E.R.
Confidential.
...a charge upon the/
State either because of a failure to find employment
or because of a desire to complete studies already undertaken.
7.
At the request of the American Government, Ministers have agreed to share the burden of Vietnamese refugees presently awaiting placement. A
token 100 has been agreed with the stipulation that those accepted for
consideration have some tie or former connection with the United Kingdom,
are individually personally acceptable to us and, preferably, have some
knowledge of English. No nominations in this group have so far been
forwarded for consideration.
8. There are at present some 4,500 Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong, the
majority of whom arrived as the result of their rescue from a sinking
coaster by a Danish vessel in the South China Sea'. The Hong Kong author-
ities have now received approval to refuse entry to any further Vietnames
refugees who arrive unless compassionate or medical grounds indicate
otherwise. The Foreign & Commonwealth Secretary is conscious of the
extra burden these refugees place upon the Hong Kong welfare facilities
and he is getting in touch with sympathetic governments on the subject;
in a recent note to the Home Secretary, he points out that our influence
cǹ such governments taking a share of the Hong Kong burden will depend
to some extent on our own attitude to the problem.
9. There is some anxiety on the part of Home Office Finance Department
and of the Treasury that consultation should precede any expenditure of
Central Funds in the context of Vietnamese refugees. An undertaking has
been given that both will be consulted in the event that public funds
might need to be committed to this purpose.
10. The voluntary refugee agencies in this country, under the aegis of
both the British Council for Aid to Refugees and the Standing Conference
Confidential British Organisations....