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to their countries of origin.
own;
Local resettlement in countries of first asylum or in
other countries in the region. This has largely been rejected by the countries concerned, which anticipate
difficulties in absorbing refugees whose ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds differ from their
some have expressed reduced economic prosperity
and domestic overcrowding problems. Another constraint
has been the understanding, arising from the 1979
Geneva conference, that first asylum countries should
not be left with a residual case load of refugees.
There have been exceptions in that Hong Kong and
Thailand have accepted for permanent resettlement
considerable numbers of Vietnamese and Laotians,
despite the risk of encouraging further influxes.
Resettlement in third countries. The United States is
the first preference for the majority of refugees and
628,000 have been resettled there. Other countries
have provided places as follows since 1975:
Canada
105,000
France
103,000
Australia
102,500
FRG
23,000
Britain
19,500
Japan
4,600
The ultimate solution to the refugee problem would be to eliminate its causes. A reasonable measure of political stability in Indochina could provide the basis for sustained economic development and the best hope of persuading the people of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to remain in their own countries. Vietnam's obduracy in her military intervention in Cambodia is a major obstacle to defusing regional tensions.
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