AN APPEAL
FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

by  PHI-VÂN NGUYEN

January 2020

On his way back from Asia, Kurt Waldheim realized he had not made progress. China and Vietnam refused to negotiate under his good offices. And Southeast Asian states still refused to grant temporary asylum to newcomers. Two crises threatened the stability of the entire Asian region. What else could he do? There was no easy solution. The only gesture he could do was to follow up on the general recommendations of the December consultation meeting.

Focus On the Humanitarian Crisis

On May 24. Kurt Waldheim sent a generic letter to over fifty governments. He asked them to increase their contributions to the UNHCR and resettlement quotas.1 There was otherwise no mention of the Sino-Vietnamese conflict. 

His description of the humanitarian crisis also reflected a desire to ignore the political tensions. “The number of refugees and displaced persons from Indochina in South East Asian countries of first asylum has been increasing since 1975 and has dramatically risen since the summer fo 1978. Last month alone, more than 25,000 “boat people” arrived in various countries of the region and ten of thousands crossed the border into Thailand, while in the same month, only 8,400 left the region for countries of resettlement.”2 Waldheim thus insisted that the human tragedy was still happening. And that there were more people leaving by boats than crossing the border by foot. This declaration was misleading. “Land cases” in reality greatly outnumbered “boat cases.” But the focus on boat cases served the purpose of his intervention better. There was no correlation between the political tensions and the humanitarian crisis. The situation was grave and states needed to take urgent action. 

Shared Responsibility

The Secretary General urged all countries to intervene in this humanitarian crisis. He first called upon Southeast Asian countries to grant “at least temporary asylum.”3 There could be no misunderstanding: “Those who arrive should not be turned away.”4

Those who arrive should not be turned away.

Kurt Waldheim, 24 May 1979 Tweet

He also announced that progress had been made since the 1978 Consultation meeting. Vietnam had agreed on creating an Orderly Departure program. ASEAN countries would create Special Processing Centres. These measures would “accommodate those for whom resettlement commitments exist but who face a long wait before they can move to permanent resettlement countries.”5 But none of these initiatives could work without everyone’s involvement. It was impossible to clear the backlog or match the number of new arrivals without a significant increase in resettlement places. The UNHCR also needed more funding. These were the two measures that states had to take right now to end this disaster. 

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References

  1. The English version was sent in thirty-two copies, while there were five French versions and fifteen Spanish letters. See S 0990-0005-06-0001.
  2. UNHCR/F11/2/39_391_46_GEN_a ‘Secretary General’s Cable Appeal of 24 May 1979 to Heads of Government on Behalf of Indo-Chinese Refugees’. Also available in the three language versions here, UN/Kurt Waldheim Files/ S-0990/ 0005/06 ‘Secretary General’s Cable Appeal of 24 May 1979 to Heads of Government on Behalf of Indo-Chinese Refugees’.
  3. Ibid.
  4. Ibid.
  5. Ibid.