DRAFT
JD Skinner Esq
HM Treasury
Parliament Street SW1P 3AG
We have been asked by the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Standing Conference of British Organisations for Aid to Refugees to assist in the resettlement of refugees from Indo-China. I enclose copies of the relevant correspondence and a background note which gives the present situation.
You will see from the note that there are two categories of refugees. We shall need to give further thought to the second, and our immediate purpose is only with the more urgent first category namely those refugees who are in immediate need of permanent resettlement after being found drifting at sea. We feel that the High Commissioner's request is not unreasonable and, since the numbers involved are relatively small, we would like to be able to make a favourable response.
You may recall that when we approached you last year on the subject of accepting 151 cases of some 4,000 refugees who had been evacuated to Hong Kong from a ship found sinking in the South China sea, you indicated that you had no objection to our accepting this number provided that there was no question of making a grant to any voluntary refugee organisation involved. In the event, only 35 of the 151 arrived here, and we would now like to apply most of the unused part of this
apply most of the unused part of this quota say 100 to meet the present request. Before doing so we would, of course, consult the relevant refugee organisations to ensure that adequate resources are still available to cope with this number.
quota
I would be grateful for your agreement on this point.
00