BEIJING-BASED UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE CALLS ON CONSUL

C O N F I D E N T I A L HONG KONG 004414

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/CM, AND PRM
NSC FOR WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/09/2031
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR PREL PREF HK CH KN MC
SUBJECT: BEIJING-BASED UNHCR REPRESENTATIVE CALLS ON CONSUL
GENERAL CUNNINGHAM

REF: HONG KONG 3973

Classified By: Consul General James B. Cunningham. Reasons: 1.4 (b,d)


1. (C) Veerapong Vongvarotai, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Regional Representative for
China and Mongolia, discussed asylum and refugee issues with
Consul General Cunningham on November 9. Vongvarotai, who
was accompanied by Choosin Ngaotheppitak, Senior Protection
Officer from the UNHCR Beijing Office, and Monique Sokhan,
Head of the UNHCR Hong Kong Sub-Office, said he was in Hong
Kong to pay courtesy calls on the Hong Kong Government (HKG)
and was scheduled to meet later with officials from the
Immigration Department and the Security Bureau. According to
Sokhan, the HKG has been generally cooperative on asylum
cases and she expressed hope that UNHCR and the Government
would eventually sign a memorandum of understanding allowing
the joint processing of refugees cases (see reftel).


2. (C) Since his September arrival in Beijing, Vongvarotai
said he had been busy working with mainland counterparts on
finalizing PRC refugee regulations and on resolving refugee
status determination and resettlement issues for urban
refugees (mostly from Pakistan, India, Africa and Sri Lanka)
in China. While the resettlement process in China was not
easy, Vongvarotai told the Consul General that they had "not
had a lot of problems with China" on this issue. He noted
that the PRC Government wanted to "control" the urban refugee
situation before the start of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and
was reportedly working on contingency plans.


3. (C) On the issue of North Koreans in China, however,
Beijing continued to refuse to recognize this population as
refugees, instead designating the majority as economic
migrants, said Vongvarotai. The meeting participants
discussed the role of organizations and individuals assisting
North Koreans in seeking asylum, including one NGO rumored to
be considering Hong Kong as a possible base for its
operations. Vongvarotai opined that it was "not likely" that
North Koreans would show up in Hong Kong and cited the strict
border and immigration controls between China and Hong Kong
as a major deterrent. While it was possible that a few North
Koreans might show up in Hong Kong seeking asylum,
Vongvarotai predicted that if North Korea conducted a second
nuclear test which triggered large refugee outflows, they
would likely flee to Mongolia via China or depart North Korea
by boat. Based on this assessment, Vongvarotai said that he
did not intend to raise the issue of North Korean refugees
with the HKG.
Cunningham