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Ravina Shamdasani

The government should write off the $1.16 billion the UN refugee agency owes it and view it as a 'positive contribution' to a humanitarian crisis, the agency's Hong Kong representative  has urged.

The money is  owed for the upkeep of Vietnamese boatpeople.

Monique Sokhan also said Hong Kong must enact a clear policy  for handling asylum seekers  or risk infringing its international obligations.

Ms Sokhan,  who was in Sudan before moving to Hong Kong last year to head the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office, said she was amazed there was no clear refugee policy in a city that  prided itself on  the rule of law.

'I'm surprised Hong Kong still has a policy of detaining asylum seekers,' she said.

'For such an advanced jurisdiction not to have a clear policy and procedure on asylum is surprising.'

Hong Kong is one of the few places with no refugee crisis and an advanced legal system where the  UNHCR is charged entirely with  determining refugee status.

'Perhaps some in the government and public have a negative perception of the refugee issue because of Hong Kong's history with Vietnamese refugees,' Ms Sokhan said.

'The government still insists the UNHCR pay back its $1.16 billion 'debt' but we simply do not have the funds. Hong Kong can see the money from a positive angle as a contribution to one of the major refugee crises of the 20th century.'

The UN agency and the Director of Audit have repeatedly  urged  the government to write off the amount  said to be owed for the upkeep of  boatpeople who arrived from the late 1970s to the 1990s.

The  government controversially paid the amount in advance on behalf of the UN body to feed and house  220,000 Vietnamese asylum seekers.  The severely underfunded UNHCR has not made any payments since 1998.

Ms Sokhan said  the UNHCR office in Hong Kong  was overwhelmed. 'We need more involvement from the government and non-governmental organisations,'  she said.

There were 994 asylum seekers last year,  with 798 new claimants adding to the 196 still pending at the end of 2003. Between 11 and 15 per cent of cases  fit  the UNHCR's criteria for refugee status, while the rest are  rejected.

Prominent human rights lawyer Mark Daly    said the UNHCR was doing what should be the  government's job.

'Perhaps the government should consider the outstanding amount as a form of pre-payment for all the work the UNHCR is now doing on refugee status determination for them for free,' he said.

A Security Bureau spokesman said the government had a clear policy of not granting asylum to anyone, and all visitors were dealt with  according to existing policies.



$1b UN refugee debt row drags on