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CONFIDENTIAL
EMBAJADA BRITANICA
Gonzalez Suarez III Casilla 314 Quito Ecuador
Telephone 230-070 Telex 38 Cables Prodrome Quito
Mrs J Wyeth
Disaster & Refugee Unit
ODA
Your reference
Our referenca
612 Weile.
Date
16 September 1986
Dear Mrs Wyeth,
Please refer to Charles de Chassiron's circular letter of 31 July about UNHCR programmes in South America.
I called on the Comité Ecuménico Pro-Refugiados (CEPR) and spoke to Sra de Burgos who coordinates the programme. She provided the details now attached at Annex A.
As you will see, practically all refugees are here because of political reasons including fear of persecution in their countries of origin. However, in the case of the Iranians, who are all seemingly from the Bahá'í Sect, the main reason is religious persecution.
Sra de Burgos explained that the main problem refugees here were the Colombians, who were not fully recognised by the Ecuadorean Government as refugees and simply allowed transit status. This reluctance of the Ecuadorean Government to allow Colombians full refugee status stems from the ever increasing activities of terrorist groups in Colombia. Colombian refugees must all move on to other countries as soon as possible, but Sra de Burgos was having ever increasing difficulties in placing Colombian refugees in any other country, including Europe, since the Supreme Court massacre last year in Bogotá.
Sra de Burgos said that her office was in close contact with most of the refugee families here and that the office sees all families at least once a year for the renewal of visas and other documentation. Refugees are free to take up employ- ment and are not restricted in their movement. The Chilean refugees who form 69% of the total have their own association, though Sra de Burgos stated that it is not a political group as such merely a group formed for economic purposes. The Iranians are a very tight knit community and probably require least help of all from UNHCR.
CONFIDENTIAL
/Sra
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