Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–12, Documents on East and Southeast Asia, 1973–1976

404. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to President Ford, Washington, September 22, 1975.¹ ²

Washington, September 22, 1975

MEMORANDUM
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON

ACTION

September 22, 1975

MEMORANDUM FOR: THE PRESIDENT
FROM: HENRY A. KISSINGER [BS initialed]

SUBJECT: Indochina Refugees in Thailand

Attached for your approval are (1) a Determination transferring $6.8 million of foreign assistance appropriations to the Department of State to finance the plan they proposed for the resettlement of Meo refugees in Thailand (Tab A), and (2) a memorandum from me directing State, Defense and CIA to implement the plan (Tab B).

The key points of the resettlement plan are:

• -- We will make available up to $10 million through Presidential Determinations to finance resettlement programs which will be carried out by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Royal Thai Government (RTG). Some of this money will also be available for ethnic Lao refugees who are also presently in Thailand, some of whom will be resettled in the U.S. and other third countries.
• -- The CIA, which has already provided goods for short-term assistance, will stand by to provide interim help should the UNHCR program falter.
• -- Our Ambassador in Bangkok will make a special effort to insure that the Meo receive all resources allocated to them.

There are 30,000 to 40,000 ethnic Meo refugees from Laos now in Thailand who are in need of immediate relief assistance. To date some of these refugees have received minimal amounts of aid from the CIA with whom they have a long association, but most are existing in deplorable conditions.

All agencies agree that for political reasons, long-term U.S. assistance to the Meo and other Lao refugees should be channeled through the UNHCR/RTG program to the fullest extent possible. To prevent further suffering on the part of the Meo, however, all agencies agree also that the CIA should continue to provide interim CIA funding up to a level of [text not declassified] through December 1975, when the UNHCR/RTG program is expected to be well underway.

In order to carry out the above plan you are asked to approve the transfer of up to an additional $6.8 million of foreign assistance appropriations to the Department of State. On August 5 you determined that up to $3 million of funds previously made available to the Department of State could be used to assist the Lao. This total of $9.8 million, with a supplement from other countries amounting to $2.6 million, should carry the program to December 1976. While the UN High Commissioner intends to make every effort to resolve the refugee problem by that time, some continued international assistance will probably be necessary.

There are some doubts about the effectiveness of the UNHCR/RTG program as it affects the Meo. The CIA has therefore requested that it be authorized to provide limited direct relief to the Meo in an emergency situation after December 1975. This capability will be exercised only with the approval of our Ambassador in Bangkok.

In view of Thai sensitivities about the Resettlement of Meo in Thailand, the program should probably not be designated as such. Rather, it will be termed “relief and assistance,” which would last until the end of calendar year 1976. It is anticipated that at the end of this time those Meo who may decide to return to Laos to take their chance with the Provisional Government of National Union (PGNU) would have made such a decision, and that after that time the Thai would treat the remainder in the same fashion that they handle other tribespeople who have long been settled in Thailand.

RECOMMENDATION:

That you sign the Presidential Determination at Tab A transferring $6.8 million of foreign assistance appropriations to the State Department to finance this plan.

That you approve my signing the memorandum at Tab B instructing State, Defense and CIA to implement this plan.

Approve [GRF initialed
Disapprove

Max Friedersdorf and OMB concur in both of these recommendations.

1. Source: Ford Library, National Security Adviser, Presidential Subject File, 1974–1977, Box 16, Presidential Determinations, FY 1976 (1), August-October 1975. Secret; Nodis. Sent for action. Scowcroft initialed the memorandum for Kissinger. Ford initialed his approval of Kissinger’s recommendation. Tab A, a Determination transferring $6.8 million to finance the plan, was not attached. Tab B, the memorandum from Kissinger directing implementation of the plan, is attached and published as Document 406.
2. Kissinger recommended that Ford approve the signing of a memorandum to implement a plan to resettle Meo refugees in Thailand.