APPENDIX III OVERVIEW OF WORLD REFUGEE SITUATION Office of the United States Coordinator for Refugee Affairs March 1980 INTRODUCTORY NOTE This assessment is an up-date of the September 30, 1979 World Refugee Assessment. It includes a description of the nature of the refugee situation, an analysis of conditions within the countries from which they come and a description of the extent to which other countries will admit and assist in the resettlement of refugees. Main causes of refugee flows are identified and estimates of future trends are indicated. The scale and distribution of international resources now being devoted to the refugee relief effort are included. The assessment is based upon information obtained from executive branch agencies with responsibilities in the United States refugee effort, international refugee organizations affiliated with the United Nations system, private voluntary agencies, and recent reporting from the United States diplomatic missions. Refugee numbers in the assessment are often estimates or approximations due to changes in the refugee flow, inadequate access to refugee populations, or the inability or unwillingness of governments to provide data. Precision is further impeded because of the difficulty in determining at what point refugees are considered to have been successfully integrated into their country of resettlement and no longer dependent upon international refugee relief programs for their care and maintenance. The refugee numbers contained herein take these factors into account and represent carefully considered best estimates. Statistics concerning contributions to refugee programs are gathered at different time periods from different sources and should be taken only as estimates of pledges or contributions and not as definitive amounts. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTORY NOTE PRINCIPAL FINDINGS I. EUROPE REGIONAL OVERVIEW II. Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland The European Community France Germany, Federal Republic of Greece Italy The Netherlands Portugal ... Soviet Union Spain Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC REGIONAL OVERVIEW Australia China, People's Republic of Hong Kong Indonesia Japan Kampuchea Korea, Republic of Laos Malaysia, New Zealand Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam Taiwan WORLD REFUGEE ASSESSMENT PRINCIPAL FINDINGS* 1. Human rights violations, civil strife, armed conflict and famine were the primary causes for the continued growth of the world refugee population during the past year. 2. Refugees continue to impose serious economic strains on all countries of first asylum. Equally important and threatening to a number of refugees on the internal political, social and ethnic balance of their societies and the threat to peace in the region. 3. The industrialized countries, with the United States, Japan and the European Community in the lead, continue to provide most of the funds for the international refugee relief effort. The Communist countries are sources of refugees and, except for Yugoslavia and Romania, have contributed virtually no funds. 4. Over a million persons have fled their homes in Indochina since the fall of the governments of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam in 1975. Of those who fled, some 300,000 Indochinese have been admitted to the United States, about 170,000 have resettled in other non-communist countries, and some 250,000 Vietnamese of Chinese ethnic origin have found asylum in China. The flow of Indochinese refugees, which peaked in May and again in June 1979 with over 60,000 arrivals in first asylum countries, dropped to 2,364 in January 1980. However, some 230,000 refugees remain in countries of first asylum awaiting resettlement, and an additional 150,000 Khmer are in Thai holding centers. The Vietnamese Government's disclosure at the UN Meeting on Indochinese Refugees in July 1979 that it would take steps to prevent "illegal" refugee departures from that country resulted in this substantial reduction in the flow of refugees. A renewed upsurge in refugee outflow cannot be excluded, however. 5. The UN Meeting on Indochinese Refugees demonstrated recognition on the part of an increasing number of governments that the world's See also Regional Overviews |