No refugee rise?

Press, 9 July 1979, Page 5

No refugee rise?

NZPA Canberra The Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Taiboys) has hinted in Canberra that New Zealand is not about to increase its intake of 900 IndoChinese refugees this year. At a press conference after the completion of the annual Australia, New Zealand, and United States Council meeting, he said New Zealand was at present absorbing a refugee quota at the rate of about 100 refugees a month. “When that is absorbed, we will set another quota,” he said. But Mr Taiboys did add that he would take back to his Government the views on the problem expressed both at the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Bali and within the A.N.Z.U.S. Council.

The United States special co-ordinator on refugee affairs (Mr Richard Clark) said in Canberra that the global resettlement of refugees needed to be doubled to cope with the problem existing in South-East Asia. He said he expected a number of positive measures to be announced by countries taking part in the special conference in Geneva on July 19 and 20.

The United States has announced its plans to double its monthly intake to 14,000 refugees, and at the Canberra press conference

the American Secretary of State (Mr Cyrus Vance) said that initial consultations with Congressmen had proved positive. But he said that the United States Congress would be looking closely at what happened in countries of first asylum. Bilateral talks scheduled for yesterday between Mr Taiboys and Mr Vance were

cancelled. Officials accompanying Mr Taiboys said that the Deputy Prime Minister, who is also Minister of Foreign Affairs, had found plenty of opportunities to discuss bilateral matters with |Mr Vance in both Bali and I Canberra in the last week land it was decided the time set aside yesterday was unI necessary.