TNAG-1800-FCO40-2560-Hong-Kong-Vietnamese-refugees-principle-of-first-asylum-1988 — Page 97

UNCLASSIFIED

Screening

A

to bear responsibility for failing to maintain its commitment to

resettlement and for failing to out enough pressure on the countries

of origin (ie Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos) which were the root cause of

the problem. Repatriation should only be voluntary.

should involve the UNHCR, should only take place in a safe location

(ie not on the beach) and be humane, fair and free of corruption.

Those arriving should be allowed to land without prescreening.

due process of law should be quaranteed, with an appeal procedure

under international supervision. Those conducting the screening

should have a geopolitical awareness of the country of origin.

Basic human rights and security should be available for all new

arrivals, who should also be informed of their rights. There should

be no inhumane detention for indefinite periods. Countries

intending to introduce screening should announce their new

procedures well in advance.

b)

Protection

The UNHCR should retain and enforce its mandate. North

Vietnamese arriving in Hong Kong should be protected from

discrimination (this reflected a perception that North Vietnamese

were received differently from South Vietnamese in both Hong Kong

and by the international community).

c)

Resettlement

There

Countries of resettlement should maintain their commitment.

The USA should maintain its leadershin. There should be a form of

humanitarian parole for longstavers in first asvlum camos.

should be a one-off effort, possibly through an international

conference which could be held in South East Asia, to clear the

backlog. (Several speakers, including the Thai Ambassador

to the UN, Nitva Pibulsonggram, had suggested that the

solutions agreed at the 1979 UN Conference were no longer

adecuate and that a new conference should be held, perhaps

in South East Asia). Countries of resettlement should make a

commitment to multi-annual cuotas. The orderly departures programme

should be strengthened and extended to Laos and Cambodia. Other

countries, principly the USA, should consider private sponsorshin

along the lines of the Canadian model. (Shen Lowman, Executive

Director of Refugees International and a former member of the State