TELEX 61730
BY FAX B844
-
BRITISH EMBASSY
HONG KONG GOVERNMENT OFFICE
AVENUE LOUISE 228
1060 BRUSSELS
28 August 1986
Jear Ken.
Proposed Ecoles Sans Frontières course for VRS in Hong Kong
On seeing Delia Walker's letter (UN 243/1) of
21 August, I contacted UKMIS Geneva (Chris Dix in Miss Walker's absence) to draw attention to the possibility of resettlement in francophone countries other than France, which Hansson (para 5) had apparently ignored. (The recent offers of small but nonetheless significant numbers of resettlement places by Belgium and Luxembourg have been at least in part influenced by the possible availability of French language training for VRS selected for resettlement.)
I understand that Hansson had not in fact ignored this possibility, but maintained in effect that UNHCR could not justify funding French, or any other language, courses unless they were a sine qua non for resettlement in the relevant country or countries.
This seems to me to put the cart somewhat before the horse. Clearly the fact that certain refugees have learned some French will not be sufficient to persuade the authorities in a francophone country to accept them for resettlement if they do not otherwise fulfil their resettlement criteria. However once specific individuals have been selected for resettlement, basic language training prior to their arrival in the resettlement country would clearly be helpful and the
Secretary for Security
(Attn Mr K J Woodhouse) Government Secretariat
Security Branch
Central Government Offices
Lower Albert Road
HONG KONG
cc Mr Clinton Leeks, HK Dep't FCO
Mr Chris Dix, UKMIS Geneva
Mr Nigel Cox, British Embassy, Paris
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