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before tackling evening courses did not help.
(b) Unless UNHCR could offer the carrot of
resettlement to refugees who registered for a French language course, UNHCR - based on past experience - thought it unlikely they would get a sensible number of students, of the quality required for a language course.
(c) Language courses were not a high
priority for UNHCR, evidence of which was shown by the fact that language courses had had to be cut in response to the 1985 financial crisis; UNHCR's funds were still restricted and had to be allocated first to high priority
areas.
5. As mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) above, French language training in South East Asia cannot, in UNHCR's eyes, be seen in the same sense as English language training. English is seen as moreof an incentive, vis a vis resettlement prospects, than French. Mr Hansson confirmed that UNHCR would have to have an assurance that most of the refugees undergoing the French language training had a realistic chance of a resettlement place in France: they needed to be fair to the refugees themselves who would not wish to learn French if it subsequently turned out that English would have been of greater use in an eventual resettlement country.
6. I repeated our information (Paris telno 530) that the French Government had indicated to us that, although they could not offer any quantative engagement, ESF's initiative could favour the selection of further refugees. This could be about 250 extra French-speakers over two years if the ESF project were successful. I asked what contact UNHCR's representative in Paris had had.
7. Mr Cooper told me that UNHCR's office in Paris had told Geneva they had been in touch with the French Government, but had received no official or unofficial indication that ESF's initiative could favour the selection of further refugees. Mr Hansson agreed to ask their representative (probably Mr von Arnim once he has taken up his new post in September) to seek a more specific commitment from the French Government. He would also suggest that Mr von Arnim contacted Mr Cox
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