લાવશે.
20 JUL 1976
XXX 243/5X8/1
243/1
A M Simons Esq
нко)
BRITISH EMBASSY,
RANGOON.
Enter
П
Cortazzi 16 July 1976
n..
152617
RECHVVO IN
South East Asia Department
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
London SW1.
Туши Причината
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES ON m.v. AVA
Mr SURE.0/5.1 =
FAV 020/293/1
1. By the time this letter reaches you, some positive developments may have taken place which will have been dealt with by telegram. It might be helpful, however, to fill in a little of the background at this end.
2. When the Burmese first broached this matter with me on 7 July, they took the line that they were being vic- timised for the humanitarian action of the master of the AVA in picking up the Vietnamese refugees from a vessel which was about to sink. I was put under considerable pressure to intervene on their behalf; and when I said I wouldn't, there was an unpleasantly chilly atmosphere.
3. Since then, however, the matter has become a public cause célèbre and has been the topic of much conversa- tion at social gatherings. This has been all to the good and has provided an opportunity for explaining to numerous Burmese officials who are directly concerned that it is the Hong Kong Government who have been put to the greater difficulties rather than the Burmese Government. We have some good allies here amongst those members of the diplomatic corps who have served in Hong Kong and who have also explained to the Burmese how impossible it would be for Hong Kong to set any prece- dent in the matter of receiving Vietnamese refugees. So, although the Burmese will undoubtedly try to shuffle off their unwanted responsibility on to somebody else, there seems to be surprisingly little animosity against Hong Kong in this matter. Whatever hard feelings there may initially have been against the British Government and myself in particular, it now seems to be realised that circumstances left us no alternative to taking the line we have consistently maintained on Hong Kong's behalf.
4. I am sure that this will get us no closer to per- suading the Burmese that they have any obligation for
CONFIDENTIAL