TNAG-1800-FCO40-2560-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-principle-of-first-asylum-1988 — Page 146

31/05/88

11:43

UK MISSION GENEVA

NO. 342

P004/011

1.

Furthermore, some 134,000 Vietnamese and some 7,000 Sino-Khmer in Viet Nam

We shall have benefited from the Orderly Departure Programme since 1979. revert to the subject of the ODP in this Note in connection with the longer term perspectives of the resolution of the problem.

III. Profile of the caseload

8. Over the years the UNHCR Offices in the region have systematically collected comprehensive data on the family and socio-economic background of The collection of auch data, which is the arriving Vietnamese boat people.

primarily intended for promotion of resettlement opportunities for the individuals concerned, has enabled UNHCR to keep track of the trends in arrivals and maintain a clear picture of the make-up and the characteristics

of the caseload.

9. A comparative study of the surveys conducted by UNHCR Field Offices in South East Asia suggest that apart from those arriving in Hong Kong, mainly from northern Viet Nam 27, the make-up and characteristics of those arriving in the ASEAN region is roughly the same. Furthermore, the surveys confirm that these characteristics have not undergone significant changes over the past several years. In order, therefore, to illustrate the profile of the arriving boat people in the ASEAN region, it would suffice to display data collected in one country during a given period of time and make a well founded assumption that they are valid for the whole region.

10. For this purpose, data related to the Vietnamese having arrived in

Their total number is Thailand during 1987 could be taken as a reference. 11253. The following is a brief description of the major characteristics of

this group:

*/ The more recent surveys on Hong Kong arrivals suggest that the pattern is changing and a high propotion of the recently arrived Vietnamese originate from the central and southern provinces.