UNITED NATIONS
HIGH COMMISSIONER
FOR REFUGEES
Branch Office for the Philippines
Ref.: MNL/6581
Street Address:
NATIONS UNIES
HAUT COMMISSARIAT POUR LES RÉFUGIÉS
Délégation pour les Philippines
Suite 201, 2nd Floor
JEG Building
150 Legaspi St., Legaspi Village
Makati, Metro Manila
Postal Address:
P.O. Box 878 (MCPO) MAKATI, METRO MANILA PHILIPPINES
Cable Address: HICOMREF Manila Telex: PH 23248, 66908
Tol. Nos. 818 18 23 81851 21/22
*
6 June 1986
Official UNHCR Proposal to GOP/MFA Concerning Handling of Ex-China Cases Arriving in the Philippines (as authorized by UNHCR Headquarters Geneva)
A. Background Documents
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A.
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6.
Original UNHCR policy: MNL/7248 of 19 Sept 1985 UNHCR policy letter to MFA: MNL/7704 of 26 Nov 1985 MFA letter to UNHCR: MFA 1143515 of 27 Noy 1985 UNHCR reply to MFA: MNL/7720 of 2 Dec 1985
UNHCR: MFA of 28 Jan 1986 MNL/5217 of 3 Feb 1986
MFA policy letter to UNHCR reply to MFA:
B.
1..
Summary of the Problem
In 1979-80, almost 280,000 Vietnamese refugees fled into China where they were eventually offered permanent asylum and were permanently resettled. UNHCR has helped finance some of this resetttlement in the PRC through local integration programmes almost 200 different state farms.
2.
on
The national refugee resettlement policies of all resettlement countries state that, as these ex-China cases
have already found asylum and have already been resettled once, they cannot be further resettled to third countries: indeed they must return to China from which they may apply for emigration to. another country only through normal immigration procedures and quotas. Both UNHCR and these resettlement countries contend that these are not genuine first-asylum refugees.
3.
However, some of these 280,000 resettled refugees are unhappy living in China (current estimates range from 25,000-50,000) and have left their places of permanent resettlement, gone to the coast, found boats and headed for the Philippines via Hong Kong and Taiwan in the hopes of passing themselves off as genuine, first-asylum refugees arriving directly
from Vietnam.
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