TNAG-1424-FCO40-1907-Vietnamese-refugees-in-Hong-Kong-general-1985 — Page 81

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RECORD OF A MEETING BETWEEN MR LUCE AND MR RICHARD SMYSER, DEPUTY UNHCR, PALAIS DE NATIONS, GENEVA, 11 MARCH 1985

Present: Mr R N Luce MP

Mr R Smyser

Dame Anne Warburton Mr R P Osborne

Mr B Adams

1.

Mr Luce began by asking about the situation on the Thai/

Cambodia border. Mr Smyser said that the Thais and UN

Agencies were in a state of flux. They had been working well

with 10 to 15,000 people when suddenly, in the face of the

latest Vietnamese offensive, 250,000 Khmer had moved in.

The Thais had made it quite clear that they were not prepared

to play the same role as they had done on previous occasions.

They were adopting a policy of "wait and see" but their

general view was that they could not cope with this new group

too.

2. Mr Luce asked what proportion of the new arrivals were

associated with the coalition, to which Mr Smyser replied

"the vast majority". He was unable to give a detailed

breakdown but most had certainly come from camps connected

with the coalition. UNBRO were better placed to provide

details. Mr. Smyser added that there had been a considerable

increase in the net refugee out-flow from Laos in 1984. One

possible explanation was that the programme of socialism had

been sped up. Thailand had been making her own decisions on

whether these people qualified as refugees.

In the meantime

some limited resettlement had taken place but this did not

match the rate of arrival. Speaking in strict confidence,

Mr Smyser explained that the refugee problem was now causing

major political difficulties for Thailand.

CONFIDENTIAL

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