TNAG-1525-FCO40-2089-Hong-Kong-Parliamentary-Sub-Committee-on-Race-Relations-and--1986 — Page 198

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NO

1.

The Chairman opened the meeting by welcoming the participants and introduced Mr. A.R. ISSAKA, until recently UNHCR Representative in Djibouti, as the new Chief of the Resettlement Section, and Mr. L. HANSSON, formerly Head of Sub-Office in Aru, Zaire, as the new Deputy Chief.

He also took the opportunity to thank Mr. K. FELDMANN for his service as Chief of the Resettlement Section for the past five years. Mr.Feldmann has taken up his temporary duties as Chief of the Europe Section.

Mr. Simmance briefly referred to the role of resettlement in the context of durable solutions. UNHCR has always attempted to promote the durable solutions of voluntary repatriation and local integration. However, to certain groups of refugees, resettlement is the only durable solution, and in situations where refugees for security reasons have to be moved, resettlement can be a lifesaving opportunity. There remains a great deal to do in the area of resettlement and Mr. Simmance welcomed this kind of meeting as a useful forum to exchange ideas, and said that other such discussions would continue to be held in the future.

2. Mr. Issaka gave his statement (see Annex 1, attached).

3. The Chairman called on Mr. FELDMANN to take the floor. Mr. Feldmann thanked all those present for their cooperation in the past and looked forward to further cooperation with them from the Europe Section.

Mr. Issaka referred to item 4 on the Agenda and invited each Mission to deliver their statement.

Most country representatives opened their statements by

congratulating Mr. Issaka on his new post and by thanking Mr. Feldmann for his collaboration. Many reiterated Mr. Simmance's opinion on the usefulness of such meetings and expressed the wish that they should continue and be developed in order to facilitate planning and coordination between resettlement countries and UNHCR.

SWEDEN

Sweden

13,000 asylum-seekers applied for asylum in 1985, the highest level in the postwar period. Within the Swedish refugee quota of 1,250 places p.a., 535 were accepted for resettlement but only 304 arrived during the first 6 months of the fiscal year which started 1 July 1985. Most of the applicants were Iranians and Sweden would be willing to consider additional applicants for resettlement in cooperation with UNHCR. considers UNHCR to be in the best position to identify those refugees most in need of resettlement. With regard to the Vietnamese longstaying refugees in Hong Kong, Sweden declared at the last Executive Committee meeting its intention to accept a small number and is awaiting submissions from UNHCR. Sweden also urges UNHCR to be more operational in the resettlement field. Furthermore, the Swedish Immigration Board would appreciate that requests for information on refugees be more speedily dealt with.