TNAG-1542-FCO40-2106-United-Nations-High-Commissioner-for-Refugees-(UNHCR)-Execut-1986 — Page 257

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THIRTY-SEVENTH SESSION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE PROGRAMME OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES

Statement by the Hong Kong representative, ken woodhouse

Assistance: Hong Kong

I invited

Mr Chairman, last year I asked those present at the 36th Executive Committee not to forget the Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong who were patiently awaiting resettlement. the resettlement countries to respond to the decision by the British Government to relax its family reunion criteria and to accept for resettlement refugees who hitherto had been outside its normal criteria for resettlement.

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To demonstrate the Hong Kong Government's willingness to help I also explained that 250 ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam would be accepted for local settlement one of the UNHCR's durable solutions. In order to facilitate the implementation of the RASRO scheme for refugees rescued at sea, the Hong Kong Government agreed to a request from the UNHCR to provide a RASRO Transit Centre in Hong Kong.

Mr Chairman, I am pleased to say that many countries responded positively to these British and Hong Kong initiatives. In addition to increased offtakes by the countries who have

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steadfastly stood by Hong Kong for many years Australia, Canada and the United States Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden. have selected refugees from Hong Kong for resettlement and other countries are still considering an offtake from Hong Kong. We are very grateful. We appreciate, in particular, the assistance of those countries which took long stayers. As a result the number of refugees in Hong Kong has slightly decreased. increased arrivals this year have begun to erode that success and the number of refugees in Hong Kong is beginning to rise once agair

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