TNAG-1527-FCO40-2091-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-general-1986 — Page 256

MR VEREKER

/MR RAISON

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RECEIVED IN REGISTRY

Am

29 JAN1986

DESK OFFICER ..INDEX.

PA

REGISTRY Action Taken

X2110

From: P S McLean

Dated: 3 January 1986

UNHCR: ORDERLY DEPARTURE PROGRAMME

Sir Crispin Tickell Mr Browning

Mr Machin

Mr Faint

Mr Leader

Mr Nash, SEAD FCO- Mr Wildash, UND FCO Mrs J Wyeth

Problem

20/1

How to respond to a request from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for help in meeting the budget

requirements for the 1986 Orderly Departure Programme.

Recommendation

2

I recommend a contribution of £50,000.

Background and Argument

3

Since 1979 UNHCR has administered an Orderly Departure Programme (ODP) to help Vietnamese nationals to emigrate to over 37 countries of new residence. Some 30,000 persons left Vietnam under the programme in 1984. Almost 22,000 persons had left Vietnam under the programme by October 1985. In 1984/85 ODA contributed a total of £125,000 to the programme.

4

UNHCR has reported that its budget requirements for the 1986 Programme amount to US$2,500,000 (£1,689,189) and that it may be necessary to slow down the rate of departures if funds are not pledged soon.

―

5 The ODP is different from other refugee activities administered by UNHCR. Although the reasons for the programme's existence are regrettable - namely that Vietnamese, for political and economic reasons, still feel driven to leave the country we support it because it provides an alternative to boat departures. The number of persons leaving Vietnam under ODP now exceeds the number leaving by boat. This is a situation we would wish

to encourage.

While we do not think that resettlement in Western countries is necessarily the ideal solution we have a continuing international commitment to this programme and the ODP is the channel we have most often used to demonstrate

this commitment.