TNAG-1523-FCO40-2087-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-Sub-Committee-on-Race-Relations-and--1986 — Page 111

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Longstaying refugees in other Southeast Asian countries (estimated need: 1,200 places)

Significant numbers of longstaying Vietnamese refugees exist in Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. In both Malaysia and the Philippines special programmes are underway to improve the integration potential of longstayers through special language courses and vocational training. These programmes are particularly important for single young men without links, for whom resettlement opportunities are rare. We would ask governments to recognise these efforts by accepting within their resettlement quotas a regular proportion of longstaying refugees with no links in any resettlement country.

Unaccompanied Minors (including Lao and Kampuchean) (estimated need: 2,500 places)

Unaccompanied minors have generally been resettled at a faster rate than adult refugees. This priority should continue in the year ahead. UNHCR appeals to European countries in particular to consider enlarging their admission of unaccompanied minors without links.

Vietnamese refugees arriving in Thailand by land

The Vietnamese "land refugees" are at present held in a border encampment in the midst of a Khmer refugee population. As a result ethnic frictions are causing violent incidents, including assaults and rape of Vietnamese women. The Thai authorities have recently approved separation of the Vietnamese from the Khmer at "Site 2". A transfer to the camp in Sikhiu, where Vietnamese boat refugees are housed at present, has not been allowed. Therefore the land Vietnamese will not be moved further inside Thailand but will eventually be housed at another border location called "Site 2 south". Of some four thousand refugees registered by ICRC, about two thirds have links of some kind in third countries. During 1984 and in early 1985 about 1600 refugees were resettled, the majority to the United States. During the last 12 months more than one thousand new arrivals were registered in the camp and 122 babies were born there.

UNHCR appeals to all Governments to give particular consideration to these refugees for resettlement, especially to families and single parents with young children for whom living conditions in the border encampments are most precarious.