornbluth and Mr. Leeks explained that such publicity will inform the community on what is being done to resettle refugees in Hong Kong. Mr. Marcussen and Mr. Conze, while acknowledging the importance of disseminating information, cautioned on the implications such publicity would have on individual countries; an arbitrary press judgement on "good and bad guys" as far as resettlement is concerned and the possibility that the press will irrelevantly pursue each consulate for further comments. On Mr. Cummings query on how the Charge de Mission feels about the proposal, Mrs. Lasan recalled that up until now UNHCR has not given publicity to general resettlement efforts in Hong Kong and resettlement meetings in particular, on the insistence of some governments for reasons leading to unintended consequences. Mr. Cummings expressed awareness on the possible "pull factor" effect of publicity while main- taining the need to inform the Hong Kong public. Mr. Meijer emphasised that it would be counter-productive for UNHCR to release any information concerning policies of resettlement countries as this is a political issue

The and UNHCR is a non-political humanitarian intergovernmental body. general concensus was of a need to inform the Hong Kong public but tempered with the caution that the media may sensationalise refugee issues beyond proportion. Mrs. Lasan in summarising, said that UNHCR will continue its efforts to keep the public informed on current refugee situations in as balanced a manner as possible, and that she and her staff would be pre- pared to discuss specific details bilaterally with interested countries as well as with the Hong Kong government. Mr. Leeks mentioned that the Government Information Services puts out regular press releases on resettlement figures.

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